[geeks] Can't decide on an OS

[Nathan Raymond]

On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 3:37 PM, Mike Meredith <very at zonky.org> wrote:

> I think that's the key point ... there are some obstreperous people who
> insist on thrusting their beliefs into everyone's faces whether it's
> Linux, Windows, Islam, or their favourite boot polish. It's not the
> fault of whatever they're pushing, but the person themselves.
>

Yes and no.  At the risk of getting philosophical and condensing something
I could write pages and pages on into something far too concise, I would
put forth the postulation that any given community consists of:

1) The ideals/goals/intents (pseudocode)
2) The currently operating structures
(democracy/hierarchy/collaborative-combative community, i.e. compute
resources)
3) The individuals (the processor) with the time and energy to use 2 and
re-write 1 and change the organization of 2 as seen fit

Any given Linux distro (religious faith, etc.) is arguably 1+2+3, unless
you specify that you are only talking about a specific part.

I would argue the ideal entity is one which has ideals/goals/intents so
well described and crafted that 2 and 3 will operate extremely well and
with little ambiguity in a variety of contexts.  Of course doing that is
rather difficult, and the expression of 1 in most human languages will
inevitably be fraught with ambiguities (perhaps that predispose to rapid
bifurcation/contention/evolution as much as dissolution).  I would propose
that, theoretically, if a better human language/expression/society could be
formed, then 1 would improve and then necessarily 2 and 3.

- Nate