Well my point wasn't to argue the merits or demerits of Linux but the
flood gates are open (probably my fault) and I cant help but to make
at least a brief comment.

I really do think modern Linux distro's are easier to use than windows
and involve less tinkering. I realize people are scared to type but
with a single command you can download and install a program, without
worrying about finding it or any of its dependencies on the web the
package manager takes care of all of it for you. On the same note you
can update your system with a single command; not just the OS
components but the whole system; including the kernel.  Debian and
FreeBSD have done this for a long time with apt-get and the ports
collection but more recently Fedora Core has perfected it imo.  The
installers require no more interaction or knowledge than the Windows
installer and you also get a good number of your base programs and
tools installed with the OS. I really don't hate windows, I am typing
this from XP 64bit right now but I do find my self spending
substantially more time post install in windows going to individual
websites and downloading and installing all the programs I use than I
do on Linux witch 90% of my stuff is already there.  This is not to
say I have never had problems with Linux, lord knows I have had my
fair share but I find that in solving my Linux problems I am learning
alot more than in solving my windows problems.  Linux still has some
way to go in standardizing its GUI and working out some stability
problems with its windowing system witch hopefully xorg will do;
although they have alot of baggage to work with, I think the best
solution would be to start from scratch in that aspect.

I really don't think keeping up with technology is a problem once you
are caught up with it. I think the biggest problem is learning it in
the first place. When you finally have a good overall feel for it
(witch takes a long time as you need to learn so much in parallel) its
just a mater of reading the trade journals to see whats new and whats
going away.  Maybe its just me but I really don't separate the two
fields that much if your into electronics money bets at some point you
will want to interface them to a PC at some level.

As far as the programmer example I would say the problem is using
serial or parallel ports in the first place. I would really like to
see more USB (yes I know there is the issue of obtaining a Vendor ID
witch really sucks) or firewire projects.  Like it or not both techs
are on there way out with Macs abandoning them awhile ago and fewer
and fewer on PC mother boards.  I can feel some sympathy in the
hobbyist area, especially for cost issues, but it really annoys me
that my new PICStart Plus programmer that I just paid $200 for still
uses a serial interface.  Complexity is a whole other issue I really
don't see the point in using old technologies because they are simpler
and you can easily learn them.  What is the point of learning and
obsolete technology be it hardware or software. You may score some
geek point (witch I have nothing against) and it may be interesting to
see where the current tech came from and how it has changed but if you
are developing in such an environment you will be isolating your self
and your project from the rest of the world. Perhaps it is just for
your personal enjoyment and you never intend on having anyone else
ever use your project. Then for the sake of simplicity you are still
preventing yourself from progressing in your field of study be it
electronics, programming, astronomy  or anything else you will never
get any better.

I guess its just my personality though and I cant expect everyone to
be like me.  The harder a task the more I want to do it. Seeing that
"Technical Calculus 4" or "Advanced Theoretical Astrophysics" on a
syllabus gets me excited.  I really think its just a mater of a can do
attitude if you go into it thinking it will be easy it probably will
be if you go into it thinking you cant do it you probably will fail
regardless of your intelligence or experience.

Justin

This turned out to be a longer rant than anticipated and heavily
opinionated sorry if I offended anyone ;)

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