Archive for December, 2007
From time to time we hear people talk about equality. I think equality is a nice idea, if it is used to express the thought that every person is valuable, solely based on their existence. To say that every person is equally valuable in terms of their contributions to society, to projects, or to the universe is easily disproven. To say that each person is equal in their abilities, gifts, talents or acquired skills is absurd and not worth the time it would take to disprove. However, to say that we value each person highly, that we desire them to feel loved, welcome and important to us, this is something worthwhile.
Let’s try not to mix these things up. If/when we do, we run the risk of becoming what Kurt Vonnegut feared and described in his poignant short story, Harrison Bergeron. If you have never read it, please take a minute to do so. I think you will enjoy and appreciate it.
I don’t think it is elitist to say that one person is better at a specific skill. I also think it is completely appropriate to reward quality. Effort is important, and I would like to honor good effort as well, but perhaps in a different way.
What confuses me at times are the people who say that we should never give a special honor to people who contribute their time, efforts, and skills, and that we should never give an extra special honor to those to excel while doing so. I disagree. Merit should be rewarded with thanks and recognition. These are not the motivating forces behind the majority of people who do things well, but everyone appreciates it when their good work is recognized.
Do you have someone you would like to honor? Please do so.
December 26th, 2007
I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love holidays. I love being with family and friends. I enjoy the general atmosphere of friendship, caring, and fun. I absolutely hate the pseudo-religious wars over holiday greetings. Imagine standing in line in a store. The clerk gives a generic “Happy Holidays” to a guest, who rudely responds, “No, it’s Merry Christmas! Don’t destroy my season” or something similar. Hmm. It seems to me the clerk was merely trying to wish the guest peace, love and joy, not start a fight. There is the other side, too. Someone says, “Merry Christmas,” and the recipiant of the kind wishes gets his undies in a bunch and rudely replies, “I don’t believe in that holiday, I am a (insert other belief system here).” Yikes! All the greeter was trying to do was include the listener in a time of year that the greeter enjoys and appreciates. Really, people, we need to stop being so irritatingly sensitive. All these things are being said with a kind intent, a desire to include you in the fun, frivolity, or even serious celebration of a time of year that is important to the person giving the greeting. You should feel desired, wanted, and loved, not offended, angry or threatened. Lighten up (both sides)! If a Muslim says to me, “Mabrook al aid,” thereby wishing me a wonderful Aid al Kebir, an event which occurred this week, I don’t need to respond that I am not a Muslim and get offended at his kind attempt to include me in a time of celebration that he finds meaningful and important. Instead, the proper response is, “Thank you.” It doesn’t actually hurt anything to return the greeting. If a Jew wishes me a “Happy Hanukkah,” I have no reason to be offended. He is welcoming me to join in a celebration that he enjoys. If a Christian wishes someone “Merry Christmas,” this is not automatically an invitation to convert, nor is it an attempt to insult, demean, or offend. He desires that you find pleasure from a holiday that he enjoys. If a pagan wishes me a “Happy Yule” or a “Merry Solstice,” they are not trying to say that they are better or that I am worse, they are giving a greeting that has meaning for them and welcoming me to join them in a seasonal celebration that they enjoy. If an atheist smiles and wishes me “Season’s Greetings,” they are not trying to be rude. It is more likely they don’t have a specific holiday that they celebrate, but they do want me to know that they consider me important and wish to share with me a hope for a joyous time of year. Now, when someone says, “Happy Holidays,” they are not trying to offend anyone by excluding their holiday of choice. They are trying to be as inclusive as possible. Bottom line for me: I wish the world would quit being so hyper-sensitive this time of year. If someone wishes you joy, using words you wouldn’t use or a holiday that you don’t celebrate, just say “Thank you” and move on. Please don’t do the exact opposite of their goal and cause a huge ruckus by complaining, arguing, or becoming bitter and rude. Oh, and Merry Christmas from me. 
December 23rd, 2007
I’ve been using the ATI fglrx driver from the Gutsy repos, and it works pretty well. What I don’t like about them is that to use Compiz, I have to use XGL.. Now, this is easy enough to do in Gutsy, just apt-get install xserver-xgl and restart. However, xgl slows things down significantly, so I would prefer to use aiglx, as can be done with the free/open ATI driver.
In November, ATI/AMD released a new fglrx driver that supported aiglx, but all the reports I heard said it was still a bit buggy…so I waited.
If I can find time soon, I will test out the newest driver that was just released on December 19th. In the meanwhile, if you get a chance to play with it before I do, please write a quick comment here and let me know what you think. Thanks!
December 21st, 2007
I had a cool experience today. I was walking out a door and someone stopped me. They said, “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how I know you, and then I realized it. I read your book and your picture is on the back cover.”
This is the first time I have ever been recognized like that and it feels both weird and gratifying at the same time.
December 9th, 2007
Every once in a while in the Ubuntu Forums I get a private message from a user, or we find a reported post, or someone posts something like this in a thread. The following is a direct quote, with some things removed to obscure the specific user and thread. No other editing was done.
i would like to report that a user on this forum has offended me very much by using bad language. I know last time this happened and i emailed you guys you did nothing. I am sick of being offended and nothing is ever done about it.
he said the P word in *link* .
I am very religious and the bible says this word is not right to use. please make sure he does not offend me or my beliefs again.
Okay, where do I start?
Here’s my main problem: I’m really tired of people saying they want everyone to follow their system of belief or personal philosophy of life (all software must be free or else…join my religion or else…etc.) and then threatening the staff because we don’t allow those demands to be made. Seriously, guys (and it almost always is a male…), if you want people to follow your way of life, all you have to do is show us how and why it is better by being a better person than the people around you. If you want people to follow you, lead by example with respect, with kindness, and yes, with good and logical arguments that do not demean those who disagree with you, but rather show a better option than what they are presenting.
Okay, I’m done with my tirade (full version here). I feel better now.
December 3rd, 2007
