Mail Archives: djgpp/2001/06/28/23:00:05
On 28 Jun 2001 11:39:29 -0400, Ben Pfaff <pfaffben AT msu DOT edu> sat on a
tribble, which squeaked:
>Come now, don't exaggerate. My degree is in electrical
>engineering and I've only had one class on linear algebra, but I
>manage to use UNIX newsreaders just fine.
I have no doubt that you do.
On Unix.
Try to use one on Windoze (or on Linux with a Winmodem in your box)
and you'll begin to sing a different tune -- and maybe even win a
Grammy.
>(In the interest of full disclosure, I do, however, have a friend
>who is a rocket scientist.)
Well, I've read a book by one. Two, actually, and a third co-authored
by the same one. Actually, to be honest, I'm more comfortable with
escape velocities and fuel equations than I am with remembering
whether the command for help was ctrl-alt-meta-hyper-B or just
esc-esc-meta-Z, all the while painfully conscious that it's something
entirely unlike the "obvious" F1, which probably instructs it to erase
the hard drive or something. Without a confirmation prompt. Or an
"undo" feature -- at least not one bound to "ctrl-Z", which is about
the only standard keypress across unix programs, and unlike in Windoze
ones, opens a subshell...
>There are lots of good (and bad) newsreaders listed at the Good
>Netkeeping Seal of Approval testing page:
> http://www.xs4all.nl/~js/gnksa/gnksa-evaluations.html
>You'll notice that Forte Free Agent is on the `failed' list.
I've never seen this list.
Also, I'm guessing that everything for Windoze is on the 'failed'
list, with the possible exception for some crufty Unix ports, and only
then if they don't 'fail' anything purely because the UI is unusable,
and maybe the odd useless non-free proprietaryware.
At least this one doesn't post rich text, die every few minutes with
spurious GPFs, hang the OS, or do everything synchronously leaving me
waiting for half an hour after requesting or posting anything. And you
can just click and type, instead of memorizing a dozen commands which
usually require more than four fingers pressing down at once.
--
Bill Gates: "No computer will ever need more than 640K of RAM." -- 1980
"There's nobody getting rich writing software that I know of." -- 1980
"This antitrust thing will blow over." -- 1998
Combine neo, an underscore, and one thousand sixty-one to make my hotmail addy.
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