From the deep back of the room from an observer (also an amateur photographer or I wouldn't be here...) On Monday, January 11, 2010, at 01:03PM, "Kieran Simkin" <kieran@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >Emily L. Ferguson wrote: >> >> Why? Do you want him to become an IT technician? Exactly! On Monday, January 11, 2010, at 01:03PM, "Kieran Simkin" <kieran@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >It's like saying a basic knowledge of car mechanics is unnecessary as >long as you know how to drive one. Yes, you can drive a car without >knowing how it works, but having at least a basic idea will save you >money, get you out of tricky situations and allow you to drive in risky >conditions more safely. I think of a mac as a Porsche - Set up from the factory ready for a day at the track, but not every owner wants to "drives it like he stole it". Linux on PC hardware is like the garage tuner who has a larger learning curve to turn a 1985 camero into sprint car. It can be done and parts are cheap, but you have to do it yourself or have knowledgeable friends to help on the weekends. I think the question is do you want spend time to become a mechanic or a driver, both good endeavors, but knowing how to use a torque wrench and knowing when to apply torque at the exit of a turn 5 usually are exclusive. As an ex-computer administrator during my grad school days, I have decided I like driving my car and "my computer" more than maintaining either. On Monday, January 11, 2010, at 01:03PM, "Kieran Simkin" <kieran@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >Just my 2c - Oh and if you wanna rear a geek, don't buy him a Mac. Macs >encourage a superficial level of geekery, give him a second-hand PC >running Ubuntu from day 1. Anyone who still believes this has not used OSX on a Mac. Mac hardware is now as much a PC as a Dell and the OS is much a UNIX as FreeBSD, NetBSD. All the knobs are there for the taking with the terminal.app just like all the other *NIXs. Cheers, Andy (not that Andy)...
