I really don't care for this video...

[phonic-otg]

Also if you ascribe Anarchy to mean lawlessness you'd be wrong.
It is more Rules WITHOUT Rulers.

[SteveRiley]

Check out something called the Linux Standard Base, or LSB. Then know that one of the largest original distros -- that would be the one upon which Ubuntu and hundreds of others are based -- intentionally chose not to follow the LSB.

[bsniadajewski]

@tek_heretik Agreed!

[tek_heretik]

What Linux needs is an 'standards association', members vote on certain standardizing features to make it more friendly user and programmer wise.

[Simon]

I didn't say "anarchy is security", for those of you who are not aware, anarchism by definition is a leaderless society. It is not what those miscreant teens practice in the states either. The internet is a leaderless social information network. Linux may get some major funding from a billionaire or some fancy Dan like Shuttleworth may claim to have laid the foundation, but they still remain a microbe in a much bigger organism. The day a cell or membrane in my foot starts telling my brain what to do, I will begin to worry. I wasn't trying to turn this into some political debate, just using an allegory that like anarchism, Linux is always going to be there in all its forms. No matter how many politicians try to control it, you cannot fight a headless snake.

@claydoh: That maybe true that we need to rattle the bars once in a while. But if I can give Kubuntu to my friends (believe me Frank is not remotely computer literate) on a CD or USB and they choose it over their current OS, that says something. Yeah, and from my medical point of view, that may be less addictive than tobacco, but it still causes cancer, better to stick with the masturbation. LMAO

[bsniadajewski]

@Simon I don't believe that Linux proves that anarchism works. you still have guys like Shuttleworth around.

The main reason, I believe, that no polity had practiced anarchy is security. When anarchy befalls an area, there is a possibility for a surrounding country or countries to take advantage of the situation; or, as was the case for Somalia, new states to pop up (Puntland, Somaliland) and warlords start wrecking havoc. With a (responsible) government, there is a chance for sucurity and stability.

[SteveRiley]

mutual masturbation... knocks down the tent
puff-puff-pass... harshes the mellow

Good grief! I think you need to get outdoors for a little while!

[SteveRiley]

it keeps Linux/distros a moving target for security threats.

Very few discovered vulnerabilities are distro-specific. Vulns in, say, the kernel or Postfix or OpenSSL will hit all distros equally.

[GreyGeek]

Bryan is a very sharp and funny guy, AND, a Linux advocate. He's also an entrepreneur who lives by his wits, a commodity which he has in abundance!

[claydoh]

I may tick some people off with this, but really, pouring linuxy-goodness into the closed-off, preaching-to-the-converted, echo-chambered corners of the 'net is not much more than mutual masturbation puff-puff-pass. Someone coming in to point out that something is awry just knocks down the tent harshes the mellow.

Sometimes we need a swift kick in the nethers to knock things into a different perspective for bit. I just wish that Bryan could come up with a different method than rehashing the same script over the years, yelling into that echo chamber.

[Simon]

My room mate switched from Windows 8 (yes 8) to Linux, when I gave him my Kubuntu 12.04 on a USB drive and said "Boot this.".

He is not a computer geek or "tweaker", he is working toward his doctorate in hematology and I am working on mine in genetics. He was amazed how fast the OS booted from the drive and how quickly it identified his wifi, blue tooth, web cam, etc... All this while on the USB chip and not installed. I admit I assisted him migrate his needed files from W8 to Linux. After he installed the 12.04 OS he did upgrade to 13.04 (which I thought would be a deal breaker) and left it running while he had some function to attend. Everything seems to work for him and unlike myself, he has his auto update.

Now I realize we are college geeks, but geeks of a different flavor. I get my hands dirty in those terminal windows and play with WINE and Bash. Frank is like a monkey pushing buttons to get fed. He is not in the games... well he is a PS3 person soon to be PS4. Computers are all about productivity to us. We need presentations, medical information, and access. Frank is now going on 3 or 4 months and hasn't asked me once to correct something with Linux. Unlike my current girlfriend has Windows 7 and that is a different story. She might end up being my next evil ex, if she doesn't make the move to Linux **INSERT BIG GRIN HERE**

Frank and I plan to work in a lab together, some day own a lab together, guess what OS we will be using?

[Buddlespit]

I'm kinda torn on the 'freedom or stability' issue. I, for one, really like the ability to choose what I'm going to run, when I run it. And if it doesn't work, I can usually either find a work-around or another app/program/daemon that will accomplish what I want. I like the freedom.
On the flip side, users who don't have the basic knowledge or interest will tend to avoid operating systems that require lots of tweaking or fixes to make things work. Why would my mother want an operating system where she can't connect her digital camera and just download her pictures to her 'Pictures' directory/folder (this is an actual complaint after I had installed Mint to her system 10 yrs ago)?
Operating a Linux distro is like being a cat herder. As long as you enjoy running around like a freak trying to keep everything glued together, it's fine. But I'm going to assume that that's why Linux users only make up 2.55% (per an educated guess on Linux Counter) of the total operating system population. Linux is a niche OS, and until the cats allow themselves to be herded, will always be a niche OS.

[tek_heretik]

You're too mysterious for me.

No, you were right, I jumped to conclusions without fully researching or reading, or watching for that matter. I have to get off the computer now to make a doctor appointment...to have my foot removed from my mouth.

[tek_heretik]

I do realize he is trying to be outspoken and using a type of reverse psychology to attract new users to Linux and his speeches about Linux. That isn't exactly my issue. I am worried about his thinking that Linux needs to be "uniform" as Legos or bricks. Linux OS (all of them) prove that anarchism actually works. No where on Earth has any nation practiced or created a society without rulers. Linux OS has no head of authority just like the internet. I think we can all agree that free thinking people building an OS works much better than mindless drones being paid to eat donuts. But people like this, want to create a bureaucratic structure and once that happens things go to Heck in a Hand Basket. I have nothing against the man himself, just his goal.

Well there ya go, thanks for clarifying Simon and I agree, I actually think fragmentation is a good thing, it keeps Linux/distros a moving target for security threats.

[Simon]

I do realize he is trying to be outspoken and using a type of reverse psychology to attract new users to Linux and his speeches about Linux. That isn't exactly my issue. I am worried about his thinking that Linux needs to be "uniform" as Legos or bricks. Linux OS (all of them) prove that anarchism actually works. No where on Earth has any nation practiced or created a society without rulers. Linux OS has no head of authority just like the internet. I think we can all agree that free thinking people building an OS works much better than mindless drones being paid to eat donuts. But people like this, want to create a bureaucratic structure and once that happens things go to Heck in a Hand Basket. I have nothing against the man himself, just his goal.