[16:33] <OpenSorce> Quick question, do you think it would be better for the Linux community as a whole for us to only publish reviews on distros that pass the "basics"?
[16:35] <Hobbsee> are you asking me as a developer, or as a person?
[16:36] <Hobbsee> and will i be quoted on any of what i said above
[16:36] <OpenSorce> off the record
[16:36] <OpenSorce> and as both
[16:37] <Hobbsee> to answer the question, I think it's good to publish any review, as long as it's tested on multiple machines, and is unbiased. You want to get a review of how the distro works for most people, not just for a few.
[16:37] <Hobbsee> And you want to make sure that the people are not pre-biased to prefer one distro to another, based on waht they've previously been told.
[16:37] <Hobbsee> And I think you, in your review, have failed all the above points.
[16:38] <OpenSorce> But, I am afraid that all it does is hurt Linux to report that distro doesn't work....I am thinking of a list of recommended distros and reviews of them
[16:38] <Hobbsee> not overly - because people will then go for the ones that do work.
[16:38] <OpenSorce> hobb, I'm sorry you feel that way......it's what is expected of me.....if I am too soft the readers think I biased the other way
[16:39] <Hobbsee> BUT, you *have* to make sure you're doing unbiased reviews. You will cause more trouble to linux if you keep writing like you have in your pre-released.
[16:39] <Hobbsee> -d
[16:39] <Hobbsee> If it's expected of you to be biased, and you want to be a good journalist, then you should seriously consider leaving wherever you're writing for, and finding a more credible company.
[16:39] <Hobbsee> i'd be interested to see your mandriva review - and see how biased that is.
[16:40] <OpenSorce> ok, first of all....I am biased toward Slackware if anything....I hate distros that are just eye-candy, won't compile anything out of the box and don't come with sources...
[16:40] <OpenSorce> http://bigcatlinux.com/mandriva.html
[16:41] <OpenSorce> the results of the 6 machine test are listed there but only as a note to my boss, they won't appear in the final publication
[16:41] <Hobbsee> Now I don't normally toot a distro's horn and I can be quite critical. My review of Debian Linux back in '02 got be banned from their irc.freenode.org support channel. The flack I got after my Lindows review prompted my superiors to make me hide my identity when I am doing research. We've spent a long long time testing Linux distributions. We started with Mandrake 7 and it appears that the “grandchild” of that that distribution is stronger
[16:41] <Hobbsee> than ever.
[16:41] <Hobbsee> that worries me.
[16:42] <Hobbsee> I really don't think you had a problem based on your harshness.
[16:42] <Hobbsee> I think they put into question your credentials, your bias, and I don't think you answered them.
[16:42] <Hobbsee> your bias, in particular.
[16:43] <OpenSorce> I am biased toward distros that work, yes
[16:43] <Hobbsee> also, it's bad form to slag off a particular people group, in the middle of writing a technical report.
[16:43] <OpenSorce> I don't hide that
[16:43] <Hobbsee> didnt you ever learn that in school?
[16:44] <Hobbsee> distros that work on your particular hardware.
[16:44] <Hobbsee> which, i'll again note, you havent mentioend
[16:44] <Hobbsee> works on my 2 computers fine. *shrug*
[16:44] <Hobbsee> it's called bias - if you're ignoring your bias, you'll have your reputation ripped to shreds.
[16:44] <OpenSorce> which again I'll mention, full system specs are listed in the final printing
[16:45] <Hobbsee> likewise, i wouldnt dare say "it works on all machines, as it works on both of mine"
[16:45] <OpenSorce> whatever.....you know I write under psuedonyms and people read it and then I get tons of emails that say "You were right! This works great!" which means I am converting people
[16:46] <Hobbsee> 18 paragraphs. 2 of them slagging off other people. classy.
[16:46] <Hobbsee> oh, i'm not saying that your *content* is right - it probably is.
[16:46] <Hobbsee> at least, some of it
[16:46] <OpenSorce> okay, you don't like my writing style I get it
[16:46] <Hobbsee> no, listen ot me
[16:47] <OpenSorce> can we move on?
[16:47] <Hobbsee> if *anyone* wrote like that, they wouldnt get published. isnt this supposed to be a technical report?
[16:47] <OpenSorce> no
[16:47] <Hobbsee> so, it's supposed to be a blog post on what works for you?
[16:47] <OpenSorce> no
[16:47] <Hobbsee> that's how it's written
[16:48] <Hobbsee> if you care, you'll fix that. if not, you'll be marked, by multiple channels, by the way you write.
[16:48] <OpenSorce> It's an article....written from a brand new user's point of view.....what they would see and expect.....
[16:48] <Hobbsee> yes, but you havent got any quotes from new users in there.
[16:49] <Hobbsee> which you'd expect, if it were actually from a brand new user's POV.
[16:49] <OpenSorce> hobb, yeah....it's about a distro they "haven't" tried yet
[16:49] <OpenSorce> in this case I am playing the part of the newb....doing everything from gui the way a newb would.....
[16:50] <Hobbsee> you're not losing yoru bias in the process.
[16:50] <Hobbsee> which you need to, if you wish to actually write something worht reading.
[16:50] <Hobbsee> again, did they not teach you this in school?
[16:51] <OpenSorce> ok, well thanks for telling me all that....now can we move on?
[16:51] <Hobbsee> if you have something useful to say, because you're clearly not listening to me.