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All comments on news story: The worm that didn't turn up
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He has a point there, but....	by: Ptah
It is sort of like conditioned response with the general public. They expect to use Windows, they are not educated in computers and know of no other alternative, they buy a PC at Best Buy and it comes with Windows, the mention of Macintosh elicits a response from most people of "I don't want to learn something new/different." The mention of Linux simply brings forth a puzzled expression on most faces and a "what's that?" question, followed by the same response they give the Mac. This is America today. As a British ex-patriot living in the Colonies (sorry, States) I find it difficult to accept the level of education (especially in computing) of the general public here. While in Europe Linux is making inroads into both business and personal computing, here in the States the general public seems to have "Microsoft tunnel vision." The mere thought of learning something new and better is anathema. Why is this? Does it have something to do with what has been called the "dumbing down of America?" I know many, many US born Americans who are bright, well educated and intelligent. However, it seems that "John Q. Public" has lost all interest in learning and growing as human beings. They accept everything fed to them by corporations, the media and their government. I sometimes find myself in the place of the fellow who wrote this article, giving the piteous nod and commiserating with people who run Windows and have problems. Unfortunately we, those who are lettered in computing, should not turn a deaf ear and blind eye toward this problem. We need to continue to evangelize open source and GNU/Linux. As an educator (I am employed by a Civil Rights educational center in rural Ohio) and a businessman (I also own a small used computer store) I cannot allow myself, nor should any of us, to fail in the task of at least attempting to help bring forth a better day in America. Cheers, George

Turn your television off!	by: xJlM
I remember that line so well from that old 70's movie Network, and yet that's exactly what most of America needs to do. I guess I should say that I am a native born American myself, and I am not at all proud of the dumbing-down of America. We've even had a moron pawned off on us in the elections here, whether he won or not.

Re: He has a point there, but....	by: O.Z Chi
Most modern nations have a fairly sizeable "dumbed down" population, mainly due to the technology that these people have access to. Think about what the purpose of technology is: to improve life, making it easier to do more with less. Just ask any Japanese immigrant about the same thing in their country. I think Microsoft has led the way to this objective. As a Linux newbie for a few years now ;) it's been "growing pains" for me and this very intimidating OS. It has improved quite a bit in the last few years, but it still has a steeper learning curve than Windows systems. My wife is a perfect example: she criticizes me whenever I spend more than a few minutes trying to configure something very simple (like a printer, this past weekend--took me 30 minutes). She doesn't understand the concept that my Brit friend George here is describing: intellectual growth. Most people are not so involved in computing that they NEED to find growth in that area of their intellect. They have other priorities. Because of Windows' affirmative footstep in computing front-ends today, and because everyone at the workplace now uses the MS system, people outside of our profession do not see the need to switch and relearn what it took them so long to get used to. I am trying my best to maintain a Linux-wide network at home, but it is very difficult when people other than enthusiasts/professionals gang up and criticize the difficulty that newbies have when switching over to a new OS. OS X is a very nice alternative, but like George said, no one wants to take the time ... because they have better things to do.