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From: vjs@calcite.rhyolite.com (Vernon Schryver)
Subject: Re: Linux thoroughly insulted by Infoworld!
Message-ID: <D2Kn1G.4D3@calcite.rhyolite.com>
Organization: Rhyolite Software
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 22:41:40 GMT
References: <950116203411@lambada>
Lines: 40

In article <950116203411@lambada> ed.duomo@lambada.oit.unc.edu ("Mr. Ed") writes:
>In the columns section of the Jan 16 Infoworld, there is a column
>highly insulting to linux. ...

>What do you think of this?

That is business as usual for the trade rags.  When they get something
right, it is only an accident.  Remember
    1. the customers of the trade rags are those who pay the publishers to
	print their advertisements.  The readers are the product of the
	trade press, not customers.  That applies to many publications
	that charge readers subscription fees, where the big bucks from
	the advertisers.
    2. the authors are those generally those who do not have jobs writing
	code, and programming pays a lot more.  The obvious inference
	seems to be true much more often than not.
    3. for personal reasons, the authors want to make things sound
	complicated.  (see #2)
    4. the publishers have no reason to have freeware or shareware
	sound useful, not to mention as useful as the products of their
	customers.  (Do SCO, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Novell, or Microsoft
	advertise in "Infoworld"?)
    5. most readers are Information Professionals and Managers, i.e. often
	those with less knowledge than comp.* netnews readers.  Often
	those who have secretaries to handle their typing.
    6. The is prudent of the publishers to stick to authors who are 
	similar to their typical readers (see #2 and #5).  For example,
	within the last year, the main network expert of "Comm.Week"
	wrote that he has someone else deal with his email.  He's also
	the genius who wrote about a year ago that "you cannot find UNIX
	on a bulletin board."


I find people who think they have a clue about computers based purely
on extensive reading in the trade press are more irritating and common
than the trade press nonsense.  The only way to handle trade press
experts (either readers or writers) is as jokes.


Vernon Schryver    vjs@rhyolite.com