Discrimination Against Linux Is Discrimination
"This gas station only serves Ford and GM vehicles. Yes, the gas works in your Honda, but we will not serve you."
"This CD player only supports CDs from Sony or BMI, Yes, your United CD would work, but we won't play it."
"This website only serves Linux or MacOS X. Yes, your operating system will work, but we won't let you view it."
How does discrimination feel? I feel fortunate that I come from a country when discrimination against race, religion or gender is protected by the constitution. I've spend most of my life ignorant of racism, and I'm very happy about that.
However, going to a website, and being told that I cannot use it because I'm not using the 'browser of choice' or the 'operating system of choice' is very insulting — especially when the website works fine with my browser and operating system. This gives me an idea of how discrimination and racism must feel.
Dilbert.com recently entered a major overhaul. That's not a problem. What's a problem is that I was greeted with the message 'Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP Media Center 2005, Mac OSX 10.3 or Mac OSX 10.4 is required to view this page.'
If you read any of my posts, you know that I run mostly Ubuntu Linux & Firefox. Thus, I was unable to enjoy part of the website. Now, before you gripe and say that Linux and Firefox do not have the capacity necessary to present the website, read on.
As someone who has developed a number of websites, I get suspicious when I'm told I can't use the site with my present configuration.
Should you be discriminated against, here are tips to help you.
Tip #1: If you are discriminated against, yell. The worst thing that you can do is decide "I'm never going back to that site." You are doing a disservice to yourself and to the site owner. Take a moment to use their comment or feedback page to tell them what you think. This is important. Some site owners may not realize the damage they are doing to their site. Help yourself by helping them. If they refuse to hear you, then leave, or try tip #2.
Tip #2: Use Firefox with the User Agent Switcher add-on. This add-on allows you to 'pretend' that you are a different browser on a different operating system. Using the agent switcher, I was able to use the section of the Dilbert's site by telling the site that I'm running (GASP!) Internet Explorer 7 running on Vista. Of course, I promptly wrote a (sorry to say) nasty message to the site telling them what I thought.
Tip #3: Don't switch! As long as your browser supports (most) of the W3C's recommendation, there is no reason for you to bow to discrimination. You have a right to choose your browser and your operating system.
I may disagree strongly with the browser that you use, but I will defend to the death your right to use it.
"This CD player only supports CDs from Sony or BMI, Yes, your United CD would work, but we won't play it."
"This website only serves Linux or MacOS X. Yes, your operating system will work, but we won't let you view it."
How does discrimination feel? I feel fortunate that I come from a country when discrimination against race, religion or gender is protected by the constitution. I've spend most of my life ignorant of racism, and I'm very happy about that.
However, going to a website, and being told that I cannot use it because I'm not using the 'browser of choice' or the 'operating system of choice' is very insulting — especially when the website works fine with my browser and operating system. This gives me an idea of how discrimination and racism must feel.
Dilbert.com recently entered a major overhaul. That's not a problem. What's a problem is that I was greeted with the message 'Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP Media Center 2005, Mac OSX 10.3 or Mac OSX 10.4 is required to view this page.'
If you read any of my posts, you know that I run mostly Ubuntu Linux & Firefox. Thus, I was unable to enjoy part of the website. Now, before you gripe and say that Linux and Firefox do not have the capacity necessary to present the website, read on.
As someone who has developed a number of websites, I get suspicious when I'm told I can't use the site with my present configuration.
Should you be discriminated against, here are tips to help you.
Tip #1: If you are discriminated against, yell. The worst thing that you can do is decide "I'm never going back to that site." You are doing a disservice to yourself and to the site owner. Take a moment to use their comment or feedback page to tell them what you think. This is important. Some site owners may not realize the damage they are doing to their site. Help yourself by helping them. If they refuse to hear you, then leave, or try tip #2.
Tip #2: Use Firefox with the User Agent Switcher add-on. This add-on allows you to 'pretend' that you are a different browser on a different operating system. Using the agent switcher, I was able to use the section of the Dilbert's site by telling the site that I'm running (GASP!) Internet Explorer 7 running on Vista. Of course, I promptly wrote a (sorry to say) nasty message to the site telling them what I thought.
Tip #3: Don't switch! As long as your browser supports (most) of the W3C's recommendation, there is no reason for you to bow to discrimination. You have a right to choose your browser and your operating system.
I may disagree strongly with the browser that you use, but I will defend to the death your right to use it.
Labels: firefox, free software, linux, os, ubuntu
posted by J-F Bilodeau at
8:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home