The great thing about free software is that it puts technology in the hands of the people and gives them the freedom to use it the way they want. Thanks for your post Brian - it warmed a cynical old techie's heart.
Brian Fahrlander wrote:
Two and a half years ago, I saw, and wanted, a DVD player on the computer in my office. I also lived there, on the premises, in a trailer that I thought would soon let me retrace the trails of the West on which my Dad took me, from the time I was 10 days old, until I was 16. He's been gone 21 years now, and I miss him.
But Mom, 73, took a fall and had a stroke, too. It looked like the conversion I promised was over, the terrorists might strike Chicago, and I was really tired from the ratrace and needed some downtime. I moved back to Evansville, IN, to 'circle the wagons' and wait for a minimum wage job to appear.
Since that time, or just before, the IT industry has imploded, and there's far too little work for so many people, and I've left the business after 27 years. But that doesn't mean I'm leaving Linux.
I just watched one of my favorite shows, 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Gina Davis and Sam Jackson, right here on my little ole' Athlon 1200. Same machine I left Chicago with. Until very recently I've been broke, but tonight with a $30 Sony DVD player and a software folks have fought to make what it is today: mplayer, Xine, Ogle, and all those other ones that work so well, with no setup whatsoever.
I just wanted someone to know that all these petty arguments, debates, and choices are worth the effort. Every one of these programs have been able to show me various aspects of an off-the-shelf DVD player, without a single hitch. And with only one shutdown- the one to install the drive!
Thanks so much for believing in what you do so much that you're willing to complain, to press the arguments, and to fight on to make Fedora, and Linux in general, the wonderful piece of software it is today, and the better software than ever, tomorrow.
Thank you.
