[tex-live] Ruby interpreter for Windows in the TeXLive distribution?

Fabrice Popineau Fabrice.Popineau at supelec.fr
Sat Jul 1 09:36:23 CEST 2006


* Reinhard Kotucha <reinhard.kotucha at web.de> writes:

    > It seems that the discussion becomes quite bizarre now so that it
    > is better to stop it.  If you really think that you need a watch
    > which requires to install a Microsoft service pack twice a year,
    > be happy with it but don't try to convince other people that this
    > is a good thing.  Nobody is interested in such a shit.

I have never said that I feel good with many implications of this. I'm
just trying to explain that many people here don't seem to live in the
real world.

There is no reason that in the future hardware and software not be
merged. Evolution of technology tend to produce new objects with
identified function(s). You have been used to a programmable
computer. Our kids will be used to computers designed for a couple of
uses, possibly configurable but definitely not used to program them in
the same way you did.

And I think that my point  about the MS being a commercial company has
not been understood.

This point about learning the command line to do any job (or learning TeX to
typeset documents). You think that people are clever, so can understand
that easily (well, understand maybe, easily I'm not so sure). So
Microsoft is making people more idiot than they should be because MS is
providing them with tools that don't exercise their intelligence.

But this is the same thing everywhere. Look at the blockbusters at the
movies. Most of them are insipid, when they do not propagate very mean
ideas. But most people go and watch it. They buy it on DVD. And so
on. Whereas valuable movies remains unknown to the vast majority. Why ?
Because those blockbusters allow you to watch something by being
passive. You only have reactions (to explosions or whatever). You don't
have to think. Whereas more confidential movies require you to think. 

I don't see why commercial software should escape this scheme. If you
people can do something without having to think how it works, they will
do.

As I see it this is the real mechanism behind this anti-ms behaviour.

Have a nice week-end all of you,

Fabrice


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