Does your OS define your worth as a human being?

Linux lovers are like those guys that go to a football game in the middle of winter with no shirt on, and their bodies painted in their fav team's colors. Would you want to say something bad about their team where they can hear it? Would you want to say something good about the other team?

I am not talking about a normal person that can see the merits & faults in either OS and can use either one for themselves depending on the circumstances. I am not talking about people that are sane & 'normal' Linux users. I am referring to the guys that think everyone should be using Linux, Microsoft should be blown off the earth, and if you don't like it or can't figure Linux out, you should stfu and get rid of your pc.

They think if you say you don't like Linux that you don't like them, too. They identify with their OS just a bit too much. They have a habit of getting into very heated Linux arguments with Windows users and Windows programmers. Somehow they believe that your operating system defines who you are...not merely what you prefer to use.

Nobody's value as a human being should be rated based on an operating system installed on their pc.

Linux users are not the only ones that do this though. I have seen a great many Windows programmers do the same thing when referring to Windows 9x users. Somehow they think that people that still use Windows 98se or Windows ME are less human than those that can afford newer computers, or afford to upgrade. And they think that these people are less in need of quality software that will run on their systems.

Is their money less green than an XP user? I don't seem to think so. And it's not that hard to support an older OS. It's not unacceptable to detect an OS and disable features in software that will not work on that OS. And it's not unacceptable to provide an alternative or features that will only work on 9x and disabling them for NT users.

Just because Microsoft decided that it will no longer support 9x it doesn't mean that 9x will suddenly disappear off the earth. There are still a great many computers out there that can't run newer OS's...their hardware doesn't allow it. Slow processors, lack of RAM, drivers not available...lots of reasons not to upgrade.

And just because someone does buy a new PC that doesn't mean that they will be tossing the old one in the trash. I moved my old pc to my kitchen and plan on putting a recipe database on it...if I can find suitable software to run on it. Older software may not be an option for me, as most older versions have been replaced with newer versions that forget about people like me. Newer versions are not an option because most think you are running a Pentium 4 with at least 256mb of RAM, and Windows XP. My only alternative may be to code it myself...meaning that it will probably be years before I have what I want.

I am going to make sure that my software I create will work on that old pc...for people like me that still have an old hunk of 'junk'. I promise that to you for as long as that old pc still runs. I will not define your human worth based on your OS.