A Note On Perspective I am an old coot who was working with computer development long before many of those reading this were born. I was there when a small computer would fill a large room with racks of vacuum tubes, ferrite memory cores, and hundreds of miles of wire. Copious amounts of power were consumed, and heat generated. These monsters were capable of amazing mathematical feats such as addition and subtraction of small whole numbers. The transistor was to come many years in the future, and the IC years more. Yet how many of you can name a handful of the pioneers involved? I would guess that none of you would know me, but my name is recorded in the annals of computer history. Although I eventually became primarily a hardware person, in the beginning there was no distinction. We had to invent both the software and the hardware. We had no computers to help us, we used slide rules. We were pioneers with nothing to build on, no one to ask, and there were no books on the subject. There was a day when everyone involved in computer development literally knew everything there was to know about the subject. Is anyone up to that challenge today? Wow! You know, until writing this, I had never thought about the amazing advancement in computers. It all just seems to have been a long, slow, logical and natural progression. And I now realize that my contributions, although they may seem primitive by your standards, built the foundation for the technology we have available today. In fact, if it had not been for the pioneers like me, it's possible that Richard Stallman may have become a janitor. Hey, I'm partially responsible for his success! Does anyone know the name of the person who invented the wheel? Does anyone care? -- The stallman zealots are going to change the name anyway, so give it up people. But then their goal is not just to change the name (thereby guaranteeing the opportunity to wash his feet, sprinkle his with expensive perfume, or to just touch his robe), but to convert everyone to the church of rms. I have gone from admiring him for his accomplishments to resenting him for his tactics and (obvious to non zealots) giant ego. Question (rhetorical): If stallman and GNU/Linux are so great, why won't it work with 4 of my hardware devices? Perhaps stallman should spend more time recruiting hardware manufacturers, instead of worshipers. I think I will start the Church of Bill Gates. At least he gets stuff done. Change the name. Just do it. Or should I say "git 'er done"? Peace out, Robert [fiction]