Linux User Here
Submitted by srlinuxx on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 19:16.
Color me surprised. Dana Blankenhorn, a well-known writer about Linux and open source recently asked for someone—anyone–to send him a loaner Linux laptop to replace his now dead Windows laptop. What, he didn’t already have one?
Now, you can write about stuff that you don’t actually do yourself. After all, how many sports writers could even stand in against, never mind hit, a Jonathan Papelbon 96MPH fastball? But, I just assumed he was already running Linux on a daily basis. After all, that’s what I do.
I should also mention that Blankenhorn is a journalist who came to Linux, while I’m a techie who came to journalism. It’s a very different journey.
I’ve been running Linux for over 10-years now, and running it on at least one PC at all times since 1999. Before Linux existed, I was running SCO Unix, Interactive Unix, NeXTStep and a host of other Unix systems.
Resistence to change
Resistance to change is the cause. Yes, Dana has planned to do this for years, but older people are less inclined to abandon things (I think). The poor state of Windows (and Vista *shudders*) probably contributed to this.
How Pathetic
Well, another nail in his reputation coffin.
Laptops are dirt cheap these days. Even "good" laptops are under $2,000. Certainly a "Journalist" who will write off the COMPLETE cost of the laptop as a business expense can afford to buy a laptop or three.
Don't have time to research your purchase now? Buy a cheap $600 laptop to get by on until you can get a "good" laptop. Then you'll always have a spare and won't have to beg for a loaner.
How sad is it to see he'll auction off his integrity and blogging space for the cost of a cheap laptop.
re: pathetic
well, if I remember the post correctly, he was actually posting for a review machine that he would purchase if he liked it. I suppose it is a way to try before he buys and get an article out of it too. That didn't really didn't discredit him to me.
It was him saying he'd been running windows all this time while writing about Linux and open source. Of course, he isn't a reviewer, but still you'd think using the product would be a prerequisite to understanding and reporting about it.
Dana is OK
His credibility on Linux has always been very poor (being a Windows-only user), but not on open source.
re: Pathetic
Reviewing hardware is one thing.
Stating that your one and only laptop is dead, and then saying that "..so until I get a new laptop I can't really travel." is another. It also doesn't help his rep as a techie NOT knowing that laptops have DISPLAYS not MONITORS.
One of the trademarks of a professional (i.e. what sets them apart for the amateurs and the hobbyists) are their tools.
This guy expects to be viewed as a professional journalist YET he can't afford to buy the equipment required by his job. He shouldn't have just one tired (and now broken) laptop - he should have at least two and better yet three or four new (and ready to run) laptops. It IS after all his job to be able to write.
It just screams Amateur Hack to me.
re: Pathetic
yeah, that's true.