My Ubuntu installation notes long! 3200

In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Snit wrote on Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:16:25 -0700

Eh? The computer doesn't have an abstract world. To the computer it's all voltages, bits and bytes, charges and magnetic fields. It does what it does, and if we're lucky it does what we want it to, at a higher level, like display the letter "A" when given code 0x41.

But that's not a given. For all I know it could display the letter "B", the number "5", or a meaningless jumble of squiggles if someone gets cute with a .bdf file.

Picture an ordinary rock from, say, a riverbed. OK, so we call it a rock or stone. But what does the *rock* care? One can feed it to a rock grinder until it's pulverized to powder, mix it in along with lots of other rocks with cement to make concrete, or even dunk it in certain chemicals (for certain rock types) and watch it fizz away, or discombobulate into sand.

Is it still a rock? We initially called it a rock, but the actual rock doesn't give a stone's worth.

Now, we can see very interesting things on the screen of a computer, some of them quite entertaining (e.g., UT2004 or Nexuiz), but to the computer it's a lot of voltages, bits, and schlogging through data (code, actually) interpreted by the microprocessor.

I agree that there are people out there who wouldn't know int $0x80 from an octogenarian (or the very rare duodecarian (?)), a wireless mouse on a desktop from a homeless mouse on one's floor, a keyboard from a surfboard, USB from LSD, LED from PCB, computer viruses from real viruses.

This is fine; not everyone is trained in the ins and outs of computer equipment. But they're not as smart as one might think. :-)

Example...?

-- Windows Vista. Because it's time to refresh your hardware. Trust us.