It’s like escaping an abusive relationship. Something about it keeps calling you back, but every time you go, some new bruise, some new heartbreak, and you walk away, vowing not to do it again. It’s not good for you, always deceptive, never really delivering on the promises, but still making big ones.
Maybe I’m free this time. I hope so.
No more alternative operating systems. From now on, whatever came with it, or whatever it was made for, is what I’ll run on it. For the most part, no more Linux or BSD. Windows is okay. Mac is okay if you can afford it; I can’t, but that’s not to say I have any strange attraction or repulsion for it. If I get a Mac, I’ll run it as a Mac. No big deal. If it’s designed for Windows, that’s what it will get. I’m tired of the game, the hobby, chasing my tail and getting bitten by someone else. Actually, I can’t trust any of them, but at least I know what comes on the machine is more likely to work than something else.
I was once part of the Crusade to break the chains of Redmond’s Borg. It mattered then. It doesn’t now. It’s not about being a better system, or freedom or whatever else you want to call it. Neither is better. I can find plenty of morally repugnant things with all of them, so nobody gets to wear white any more. Having seen the wider array of what is possible, I know I can work with pretty much anything. Even if it’s just DOS. Whatever gets the job done, that’s good enough. Don’t make the mistake of seeing this as going over to the other side; I’m not a fan of any OS.
Thanks for the good times and the education, but you demand too much for too little in return, Linux and BSD. I’m leaving you because I’m leaving the whole computer hobby thing behind.
