A Richard Stallman speech causes Idian state to switch to Linux!!

[cousinlucky]

Easuter, do you think that maybe the Associated Press slants its articles? Is it possible for anyone or any news organization to relate anything without injecting their own opinion? That's pretty hard to do in todays world.

[d38dm8nw81k1ng]

Easuter, do you think that maybe the Associated Press slants its articles? Is it possible for anyone or any news organization to relate anything without injecting their own opinion? That's pretty hard to do in todays world.

i know what you mean. news articles should be about the facts. opinions and arguments are for blogs. meh, they're probably trying to start a linux flamewar to get more hits and thus more ad revenue.

[cousinlucky]

I was surprised how the concept of " Open-Source " shocked, bewildered, and even made some people I talked to about it quite angry. I even heard " that's un-American " from someone who I thought was more rational than that.

Not making money off of others from something you developed; or doing something for the good of everyone is just not perceptable to an awful lot of people. Coming to Linux has given me a new set of eyes to look through!!

[fingal]

I was surprised how the concept of " Open-Source " shocked, bewildered, and even made some people I talked to about it quite angry. I even heard " that's un-American " from someone who I thought was more rational than that.

Not making money off of others from something you developed; or doing something for the good of everyone is just not perceptable to an awful lot of people. Coming to Linux has given me a new set of eyes to look through!!

To European ears the idea of something being 'un-American' is rather amusing. After all, most of the universe is un-American - if I can put it in that way.

Still: you're American and you think differently, and I imagine you're not alone! Also, for a while I studied the non-profit sector, and America has done very well in that respect. You have a lot of 'not-for-profit' organisations which do a lot of good work for various people. However as you said, a lot of people are unaware of this aspect of life. It's interesting isn't it?

[techieMoe]

To European ears the idea of something being 'un-American' is rather amusing. After all, most of the universe is un-American - if I can put it in that way.

Still: you're American and you think differently, and I imagine you're not alone! Also, for a while I studied the non-profit sector, and America has done very well in that respect. You have a lot of 'not-for-profit' organisations which do a lot of good work for various people. However as you said, a lot of people are unaware of this aspect of life. It's interesting isn't it?

[soapbox]
I have to laugh when I hear the phrase "un-American". We're a country founded by refugees and immigrants. We've traditionally been a melting pot of ideas and cultures. I don't think there's really anything in the world that can be called "un-American" because there's really not much our country can claim is a completely "American".

Baseball? Give me a break. Latin America and Japan are kicking our butts at that. American Football? I would like to apologize on behalf of my country for that abomination. Hollywood? See my last apology and add one specifically for Tom Cruise and L. Ron Hubbard.

I like the OSS idea, was born in Japan, hate all sports, and I drive a foreign-made imported car. I guess by their logic I'm about as "un-American" as I can be, even though by the very dictionary definition, I am an American. What can be called "American"? Whatever Americans do, have, think or say. That's all.
[/soapbox]

[fingal]

[soapbox]
I have to laugh when I hear the phrase "un-American". We're a country founded by refugees and immigrants. We've traditionally been a melting pot of ideas and cultures. I don't think there's really anything in the world that can be called "un-American" because there's really not much our country can claim is a completely "American".

Baseball? Give me a break. Latin America and Japan are kicking our butts at that. American Football? I would like to apologize on behalf of my country for that abomination. Hollywood? See my last apology and add one specifically for Tom Cruise and L. Ron Hubbard.

I like the OSS idea, was born in Japan, hate all sports, and I drive a foreign-made imported car. I guess by their logic I'm about as "un-American" as I can be, even though by the very dictionary definition, I am an American. What can be called "American"? Whatever Americans do, have, think or say. That's all.
[/soapbox]

Good for you Moe! It's much the same over here. The phrase 'it's not British' can easily be taken to pieces. We've been invaded so many times over the years that there's almost nothing here which isn't 'foreign' ... But throw a stone and you'll hit either a xenophobe or someone born overseas.

Someone once asked me to define 'Britishness' but I couldn't do it. There is nothing which, on its own, can be pointed to. Even the language isn't uniform being derived from German, French, Latin etc.

[techieMoe]

Someone once asked me to define 'Britishness' but I couldn't do it. There is nothing which, on its own, can be pointed to. Even the language isn't uniform being derived from German, French, Latin etc.

You bring up a fascination of mine. Is there any other language in the world that has assimilated more words from so many other languages as English? It's a lexicographical amoeba. Need a word? Steal one from French, German, Latin, whatever. It's a rather interesting phenomenon... at least to me.

[fingal]

You bring up a fascination of mine. Is there any other language in the world that has assimilated more words from so many other languages as English? It's a lexicographical amoeba. Need a word? Steal one from French, German, Latin, whatever. It's a rather interesting phenomenon... at least to me.

It's a hell of a good question - I have no idea! English is a strange language though, because some of the worlds are simply 'made up' and have no real roots other than, 'Right ... I need a word to express this idea. I know! I'll invent a new one.'

An example of this is 'chortle' from the Lewis Carroll poem 'Jabberwocky'. However, Shakespeare was another master of neologisms. You might - like me - be very surprised when you read this.

You may also be interested in the origin of the word 'quiz'. I quote from URL: http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/curiousq.htm

The manager of a Dublin theatre, a Mr Daly, laid a wager in 1780 that he would introduce a new word into the language within twenty-four hours. The bet was taken; and a mystery word appeared chalked on every wall and bare space in the city. Within a few hours all Dublin was speculating on what the mysterious letters meant. The word was quiz. The bet was won, and the word was absorbed into the English language.

I rather like this article as well which suggests that Chinese might be a close second to English in its ability to absorb/coin words. Want hackerisms? Get 'em here!

[eraker]

There's also a lot of conquest involved in the history of the language. We can go back to India, a former British colony, for examples. Words like "thug" and "jungle" come from Hindi and a word like "khaki" (from Urdu) is often given as an example of a word that typifies the way in which English has grown as the power of its users has grown and contracted: it was used when the English died their military uniforms "dust" or "mud"-colored, which is what "khaki" means. Not always on the conquering side, much of these French and Latinate words came into the language in 1066 when the Normans invaded England and mixed their language with the Anglo-Saxons'.

Here is a good section from Wikipedia on Middle English that typifies the synonymy that English has and even indicates certain patterns for it (words used by elites of the time often have French origins):

Consider these pairs of Modern English words. The first of each pair is derived from Old English and the second is of Anglo-Norman French origin: pig/pork, cow/beef, wood/forest, sheep/mutton, house/mansion, worthy/honourable, bold/courageous.

The role of Anglo-Norman as the language of government and law can be seen by the abundance of Modern English words for the mechanisms of government derived from Anglo-Norman: court, judge, jury, appeal, parliament. Also prevalent are terms relating to the chivalric cultures which arose in the twelfth century as a response to the requirements of feudalism and crusading activity. Early on, this vocabulary of refined behaviour begins to work its way into English: the word 'debonairte' appears in the 1137 Peterborough Chronicle, but so too does 'castel', another Norman import that makes its mark on the territory of the English language as much as on the territory of England itself.

This period of trilingual activity developed much of the flexible triplicate synonymy of modern English. For instance, English has three words meaning roughly "of or relating to a king":

* kingly from Old English,
* royal from French and
* regal from Latin.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English