Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Unix self-deprecation

Author:Dave Jacoby
Posted:5/1/2000; 11:41:00 AM
Topic:Windows newbie question
Msg #:16867 (In response to 16856)
Prev/Next:16866 / 16868

It might be that I started out being a journalism student, writing on Macs. It might be that I've always been like this.<>p>

It might be coming out of the Virginia Swamps with a backbeat slow and hard to master.

But I remember hearing about Unix machines in the late 80s and early 90s and thinking "Wow. That's the big stuff!" Now it is what I deal with every day.

And having a wife who isn't a Unix person, and kids whose games don't work under WINE, I'm used to having non-Unix systems around. And my wife rolls her eyes and groans whenever I answer her questions about her computer with "Windows Sucks.", so I don't anymore.

I used to have friends whose conversational hobby was slamming. I would deflect their barbs with self-deprication, occasionally slamming back when the opportunity arose. The problem was, I'd continue with this when I talked to other friends, and that pretty soon dropped the number of other friends. Since the friends who were like that were people I knew on the internet 1988-1992, I'm guessing this is the same sort of people who call the opening of the internet to non-geeks as "The Great September", viewing things as the web as an intrusion on their networks rather than a great opportunity.

But while I still amuse friends and co-workers with flashes of amusing conversations (such as refering to an Athlon as "700MHz of Lovin'"), humor and self-deprication are far better ways of making friends and influencing people.




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