| Latest revision |
Your text |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | {{comic
| + | <br> the customs abroad. Nine months of this time I spent in Paris which was then an irregular and unkempt city but withal quite as evil as at present. I took apartments in the Latin Quarter and being of a generous nature I devoted a large share of my income to the support of certain artists and students whose talents and time were expended almost exclusively in the pursuit of pleasure. While thus serving as a visible means of support to this horde of parasites I fell in with the man who has sinc. [http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com Mulberry Outlet] Bags UK e then been my intimate friend. Judge Methuen was a visitor in Paris and we became boon companions. It was he who rescued me from the parasites and revived the flames of honorable ambition which had well-nigh been extinguished by the wretched influence of Villon and Rousseau. The Judge was a year my senior and a wealthy father provided him with the means for gratifying his wholesome and refined tastes. We two went together to London a. [http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com Mulberry outlet store] Outlet Handbags store nd it was during our sojourn in that capital that I began my career as a collector of books. It is simply justice to my benefactor to say that to my dear friend Methuen I am indebted for the inspiration which started me upon a course so full of sweet surprises and precious rewards. There are very many kinds of book collectors but I think all may be grouped in three classes viz.: Those who collect from vanity; those . English Luxury fashion Mulberry site [http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com] UK Mulberry Outlet who collect for the benefits of learning; those who collect through a veneration and love for books. It is not unfrequent that men who begin to collect books merely to gratify their personal vanity find themselves presently so much in love with the pursuit that they become collectors in the better sense. Just as a man who takes pleasure in the conquest of feminine hearts inv. [http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com Mulberry shop] handbags ariably finds himself at last ensnared by the very passion which he has been using simply for the gratification of his vanity I am inclined to think that the element of vanity enters to a degree into every phase of book collecting; vanity is I take it one of the essentials to a well-balanced character--not a prodigious vanity but a prudent well-governed one. But for vanity there would be no competition in the world; without competition. [http://www.mulberryfashion-uk.com Mulberry Bags outlet] online there would be no progress. In these later days I often hear this man or that sneered at because forsooth he collects books without knowing what the books are about. But for my part I say that that man bids fair to be all right; he has made a proper start in the right direction and the likelihood is that other things being equal he will eventually become a lover as well as a buyer of books. Indeed I care not what the beginning is so long as it be a beginning. There are different ways of reaching the goal. Some folk go horseback via the royal road but very many others are compelled to adopt the more tedious processes involving rocky pathways and torn shoon and sore feet. So subtile and so infectious is this grand passion that one is hardly aware of its presence before it has complete possession of him; a |
| − | | number = 272
| + | <br> |
| − | | date = June 4, 2007
| + | [[Media:Example.ogg]] |
| − | | title = Linux User at Best Buy
| |
| − | | image = linux_user_at_best_buy.png
| |
| − | | titletext = We actually stand around the antivirus displays with the Mac users just waiting for someone to ask.
| |
| − | }}
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==Explanation==
| |
| − | {{w|Best Buy}} is an American chain of electronics and media stores. As with many such big box shops, they only sell pre-bundled software and boxed pre-built hardware, where the computers on offer are either {{w|iMac|Macs}} or {{w|Personal computer|other PCs}}, usually pre-installed with some variant of the {{w|Mac OS X}} or {{w|Windows NT}} operating system families. Most personal computer {{w|Hacker (hobbyist)|hackers/enthusiasts}} (as opposed merely to workaday computer users) wouldn't be caught dead buying a pre-made computer, preferring instead to build their own using self-selected hardware components and install and configure their own preferred operating systems and software. As such, the subtext is that somebody buying a complete pre-packaged home computer system at Best Buy wouldn't know or care much about computers.
| |
| − | | |
| − | The salesperson is trying to sell {{w|antivirus software}} to [[Cueball]] because selling such software (e.g. {{w|Norton AntiVirus|Norton}} or {{w|Kaspersky Internet Security|Kaspersky}}) to prospective Windows PC owners is generally a good sales tactic. The vast majority of all computer {{w|malware}} is engineered specifically to exploit Windows because Windows has far-and-away the highest OS market share, and Windows' inherent anti-malware protection might most charitably be described with the phrase "lacklustre, but not as bad as before." Windows users therefore ''will'' want antivirus protection, ''especially'' for use on a brand new machine that will soon be connected up to the Internet. Moreover, because the ecosystem of viruses and malware that thrive by infecting Windows PCs is constantly evolving (see [[350: Network]]) and being redesigned to take advantage of new exploits and fool last-month's antivirus software, it is quite prudent for a Windows PC owner to always keep their malware protection absolutely up-to-date, and many such security suites need to be regularly renewed with new versions.
| |
| − | | |
| − | While some viruses and malware ''can'' afflict {{w|Linux|Linux systems}}, in general {{w|Unix-like}} operating systems (including {{w|Linux_distribution|Linux distributions}} and {{w|Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD}}) are far more robust and secure than Windows, with fewer exploitable vulnerabilities. Perhaps even more importantly, Linux (not counting Android, which was not yet released) has a far smaller consumer market share, therefore offers less incentive to malware makers to target it. Therefore, Cueball is confident (rightfully so) that he will be fine without additional security. Moreover, Linux distros are {{w|free software}}, which means that anyone is able to audit the code and fix security bugs. Although malware protection ''usually'' isn't necessary, if extra protection is desired by the user, such as for tasks requiring very high security standards (such as on servers and supercomputers), there are anti-malware solutions available such as {{w|Clam_AntiVirus|ClamAV}}.
| |
| − | | |
| − | Back in 2007, when the less popular {{w|Windows Vista}} was released and with a stagnant Mac market, many in the Linux community believed that Linux would soon wipe out Windows as the operating system of choice for desktop PCs, after years of slow-but-steady growth. This explains the cheeky triumphalism of the final panels of the comic, in which Cueball hops on his quick, slick vehicle and speeds away. It's worth noting that this desktop reversal has not happened, though Linux did achieve a [http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp peak in popularity in 2011], just as Windows users were laboriously switching from {{w|Windows XP}} to {{w|Windows 7}}, with Linux peaking again in 2014 and Windows arguably in decline, and in any case, desktop PCs themselves have slowed in sales, losing ground first to {{w|laptop}}s and most recently to {{w|Embedded software|embedded device}}s, where Linux use does indeed heavily exceed the competition, e.g. {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}} (which is loosely based on the Linux kernel) handily out-competing both the previously dominant {{w|iPhone}} (which was first released mere days after this comic) and the never-popular {{w|Windows Phone}}.
| |
| − | | |
| − | The title text makes sense in light of the fact that, like Linux, the software design of OS X (both are based on Unix, OS X through Darwin - see [[676: Abstraction]]) limits the amount of harm that can be done by malicious software, and Macs thus also have fewer viruses and malware than Windows. Apparently, Mac and Linux users flock together just waiting for some salesperson to come along and mistake them for someone gullible enough to use Windows. [https://www.avast.com/c-can-macs-get-viruses There is a notion that Macs can't get infected], but Mac malware is on the rise. This is taking the piss out of the smugness sometimes to be found among Mac and Linux users, who may view their preferred systems as hip and different from the "mainstream" Microsoft systems that they feel are manifestly inferior.
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==Transcript==
| |
| − | :Salesman: Interested in updating your antivirus software?
| |
| − | :Cueball: Oh, I wouldn't need any of that.
| |
| − | | |
| − | :[In a spiky speech bubble.]
| |
| − | :Cueball: I run Linux.
| |
| − | | |
| − | :[Cueball does a backflip onto a motorcycle.]
| |
| − | :''Flip''
| |
| − | | |
| − | :[Cueball performs a wheelie on the motorcycle.]
| |
| − | | |
| − | :[Cueball does a hard, donut turn on the motorcycle, kicking up dirt into the salesman's face.]
| |
| − | | |
| − | :[Cueball speeds off on the motorcycle, leaving the salesman in a cloud of black exhaust.]
| |
| − | | |
| − | {{comic discussion}}
| |
| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | |
| − | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Linux]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Programming]]
| |
