Even the config files scream fanboyism

[JackyBox]

<small, not-entirely-serious rant>

GDM, for those who don't know, is the GNOME Display Manager, the graphical login program which gives you a nice GUI where you supply your username and password before getting into your desktop.

I was reading the config file for it, located at /etc/gdm/gdm.conf, and I noticed to my HORROR!!! (well not really, but I like being dramatic) that in the comments, Windows is in every single case deliberately spelt as *******. The file is littered with these "mispellings".

If Ubuntu is going to play with the big-boys, the least it could do is have config files that show a little professionalism. I think the time for Windows/Micro$oft jokes has past - we need to present a quality image if we want to be taken seriously. Of course, 99.9% of people probably wouldn't even know about this to begin with. But it's the ATTITUDE I'm talking about. Just a though.

</small, not-entirely-serious rant>

I'm going to get a drink.

[lukjad]

No, really? Awww c'mon! Don't those guys have more time to come up with better puns?

[JackyBox]

I dunno, the GDM is pretty old, maybe they were from the older-generation of MS bashers. :)

[lukjad]

Maybe... Still. I mean, really.

[smartboyathome]

GDM is in teh right! Windo$e sux, yo! M$ is gonna take over teh world, kill teh babies, and then unleash Billy Gates on u![/sarcasm]

I think that those deliberate misspellings are immature.

[mr.propre]

Meh

[eternalnewbee]

I'm going to get a drink.

No, really? Awww c'mon! Don't those guys have more time to come up with better puns?
:lol:

[picpak]

GDM code comments are pretty sloppy. If I remember correctly, I found a swear in them once. It's unprofessional IMO.

[lukjad]

Well, you should cut their salary.

[Barrucadu]

It's unprofessional IMO.

If 'professional' means devoid of humour or opinions other than those of the management, then yes, that is true. Does it need to be professional?

[JackyBox]

If 'professional' means devoid of humour or opinions other than those of the management, then yes, that is true. Does it need to be professional?
Does "*******" really convey genuine humor anymore? It's lame at best.

[smartboyathome]

GDM code comments are pretty sloppy. If I remember correctly, I found a swear in them once. It's unprofessional IMO.

You think that is bad, look at the comments in the linux kernel. You can probably find every swear word and fanboy comment in the book in there. :(

[lukjad]

Why? Why do they do this?

[bobbocanfly]

You think that is bad, look at the comments in the linux kernel. You can probably find every swear word and fanboy comment in the book in there. :(

I think anyone working at a level as low as the kernel should be allowed to swear as much as they want. Read Matthew Garrets blog to see how pissed off Kernel Devs get with the hardware they are writing drivers for. It makes for some funny reading.

As for GDM, that is pretty disappointing, but as far as I can see Ubuntu ships the upstream GDM config straight from GNOME, so nothing to do with us *whistles and walks off*

[bapoumba]

The best way to address this question would be to file a bug report against gdm.conf.

[toupeiro]

To be honest, I totally appreciate the creative license in config files. I always loved the SSH key mismatch of "IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!!" Microsoft used to have a sense of humor... In DOS 6.22, for example, setup disk one used to contain instructions to make the read/write head of a 3 1/2" floppy disk drive sound out the 20th century fox jingle... If you hate it so much though, then correct it! Thats the beauty of FOSS...

[bsharp]

Well, you should cut their salary.

I think lukjad007 sums it up pretty well.


The developers are volunteers who destribute their work for free, so why not loosen up a little to break up the monotony? If someone who wants something 'professional' can't stand to have something that isn't all business in a configuration file (it would be different if it was in the open for a general user to see), they should have no problem buying Windows or Mac. That way, they aren't able to see any of the devs' unprofessional attiudes.

[Bölvaður]

:lol: hahahahahhahaha!! ohhh...

why dont you then take the comments out and send them it back for future use? :) that keeps linux going on... make, change, rechange, send new config files, delete the swearing and old ******* jokes from old config files.

[cammin]

Maybe they didn't want to use someone else's trademark in their software.

[phrostbyte]

Does "*******" really convey genuine humor anymore?

Yes. I found it amusing. When you have the technical capacity to write an X session manager, I think you have a right to say "*******" instead of "Windows" anyway.

[linuxguymarshall]

Well, you should cut their salary.
lolz

[fatality_uk]

If Ubuntu is going to play with the big-boys...
If Microsoft fans are that concerned that they have to scrabble through config files, I for one am quite amuzed :D

[Mr. Picklesworth]

GDM code comments are pretty sloppy. If I remember correctly, I found a swear in them once. It's unprofessional IMO.

http://www.vidarholen.net/contents/wordcount/

[KiwiNZ]

This may not seem much but it really can affect take up

You make a presentation to a CIO and during the demonstration he/she reads that sort of immature rubbish in the configs they say , no thanks ,come back when they mature.

Some people really need to start the growing process :(:mad:

[Polygon]

GDM code comments are pretty sloppy. If I remember correctly, I found a swear in them once. It's unprofessional IMO.

the number of swear words in the linux kernel are in the hundreds, there is a graph of it somewhere

[bapoumba]

the number of swear words in the linux kernel are in the hundreds, there is a graph of it somewhere

Mr. Picklesworth's post, two boxes above yours ;)

[eragon100]

A few hundred swear words in millions of lines of code isn't that much, actually.

[saulgoode]

I find Microsoft's continued and unabashed "trademarking" of generic terminology rather unprofessional in itself (windows, word, office, .net, live, mobile, ...). It is certainly understandable that developers attempting to distinguish the windows with which their software interfaces from the unprofessionally-named commercial operating system might employ a variation in spelling.

[koenn]

This may not seem much but it really can affect take up

You make a presentation to a CIO and during the demonstration he/she reads that sort of immature rubbish in the configs they say , no thanks ,come back when they mature.

Some people really need to start the growing process :(:mad:

I thought programmers make crappy comments like that all the time.
I remember doing a procedure to turn Win98 into Win98 Lite that stripped some functionality and as a side effect revealed semi-humorous place holder text in dialog boxes etc.

If such comments shouldn't reach the end user (including CIO's), maybe the distributors/packagers should check & clean up. They presumably check config files anyway to provide sane defaults for their distribition, me thinks.

Other than that, yeah, this sort of play on the word Windows is kinda old, and not funny anymore, and comes across as immature, ...

On yet another hand, Microsoft pays marketing teams , ad space and media campains, biased studies, ... to spread all sorts of FUD about Linux and that's considered normal business and professional behaviour. A couple of mentions of "*******" in an obsolete config file however ...

[meborc]

it is all about the trademark... there is no joke... just the fact that Windows (TM) is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. (TM)

probably they did not want to get sued for using trademarked labels in their text... so what?

who cares?

you guys are paranoid :D

[Giant Speck]

If you are concerned that much, develop your own alternative to GDM and write Windows correctly in your configuration files.

I hate the word ******* as much as the next guy, but I'm not rabid enough against it that I'm going to tear apart configuration files that the average user is not even going to care to look at and then complain at the fanboyism.

[JackyBox]

If you are concerned that much, develop your own alternative to GDM and write Windows correctly in your configuration files.
As if. Why do people do this? If someone points out a potential flaw, the knee-jerk response is "oh, why don't you write your OWN then?!?" Why bother pointing out things at all?

Anyways, I'm just making an observation. Plus, I'm a troll. :)

[Tom Mann]

apt-get install kdm :KS

[lukjad]

apt-get install kdm :KS
KDE Star. Lol.

[K.Mandla]

Complaining about this here does almost nothing. If you have a problem with professionalism in GDM, start here.

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/browse.cgi?product=gdm

[Dr Small]

Personally, I have no problem with someone writing "*******" or "Micro$oft". It's their creation, it's their comments. Get over it. I like reading through man pages or config files and seeing humorful comments.

[spectre_25gt]

The whole idea of free software is that it's community based. Bringing up suggestions to make the software better is one of the ways we can contribute to the project.

[BGFG]

The way i see it, it's like some linux people still have this big chip on their shoulders/Inferiority complex when it comes to Windows. it shouldn't be that way. Linux is better, we all know this, we may be a minority but we know it's the truth. Microsoft is about selling a 'good' product that everyone can use and about making money, Linux is about empowering pc users and the effeciency of code.

So what if other OS'es have more users and huge marketing machines behind them ? That should be of no consequence to the 60 odd million of us. We're over on this side of the wall painting the town Human-clearlooks living the good life.

[doas777]

sometime, check out the man for wipe. the guy who wrote it was rather paranoid, and that means somthing commin from me.

"This Apt has Super Cow Powers"

[lukjad]

sometime, check out the man for wipe. the guy who wrote it was rather paranoid, and that means somthing commin from me.

"This Apt has Super Cow Powers"
Installing now...