Using Linux -- A Convenient Excuse?

[mrgnash]

While I was scrolling my inbox today, and surveying with some displeasure all the emails containing various 'humorous' attachments therein, I happened upon the realisation that there have been a great many occasions where I used the fact that Linux is my primary OS as an excuse to avoid viewing various bits of content that people send/recommend to me.

There have been numerous occasions where I have employed variations on the line 'I use Linux, so I can't view that Flash site/powerpoint/wmv/whatever.' And given the relative ignorance of most people as to capabilities of modern Linux distributions, they're usually inclined to believe what I say and desist with badgering me with appeals of 'but it's teh funniest evar!.' Of course, from my point of view, I'm mostly telling half-truths since I haven't installed support for a lot of proprietary formats, or haven't bothered resolving certain streaming/playback issues with wmv and so forth.

How about you? Have you ever found yourself using your OS as a shield against 'Drunk_dog_gets_hit_by_lawnmowerROFLMAOO_01.wmv' or 'the_truth_about_women.ppt' ? Or do you always have the courage to simply say 'thanks but no thanks?'

[fuscia]

i just ignore it. most of my friends hate that junk anyway.

[matthew]

I usually say, "Please don't fill up my inbox with this stuff unless you want me to ignore real email when you send it...remember the boy who cried wolf...sending me email often that doesn't say anything important to me but is just another forward will cause emails from you to be deleted regularly--then when you write with something wonderful, important or personal I'll miss it. And I really don't want that to happen. Thanks!"

I do use Linux as an excuse to not do their tech-support, though. "Sorry, I haven't used Windows in ages. I would have to sit down and learn your operating system before I could fix the problem."

EDIT: slightly related link... http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/13/213613.php

[Kvark]

If it's not someone I know then I just add them to whatever ignore list or spam filter applies to the program they spam me through. If it's someone I know then I usually reply with "Please stop sending me that junk, I can find semi-funny waste of time on my own if I want to." and then move on to talking to them about more meaningful things.

But using Linux is a good excuse in some situations.

[meng]

Interesting question raised here. I guess your system would score pretty well on vrms (http://packages.debian.org/stable/admin/vrms), whereas mine would not.

So should telling half-truths about Linux (perhaps true about your system, but not about Linux in general) be frowned upon? I think in your case, no, as it is telling a socially acceptable white lie. As an analogy, I consider it acceptable to decline a dinner invitation because I have a one-year-old child with a cosy sleep schedule. I wouldn't want to give the impression that having children necessarily devastates one's social life, but it's a good excuse for turning down an invite.

[Bragador]

If it's a mass forward mail from a friend I usually write back to ALL the people on the list and explaining to them that if I wanted to I could make money by giving their emails to spam corporations and that mass forwarding is thus a security threat.

It usually works.

[woedend]

i like those funny emails. I normally get about 15 junk mails a day promising enlargements, losses, prescriptions, stock tips, and jewelry(doesn't sound that bad now that I mention it)...but normally lucky to get 1 or 2 actual emails that are meant for me....so seeing a drunk dog get hit by lawnmower would be a pleasant treat(not literally PETA fans, using OP's example!)

[Sye d'Burns]

I'm notorious for putting friends-with-forwards on ignore lists. Usually I'll ask them politely to stop sending forwards without the threat of bannination. There is no threat, I just it. Yep, I find that's the best way for me to get my point across.

All it usually takes is a temporary ignore.

[mrgnash]

I usually say, "Please don't fill up my inbox with this stuff unless you want me to ignore real email when you send it...remember the boy who cried wolf...sending me email often that doesn't say anything important to me but is just another forward will cause emails from you to be deleted regularly--then when you write with something wonderful, important or personal I'll miss it. And I really don't want that to happen. Thanks!"

I do use Linux as an excuse to not do their tech-support, though. "Sorry, I haven't used Windows in ages. I would have to sit down and learn your operating system before I could fix the problem."

EDIT: slightly related link... http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/13/213613.php

Great response, and a great read :-D That's actually my other bugbear, and where my 'strategy' tends to backfire, in that because I'm using this supposedly esoteric operating system, and spend most of my time working with computers (it doesn't seemt to matter that I use them primarily for research, writing and design purposes) I must be some sort of technical guru -- a notion that anyone who has fielded my numerous cries for help on this forum would no doubt find immensely funny :)

It's true that I probably know -- or at least used to know -- more about the ins-and-outs of Windows than the 'average' user; but that's simply because by nature, I like to optimize, customize, and generally fiddle with whatever software enters the sphere of my personal influence. But like many people on this forum whose migration to Linux hasn't been accompanied by a whole lot of return flights, I find that those old neural pathways are degrading from neglect and that more and more responses to various questions that come my way boil down to 'uhh, did you try updating it with the latest software?'

On a related note to the original post, someone sent me a bunch of '.ppt's today and I had quite honestly forgot that this extension represented 'powerpoint;' when I told the sender that I didn't know what this .ppt format was they were quite alarmed and responded with 'but you know everything [about computers].' Flattering to be sure, but a long way from the truth, especially when it comes to Windows.

[xtacocorex]

I tried the whole telling coworkers not to send them to me and immediately after I did, I got 5 spam mails from a coworker.

As for the using Linux as an excuse, I do it and my friends and family get mad because they knew how good I was at fixing Windows. It gets to the point that you're always doing some sort of tech support for someone else and you get burnt out.


I didn't know what this .ppt format was
I did the same thing when I had to modify a powerpoint for my senior design class.

[polo_step]

Seems like a cruel dig at Linux to make it unjustly take the blame for the stupidity of your friend and your evasion of the problem...certainly nothing a fanboy would ever do.

Maybe you should say that because it's such an advanced OS, it sniffs out moronic friend-spam and deletes it before it gets to you!;)

On the other hand, unless you've taken some effort to fix it, Linux really won't handle a lot of that stuff. :-k

Friend-spam has been a problem ever since they started letting idiots on the Internet, but I don't get it because I don't have many friends and no family or co-workers at all. My one regular correspondent is a really brilliant guy, but he went through a spell where he was forwarding all these specious stories and bogus "alerts" that are so annoying. My solution was to go to snopes.com where I would inevitably find a page that debunked the spam content, then I'd hit "Reply to All" and just send everyone the link.

That put an end to it in a hurry!

Snopes.Com is an invaluable resource for fighting this abuse.

[Stormy Eyes]

Or do you always have the courage to simply say 'thanks but no thanks?'

Senders of unsolicited attachments get one warning -- and then I reroute all mail from the offending address to /dev/null.

[meng]

Yes, in fact one of my aunts emailed me a similar bogus story and I replied with the snopes link. That was more than a year ago, I have not received any email from her since that time.

[matthew]

Yes, in fact one of my aunts emailed me a similar bogus story and I replied with the snopes link. That was more than a year ago, I have not received any email from her since that time.I've done this several times...so far the people just seem to get mad that I exposed their forwarded email as a fake rather than grateful for being enlightened...so I don't generally bother anymore. I just send a simple "please don't send me forwarded messages" is all I do now.

[Randomskk]

Hell, I use linux as an excuse so much I've lost count.
Both for tech supporting windows and for not opening random videos, recieved files, etc, etc.
My plan backfires when the friends I've swapped to linux need tech support though :(

[polo_step]

so far the people just seem to get mad that I exposed their forwarded email as a fake rather than grateful for being enlightened.
Don't you find that just remarkable?

How stupid does one have to be to wittingly prefer ignorance? How does one justify it?

After Reply-All-Snopes-Linking an utterly ridiculous "true" spam story, I got this incredibly hostile reply from some nitwit on the Cc: list I didn't know who was just incensed that someone somewhere would debunk a falsehood he had found interesting.

[Lovechild]

I generally **** with people who pass on .evil attachments.

I have no means of opening closed formats so in a way I'm shielded I guess, but not in a good way since shielding me, a user with technical skills and knowledge to avoid that crap doesn't solve the real issue.

[prizrak]

Since my friends happen to know me as a violent person with a very short fuse they tend to try not to **** me off ;)

[meng]

Since my friends happen to know me as a violent person with a very short fuse they tend to try not to **** me off ;)
You work at the post office then?

As for hostile reponses to "the truth", remember that no good deed goes unpunished.

[prizrak]

You work at the post office then?

As for hostile reponses to "the truth", remember that no good deed goes unpunished.
LOL no I don't work at the post office, I'm a former Windows user it's just as bad ;)