Re: 'The Xy Files'

[Leslie Bialler lb136@xxxxxxxx]

Carl Distefano wrote:
>
> Just returned from vacation to find Amy Virshup's article waiting in
> the mailbox. The "cult" metaphor was a cheap shot -- repeat after me,
> "We are NOT a cult" -- but cleverly sustained.

I'll repeat it in Latin if you tell me the words. ;-)

> I had a good laugh. I
> especially liked the part about devils and suffering for one's faith.
> (Nonsense, of course. You don't need to lay hands on the CD-ROM drive,
> just mumble the right prayers and put a colon in CONFIG.SYS. Or,
> better still, leave the system alone and pick the juiciest files
> directly from the tree of knowledge at TTG's Web site.)
>

Or, you can hit F5 or F8 at bootup in order to bypass config.sys (F5) or
load only the drivers you want (F8)


> Overall, the piece had the feel of a lapsed Catholic trying to explain
> the catechism. Errors, of commission and omission, crept in; certain
> formulations were potentially misleading and doctrinally suspect; the
> mention of F5 without a concomitant reference to F9 was like the sound
> of one hand clapping.

Nah! That's too techie for a Salon reader. I think that part was OK.

> Nevertheless, the sketches of individual users
> did manage to capture the zeal and ardor of this command-driven
> diaspora.

That's it! We're not a cult but a diaspora.

> The woman who downgraded her processor to get Xy running
> typifies the Teresa of Avila school of software installation. But her
> reward, no doubt, was great. "If thy fast Pentium offends thee, pluck
> it out...."
>

Saints preserve us! :-)


> Well, it's hot in here and there's coffee and doughnuts waiting in the
> basement, so I'll conclude by pointing out the single best result of
> Amy's article: Forget "SmartWords". Habemus nominem. The next
> release of a free-standing, cross-platform, Xy-based word-processor
> simply *has* to be called ... Velociraptor!
>

Nope. That's gonna be the add-on package folks on this list will create.

> All rise.
>

What??!! And spill my coffee.

Thanks for the ride.

--
Leslie Bialler
Columbia University Press
lb136@xxxxxxxx