[thelist] [OT] Naming of platforms [was: Your favourite site backup utility?]

Kasimir K evolt at kasimir-k.fi
Mon Nov 14 15:48:59 CST 2005


Shawn K. Quinn scribeva in 2005-11-14 19:46:
> Where I come from, Linux refers to just a kernel.

So you wanted to make sure that the OP was not serving his sites with 
just Linux kernel...

He did reveal that on this Linux system he has things like PHP, MySQL, 
cron - based on this information I did immediately assume that he has a 
GNU/Linux system, as they are by far most common in this kind of set-up.

> Where I come from, PC means PC (as in "personal computer" or the
> hardware) and Windows refers to Microsoft's operating system.

And vast majority of those personal computers run Windows. My life 
experience has taught me, that those who have Apple operating system on 
their personal computer almost always speak about their Mac, not their 
PC. And those who have GNU/Linux or some other *nix, they are so tech 
savvy that they do specify carefully what OS their PC is running.

Based on this information, I immediately assumed that the OP's PC runs 
Windows. Then again, it is possible that my life experience has been a 
misguiding teacher here - you judge.

> Forgiving is one thing; not having enough information to answer the
> question is another.

One remarkable thing with human communication is, that much of the 
meanings a message carries are actually not present in the message, but 
come from the context. When we speak we often leave words out without 
any damage to the intelligibility of the sentence.

The same goes with writing quick mails to the list. Especially when we 
refer to something very typical or common, we don't bother with detailed 
description, but trust that the list members will understand. And almost 
all of us actually do.

If you still wish to have more human communications insight, I'm happy 
to continue this OT discussion off-list.

.k

<tip type="Photoshop">
To select contents of a layer, control-click on the name in layers 
palette (Mac: command-click)
In PS CS2 this has changed: instead of name, click the layer's thumbnail
</tip>

<hint>
When discussions drift, it is nice to be generous with the tip chest
</hint>



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