Archis's Blog

When I find grapes that’re sour, I just throw them away. Sure there are people who may like ‘em, but just cause others like ‘em doesn’t make me jealous (used to happen back when I was in kindergarten). Anyway, I find a whole community of people, who’re jealous of some other guy’s grapes and are determined to squish them.

Of course, I’m talking about the FSF’s problems with the iPhone. There’s this one guy, who designed a phone that he liked and apparently lots of people like his phone too. So they bought it – with conditions they agreed to – nobody forced them. He assumed he had the freedom to make the phone as he likes it. Apparently not. How dare he? Freedom? Without the permission of Freedom-certifying-authority-sent-to-earth-by-God himself? That’s no true freedom! It’s blaspemy! It’s an outrage!

I work at Microsoft and I use a Windows Mobile. Yes, now I am free to defend the iPhone and call freetards (a term I learnt from LinuxHater – along with ‘luser’) jealous pigs. If you don’t like the iPhone, you’re not forced to buy it. I admit you can’t show off to your girlfriend without the ability grep through your messages, and less through the last-dialled list. So who’s stopping you? Build your own freakin’ phone and use it. Or is this the final admission that you can’t really come up with a consistent, concise, usable piece of junk for people to use, and the only hopes of achieving anything remotely close is to go bothering the underdog?

Till it was the Microsoft vs. Linux battle, I could sympathise with their childish “me-too” jealousies since Microsoft was this purported huge evil empire with Windows entrenched in the Desktop market, and Linux was portrayed as the puny little underdog that nobody ever gave a chance. Awww…. doesn’t that just make you wanna pet it and hug it and give it love? This is different. “Linux on the Phone” initiatives have been going on since forever. Apple came to a market it never knew before. If anything, Apple is the poor underdog here.

Get over it. I know you freetards are used to always being the underdog with an awesome product which nobody used because they’ve been fed this proprietary propaganda. Now you had your chance. You were in the “Linux phone” business before Apple. You got your chance and you blew it. You can’t make a phone that you yourselves would use (else you’d not be bothering Apple with the Genius Bars thing). If half that time were spent in asking yourself why you can’t get a working phone to market, you’d be much better off – perhaps a tad bit productive while you’re at it.

Why not admit it – this has nothing to do with freedom. You have the freedom to not use the iPhone. You have the freedom to use your awesome command-line phones instead of the stupid iPhone with it’s graphical interface. This has always been about wanting what the other guy had. It’s time you figured out what you wanted. It’s time to grow up! You know the market – heck you’ve been trying to build a Linux phone since history itself began. You know the rules of the market – make a phone that people want. Agree to a single platform. Agree to consistent APIs. Take the time to build a good interface (yes, we’ve all seen your windows wobble – and yet you’re jealous of the iPhone – so let’s not waste time commenting about Compiz Fusion again).