Free at last...

[kickaha]

Well, almost so.

I convinced IT in my dept to take my Windows box away.

"Do you need an upgrade?"

"No, I want you to remove it."

"Does it need repairing?"

"No, I want you to remove it."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Yes, it's useless and taking up 1/3 of my desk, please remove it."

"What's wrong with it?"

"The hardware, and the OS. Please remove."

"But, what are you going to do for a computer?"

"I have my PowerBook."

"But don't you do, like, development?"

"Yes, Unix development."

"But don't you like, use the web?"

"Yes, constantly."

"But don't you need to access the network?"

"Yes, I do everyday."

"... Are you sure?"

"Just come get it, will you?"

I got a copy of the problem ticket they submitted to have the task completed: "Jason finds his Mac to be sufficient."

Sufficient? SUFFICIENT?!? No, it actually works, provides a real Unix core for me to develop with, provides all the consumer level features I want, and just plain works.

Sufficient. Cripes. Reality check: I'm a PhD student in computer science, you're a low paid IT wonk. I might know what I'm talking about.

OTOH, I now have my desk back, and except for a $10 copy of Office, I am now MS-free at both work and home. :) (C'mon OpenOffice!)

Comments

Re: Sufficient, from m-w.com

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

It's been pointed out to me that I was missing a couple of items here...

1) The problem tickets are terse series of commands. In seven years here this is the first I've seen that included any sort of commentary like this. That seemed odd. Maybe they're trying to be all warm and fuzzy, and I missed the memo.

2) Apparently I'm one of few people who thinks that the word 'sufficient' has a negative connotation. Think of it this way - if it showed up on your job review, would you be happy? My internalized definition is quite close to that last thesaurus.com entry: mediocrity (average).

3) I'm used to wearing a tshirt with an Apple Developer Conference logo on it on wash day and having a random person say "Oh, so you're one of those Mac bigots, huh?" (Seriously - a guy struck up a conversation at a party once like that... and another at a non-techie group gathering at a coffee house. Those are just within the last four months.) People assume I'm an idiot... the fact that I'm finishing up a PhD in computer science shocks them. It's very tiring. And yes, I get a lot of it in the dept as well, mostly from clueless undergrads whose l33t skills stop at getting Quake up and running on a LAN.

Take these three together, and it just irked me. Certainly nothing major, certainly nothing to restart a platform war over, for god's sake. Just something to gripe about.

Besides, this is my journal. I get to bitch about what I want to bitch about. :)

Re: Sufficient, from m-w.com

[sfeldon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was about 3% harsher than I needed to be or meant to be. Nonetheless, comments like "My Windows box is useless" are much closer to Mac bigotry than "I never use it; my PowerBook does everything I need." The latter is _not_ the Windows box being useless--it's the Mac being sufficient, in one of the _positive_ connotations. Millions of people get good and valid work done every day on Windows machines, just like thousands do on Macintoshes--so _neither_ are useless. It's just that one isn't your cup of tea.

So when will you be up here? :)

Re: Sufficient, from m-w.com

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

I should have posted what I actually said: "I never use it." You're right, "It's useless" has a completely different intent and meaning... and this whole thread was about the meaning of words. :)

Late October, it looks like - I'll be letting y'all know as it gets closer.

(And don't think I didn't see the millions/thousands... ;) )

Re: Sufficient, from m-w.com

[sfeldon.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd have been disappointed if you _didn't_ see it. Honestly. :)

I never use it could adequately describe many of the machines I have littered about my office here--I think I'm down to a dozen, now, but two of them I actually use. But it's part of my job to be _ready_ to test things I don't test every day. . . .