10 IT Flame Wars that will never go away

Tom,

Could you please explain this concept "wrong" It's sounds interesting but it's something I have little or no experience with

But back on topic

The argument between the user and the admin is a non starter - even if the user has right on their side the admin has the off switch on Theirs

Barman58 said:

Tom,

Could you please explain this concept "wrong" It's sounds interesting but it's something I have little or no experience with

But back on topic

The argument between the user and the admin is a non starter - even if the user has right on their side the admin has the off switch on Theirs

Once again Nigel, you cut to the quick of the matter, we're never wrong!!

As an interesting aside to the Admin / User question - have just finished setting up the network and net access for my partners workplace.

The users discovered the difference between the person that socialises with them and the admin who's locked them out of facebook, twitter, and youtube

Barman58 said:

As an interesting aside to the Admin / User question - have just finished setting up the network and net access for my partners workplace.

The users discovered the difference between the person that socialises with them and the admin who's locked them out of facebook, twitter, and youtube

Thats cold... hard cold ...

I've actually locked a managing director (CEO), out of parts of his own system in the past - the Memo stated that the blocks applied to everyone

Strangely enough the guy actually thanked me for reading and complying with his instructions, Then sent another better thought out memo

Zidane24 said:

SF

This should be a fun discussion...

1: Linux vs. Windows

In my personal world, there has never been a bigger “cause” to send me scrambling to my soapbox.

2: Mac vs. PC

If I asked why there are so many battles involving Windows, I believe the answer would be a resounding “Market share!” (see above).

3: Cloud vs. local

Anyone who reads IT-related news has run into cloud computing.

4: GNOME vs. KDE

If you are involved with Linux, you know that the GNOME vs. KDE battle has been going on for a long time.

5: Social networking sites vs. managers/haters

There is no denying it: Social networking is HUGE now.

6: Vi vs. emacs

Let’s go old school for a moment. The flames of this war, for all but a few, have died away.

7: Google vs. everyone else

The interesting thing about this battle is that those who oppose Google usually can’t cite a justifiable reason for their hatred.

8: Firefox vs. IE vs. Chrome

Ah, the browser war. During the ’90s, this was certainly a fun battle from any side. It didn’t matter which camp you were in. Even if you weren’t on a side, this battle was fun.

9: P2P file sharing vs. tried-and-true consumerism

This is one of those battles waged mostly between end users and ISPs, businesses, and the recording industry.

10: Administrators vs. end users

How could I not end this list with one of the most beloved battles of all — us vs. them?

For more on these items, see here

Sort of along the same lines, but here are a few:

Memory defragmenters / optimizers vs. OS memory management
Registry cleaners vs. OS management
{Insert game name} vs. {insert another game name}
CRT vs. LCD (now mostly obsolete as LCDs are much, much better a representing true colors and pixels)
LCD vs. plasma
{insert email client} vs. {insert another email client}
etc. etc. ad nauseum

mickey megabyte said:

interesting list, but they forgot nvidia vs ati!

Aye, a good one

whs said:

I think this is basic to human nature. People have a tendency to defend "their patch". This is no different in computers than in the rest of life where they stand for a particular party or conviction, a religion, an ethnic group, etc.

I fear that you are right, but still hold out hope that one day, at least the intelligent ones will figure out that there is rarely ever a right answer when it comes to opinions....

whs said:

mickey megabyte said:

interesting list, but they forgot nvidia vs ati!

And Intel vs. AMD.

Another good one

Tews said:

Those age old battles were settled ages ago ... I'm right and you're wrong!

Tews said:

I need to install a sarcasm alert alarm....

Heh - read below

Barman58 said:

Tom,

Could you please explain this concept "wrong" It's sounds interesting but it's something I have little or no experience with

But back on topic

The argument between the user and the admin is a non starter - even if the user has right on their side the admin has the off switch on Theirs

I know little about the concept of wrong as well. In fact, I was wrong only once - and it was when I (foolishly) thought I was wrong and I wasn't.

Barman58 said:

As an interesting aside to the Admin / User question - have just finished setting up the network and net access for my partners workplace.

The users discovered the difference between the person that socialises with them and the admin who's locked them out of facebook, twitter, and youtube

You should see the uproar at the university I attend - FB and MSN games are blocked - and yet these kids still manage to get to their desired locations....

zigzag3143 said:

Ah the dichotomy of the sys admin

Versus the multichotomy of the end user. More is better, right? *snicker*

Barman58 said:

I've actually locked a managing director (CEO), out of parts of his own system in the past - the Memo stated that the blocks applied to everyone

Strangely enough the guy actually thanked me for reading and complying with his instructions, Then sent another better thought out memo

At least he was kewl about it - once when I was faced with a similar situation, I was chewed out b/c "...and you should have known that that did not apply to me!" My response was simple enough - "I don't know squat. You ask, I do." She subsided after that....

pparks1 said:

1) Linux -vs- Windows: I wouldn't want to have to go without either of them. They both have a very solid place in my life and I use both regularly.

2) Mac-vs-PC: Hasn't been an issue for me as I'm unwilling to spend the cash on the Apple.

3) AMD-vs-Inte: No loyalty here for me. It's whoever has the best chip at the time. And for the past 3 years or so, that has been Intel without question

4) Gnome-vs-KDE: i'm a gnome kinda guy. I don't like that most KDE apps start with K

5) vi-vs-emacs: vi for me. Primarily because it's always there, even in rescue modes.

6) firefox-vs-ie (others): Every other browser lacks add-on support of firefox. it's not even a contest

7 ati-vs-nvidia: Nvidia...because they have been supporting the linux cause longer and their cards more or less work...where ATI has been a real PITA for me over the years.

1. *nix vs Windows - agreed - I like both, but prefer W7 as my main OS.
2. Mac vs PC - I like both, tbh, but still prefer Windows as my primary OS.
3. AMD vs Intel - never have had an AMD CPU that I ran anything on longer than a day, so I have to support Intel, I suppose - but I'd say they have been all over AMD since the ascension of the Core2Quads, well over 3 years, IMO....
4. Gnome vs KDE - well, I prefer lightweight WMs like XFCE, but still like to have some KDE apps. Gnome has always looked horrid to me OOB.....
5. vi vs Emacs - True, VI is there - and it works - but it is as antiquated as trying to go back and use WordStar 1.0 on the PC in windows. I prefer something a little less tedious when it comes to editing text - wish to god there was an Edlin for *nix....
6. Fx vs IE - well, I am a Fx fan boy, of sorts. I have installed Fx, Chrome, Opera and of course IE, but I still use Fx over the others - it allows for more customization than any other browser, and thus I make heavy use of said customization.
7. ATI vs. nVidia - agreed 110% - In Fedora Core 2 it was a simple download and compile drivers for my nVidia GeForce 4 MX 440, but when I went and got an ATI Radeon x1650 Pro, all hell broke loose in terms of getting that thing to work in *nix. Then, all hell broke loose again when I tried to get it working correctly in Vista. I am back to my tried, trusted and true nVidia cards.

I think the takeaway is simple - we all have opinions, and while we may feel favored to point them out to other people, we have to realize that they are, in fact, opinions, unless you can back them up with cold, hard facts. Also, when opinions are supported by subjective analysis, it is hard to refute them no matter how many facts you can throw at it - and that is the worst possible scenario when it comes to explaining things to a non-techy. Case in point: Most people feel that registry cleaners make the system run more smoothly / take up less memory / {insert beneficial statistic here} - I, with my cold hard facts, realize that the benefits gained are so minute compared to he much larger risks involved in removing even a single required registry element that I opt to us things like backups and such to restore systems to prime working conditions or else fresh installs to clear the clutter. However, you'll always have users out there, even technically knowledgeable and proficient ones, that swear by these programs.

Antman said:

Bozones vs. noobs

Noobs win. At least there is hope for them.

What do you get when you mix a bozone and a noob?

A fanboy...