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[ColorForth] OS is Not a Dirty Word


> 
> The old "Why is C and Unix so widespread and
> Forth so obscure?" question always has one answer.
> Because it got a foothold in the schools.  This
> has not escaped MS.  They have the best marketing
> people in the world there no doubt.
> 
I often answer questions from people who ask me why I "try" to use obscure
things like Forth for my work. I have to tell them that, first, I don't "try" to
use anything for the sake of it being obscure (as if this somehow made me
"different" right off of the bat), and second, just because something had the
politics in its favour, does this determine even a relative measurement of its
"correctness" among other lesser known methods (e.g. Forth), and would you not
try to support something you felt more comfortable using and was in fact more
productive with despite that it was the obvious "underdog" of the industry?

I am often told that they wouldn't use it, particularly if it was the underdog,
simply because they do not want to incompatible with others.

 
> How kind of them to give their ideas away to
> kids... ;-)
> 
"Get 'em while they're young..."

> And we have a two party system, don't forget.  They
> hate each other and have everything except for the
> reason and strategy to be intentionally wasteful
> exactly the same.  Just like the two party political
> system in the US.  Anything else, like Forth is
> a "wasted vote."  People hate to vote, those who
> do say it was just the lesser of the two evils.
> What a system!
> 
It's always been my personal feeling that if you find yourself in the situation
where you can't find something really right or really wrong about something,
you're probably being too passive and wasting your time. =)

I never hear the expression "voting with your feet" anymore. It's like someone
just erased it for their own convenience. 

Of course, if you can throw up your hands and in effect say "I'm not playing
your silly game, anymore...", that's a little more subversive than simply voting
for the "underdog".

That's almost bordering on what many would call "anarchism". =)

> They have sold the "User Illusion."  People think
> it is good.  Chuck wants to "Dispell the User Illusion."
> He says OS is a dirty word, an obsolete concept,
> sold by marketing to GET you.  I agree. But...
> 
As I am slowly doing some of the "prep work" for some of my projects, I am
growing very aware of the fact that a lot of it is considerably easier to do
than many people have told me it is. Sure, I have many large gaps in my
knowledge that I have to fill before this project can be realized, but I am
beginning to realize the vast scope of this deception.

> I agree. And Chuck's idea is NOT that it is JUST
> for him and everyone should copy him and write
> an incompatible version with everything else!
> 
I agree. While I have expressed my viewpoints of colorForth being my "personal"
project system, my viewpoints are decidedly at odds with what others want to
meet what I consider "personal requirements". However, I have full intentions of
sharing everything I am able to come up with, should it also be useful to
anybody.
 
> "lone wolf" is almost a non-idea anyway, wolves
> are not loners.  They need a pack like some ...  
>  
Actually, I find the "interpreted" connotation of the "lone wolf" by most
people's definitions worse than it being even really a "non-idea". It is used to
label, sort and then accentuate the schism between these "lone wolfs" and the
rest of the pack to ultimately emphasize the fact that they are freaks of nature
who are at odds with "correct" functions of the world. (Yeah, whatever...)

Best regards,
-- Art
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