Some Things Should Just Not Happen
I’m a big fan of comic strips; I read several each day, most by RSS. Occasionally one of them goes down and I miss out, but there’s usually an archive available where I can pick up what I missed later.
So it was today, when my daily dose of Dilbert didn’t descend into my reader. I dashed off to Dilbert.com to find out what I had missed, only to be confronted with this:
For those who might not see the significance of the big white space, it means the page is a Flash page that can’t display on Linux. It happens not-infrequently when you run Linux; most pages will display with the available-but-not-free-software Linux Flash plugin from Adobe, but occasionally you run across one that won’t.
So, why am I making a fuss? Because of the irony. Dilbert, you see, is a comic about a faceless software company that makes inept products that are useless and/or downright dangerous to their customers. The themes are applicable to anyone who works in a cube farm, but Dilbert and his crew are geeks, and everyone knows that hard-core computer geeks use Linux. For a comic about geeks, you’d really think they’d make sure the website was viewable by, oh, I don’t know, the core audience.
Update: The voices of angry Linux users have apparently been heard, as Dilbert.com is now viewable on Linux systems. I saw several outlets that ran bits about the redesign, and the problems viewing it on Linux, and I know a number of people, myself included, emailed to register our dissatisfaction. Good to see they paid attention; time to put the torches and pitchforks away!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:24 am
What can I say other than, “I feel your pain” and also, perhaps, Adobe just doesn’t get it at all. I hate the fact that my video4linux2 camera isn’t recognized by Adobe’s Flash player (come on, gnash people, please hurry). Consequently, video streaming services like Ustream or Stickam require me to use an old, low quality video4linux(1) camera. [ shakes fist at the heavens, in a Captain Kirk "Wrath of Khan" moment ] FLASH!!!
April 19th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hey,
Seems a lot of people feel the same way:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/19/1842208&from=rss
I’m sure Scott Adams didn’t want to make Slashdot this way. And, for the record, I agree with you.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Oooh, yay commenters!
*busily passes out refreshments and draws for door prizes*
Lisa: I’m glad I’m not alone in being outraged; maybe we need an email campaign!
Marcel: I agree totally; Adobe just doesn’t get it. Then again, what big, proprietary software company does? Just last week Adobe was joining the Linux Foundation; maybe they’ve finally woken up to the power of Linux, but I suspect they’re just trying to be one of the “cool kids.”