The following excerpts are from an English translation of Umberto
 Eco's back-page column, "La bustina di Minerva," in the Italian news
 weekly "Espresso," September 30, 1994.
 
 
 .."Insufficient consideration has been given to the new
 underground religious war which is modifying the modern world.  It's
 an old idea of mine, but I find that whenever I tell people about it
 they immediately agree with me.
 
         "The fact is that the world is divided between users of the
 Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers.  I am
 firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is
 Protestant.  Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been
 influenced by the 'ratio studiorum' of the Jesuits.  It is cheerful,
 friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed
 step by step to reach--if not the Kingdom of Heaven--the moment in
 which their document is printed.  It is catechistic:  the essence of
 revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons.
 Everyone has a right to salvation.
 
  "DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic.  It allows free
 interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions,
 imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted
 the idea that not all can reach salvation.  To make the system work
 you need to interpret the program yourself:  a long way from the
 baroque community of revellers, the user is closed within the
 loneliness of his own inner torment.
 
  "You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe
 has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of
 the Macintosh.  It's true:  Windows represents an Anglican-style
 schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the
 possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with
 bizarre decisions; when it comes down to it, you can decide to allow
 women and gays to be ministers if you want to.
 ..
 
  "And machine code, which lies beneath both systems (or
 environments, if you prefer)?  Ah, that is to do with the Old
 Testament, and is talmudic and cabalistic..."
 --------------------
 
 Reply 1))))))))))
 Sure, Windoze allows "free interpretation of scripture," as long as the 
 scripture is 8 characters or less in length (although you may add a 
 three character suffix as penance)!
 
 I would argue that the Mac is Agnostic and DOS is Hindu: Windoze users 
 pray to Chicago and Cairo whereas Mac users live in the present and 
 have no idea when a new OS is coming. Also, Windoze users obviously 
 believe in reincarnation since every 5-10 years the Mac operating 
 system is "reborn" in Redmond (the "Gates" of Heaven?).
 ============================================================================
 Subject: Religion or Economic Philosophy?
 Author:  
 Date:    10/17/94 12:53 PM
 
 
 Thought you'd find this interesting.....
   
 ---
 The Mac is inherently a communist machine, requiring adherence to the same 
 look and frequent self-examination in front of fellow adherents to justify 
 continued belief in the philosophy.
   
 The PC is inherently capitalist, with the great unwashed masses blindly 
 groping for the right command, the right application feature while looking 
 for the cheapest route to success; all the while feeding the massive sea of 
 computer evolution.
   
 Unix is socialism, an attempt to do right by the many on the part of the few. 
 Some successes here, some failures there, but only practiced for any length 
 of time where resources (and user's attention spans) are in relatively large 
 supply.
 ============================================================================
 REPLY 2))))))))))))))))
  That explains why NeXT failed.  Communist (Mac) look-and-feel 
   on top of Socialist (UNIX) infrastructure.
 
 
 
 
 

Wil Stark, wstark04 (at) pobox _dot_com

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