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.