Operating Systems and
Airlines
Different
operating systems. Different styles. But what if the quirks and styles of the
different operating systems were applied to AIRLINES?
What if
airlines ran things the way operating systems do? This humorous analogy,
applying operating system philosophies as if they were airlines, is a
long-standing much-circulated amusing story, and we'd credit the author if we
knew who wrote it!
If
Operating Systems Ran The Airlines...
UNIX Airways
Everyone
brings one piece of the plane along when they come to the airport. They all go
out on the runway and put the plane together piece by piece, arguing non-stop
about what kind of plane they are supposed to be building.
Air DOS
Everybody
pushes the airplane until it glides, then they jump on and let the plane coast
until it hits the ground again. Then they push again, jump on again, and so
on...
Mac
Airlines
All the
stewards, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look and act exactly
the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are gently but firmly
told that you don't need to know, don't want to know, and everything will be
done for you without your ever having to know, so just shut up.
Windows
Air
The
terminal is pretty and colourful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check
and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the
plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.
Windows
NT Air
Just like
Windows Air, but costs more, uses much bigger planes, and takes out all the
other aircraft within a 40-mile radius when it explodes.
Windows
XP Air
You turn
up at the airport, which is under contract to only allow XP Air planes. All the
aircraft are identical, brightly coloured and three times as big as they need
to be. The signs are huge and all point the same way. Whichever way you go,
someone pops up dressed in a cloak and pointed hat insisting you follow him.
Your luggage and clothes are taken off you and replaced with an XP Air suit and
suitcase identical to everyone around you as this is included in the exorbitant
ticket cost. The aircraft will not take off until you have signed a contract.
The inflight entertainment promised turns out to be the same Mickey Mouse
cartoon repeated over and over again. You have to phone your travel agent
before you can have a meal or drink. You are searched regularly throughout the
flight. If you go to the toilet twice or more you get charged for a new ticket.
No matter what destination you booked you will always end up crash landing at
Whistler in Canada.
OSX Air:
You enter
a white terminal, and all you can see is a woman sitting in the corner behind a
white desk, you walk up to get your ticket. She smiles and says "Welcome
to OS X Air, please allow us to take your picture", at which point a
camera in the wall you didn't notice before takes your picture. "Thank
you, here is your ticket" You are handed a minimalistic ticket with your
picture at the top, it already has all of your information. A door opens to
your right and you walk through. You enter a wide open space with one seat in
the middle, you sit, listen to music and watch movies until the end of the
flight. You never see any of the other passengers. You land, get off, and you
say to yourself "wow, that was really nice, but I feel like something was
missing"
Windows
Vista Airlines:
You enter
a good looking terminal with the largest planes you have ever seen. Every 10
feet a security officer appears and asks you if you are "sure" you
want to continue walking to your plane and if you would like to cancel. Not
sure what cancel would do, you continue walking and ask the agent at the desk
why the planes are so big. After the security officer making sure you want to
ask the question and you want to hear the answer, the agent replies that they
are bigger because it makes customers feel better, but the planes are designed
to fly twice as slow. Adding the size helped achieve the slow fly goal.
Once on
the plane, every passenger has to be asked individually by the flight
attendants if they are sure they want to take this flight. Then it is company
policy that the captain asks the passengers collectively the same thing. After
answering yes to so many questions, you are punched in the face by some
stranger who when he asked "Are you sure you want me to punch you in the face?
Cancel or Allow?" you instinctively say "Allow".
After
takeoff, the pilots realize that the landing gear driver wasn't updated to work
with the new plane. Therefore it is always stuck in the down position. This
forces the plane to fly even slower, but the pilots are used to it and continue
to fly the planes, hoping that soon the landing gear manufacturer will give out
a landing gear driver update.
You
arrive at your destination wishing you had used your reward miles with XP
airlines rather than trying out this new carrier. A close friend, after hearing
your story, mentions that Linux Air is a much better alternative and helps.
Linux Air
Disgruntled
employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They
build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge
a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download
and print the ticket yourself.
When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a
wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable
seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single
problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the
other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, "You had to
do what with the seat?"
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