What A World...
There's a game out there called EVE Online. Basically a true virtual world with a massive ever-shifting economy, controlled by giant corporations who are in turn preyed upon by pirates. Really interesting place. Too bad it can quickly take weeks to train a new skill, and that was enough to kill the atmosphere. I'm not going to pay a monthly fee when all I can do during that month is learn Freighter Control Level 4 or whatever it was that was going to take 25 days.
Anyway, there's been a problem with the latest patch. It seems that the patcher program has been ordered to update a file called "Program Files\CCP\Eve\boot.ini". (And with that, any sane computer user would know what the problem is.) But that's right. An error in the patch script ordered the program to erase not \Eve\boot.ini... but C:\boot.ini. The file in Windows versions before Vista that allows them to actually start up? Yeah, that file. After using the patcher, poof! The file's gone. The system continues to run normally... Up until you decide to restart.
This is where things get messy, because, face it, not many people know how to fix the boot.ini file. For anyone having trouble, you need to put in your Windows XP disc and start setup. (Don't worry, you don't have to reinstall XP.) When the time comes, pick the option for "Recovery Console" and start that. It'll drop you at a prompt where you'll more than likely have to sign in as Administrator. This is usually an account made during installation, and if you didn't install XP, it probably has no password. Once you've signed in, run the command bootcfg /rebuild and then restart the system. That will replace the boot.ini file with what's supposed to be there. However, only do this if XP really doesn't start. It's probably not a wise idea to rebuild boot.ini unless it's actually missing.
But with all this, people are actually blaming Microsoft for, of course, allowing such a thing to "ever happen", because, clearly, this would never happen on Linux or OS X and is strictly a Microsoft problem. Uhm. No. No, it's not. I'll tell you why. Windows requires you to install applications as an Administrator, and things with Administrator access can do anything, on purpose or by mistake. A flaw, you say? Any smart person, at this point, would agree with me that it's CCP's fault, not Microsoft's. Not in the least bit. Because, hey! Guess what? On Linux, at least, since I've never installed an application on OS X, you have to install programs being... What? Root. Using Aptitude or Apt-Get asks for what? Root. Who do you have to be, more often than not, to run make install properly? Root. Root is required to install applications on more than just Windows.
What do you want? Do you want Microsoft to further seal up the workings of their OS and allow it to only be touchable by the most proprietary and closed source? Wait, no, that won't work. Nobody wants that. They scream "Doomsday!" whenever something like that is even suggested, let alone proven. You want Windows to pop up a window and say "Hey, what you're about to do might not be very wise"? Hey, WAIT A MINUTE! Vista has User Access Control! That thing everyone makes fun of because it constantly asks if you actually want to let a program operate as Administrator! That thing everyone shuts off!
Microsoft can't win. They're blamed for the problems caused by developers of poorly written games and bad drivers and when they try to fix these stupid flaws with things like UAC and signed drivers? Everyone acts like it's the end of the world, and they demand that Microsoft remove those features because they're going to "interfere" with people who want to "distribute their own drivers". Remember that? Also, let's not forget that Vista isn't even affected by this bug, because Vista doesn't use a boot loader in the same way anymore. But let's sweep that under the rug because we all know that Vista is little more than XP with a pretty Aero interface, right?
Ah, people, people, people... Cursing Microsoft for the fact that an installer application by a third-party can tamper with the boot loader of Windows, when Linux functions the very same way. Clearly, there is no better way of installing an application if Linux of all OSes uses the same method! We all know that Linux is the second coming in regards to operating systems and anything it does is monumentally immaculate, and even if other OSes operate the very same way on some levels? They're clearly inferior when a project beyond OS developer's control takes advantage of the feature to do something wrong, on purpose or by accident.
This is why I will never officially support Linux. The community rallying behind it are all hypocrites and see themselves as without failure. (I've been using that word a lot, haven't I? Been finding lots of two-facedness lately, heheh.) Tell me when you guys come around with truly open eyes and I might reconsider my stance on Linux and open source software in general.