A Modest Proposal
 

(with apologies to Jonathan Swift)

(EDIT, AS SOME PEOPLE DON'T GET IT: THIS IS SATIRE. THIS IS NOT A SERIOUS PROPOSAL.)

We all know ordinary mobile device users are unqualified to report bugs, and generally produce far too much white noise to discern anything useful from what they say.

As they obviously have nothing useful to contribute to the Maemo project, they should be taken out of the picture so we can concentrate on the real work of building a solid Linux platform.

The solution to this problem is clear:

People who want to buy a Maemo device should have to pass a test. Nothing complex, just the basics like "what is a repository?", "how do I become root?"... really simple stuff that everyone ought to know. Once you pass the test you'd be issued with a "Maemo licence" which would allow you to buy devices which use the platform.

Obviously this would annoy the most casual users who just want to buy a device and use it straight away without putting any real effort into it. But these are exactly the kind of time-wasters that Maemo would be better off without. Who needs all these mainstream airheads anyway, right?

So, every time someone tries to purchase an N900 they should first have to fill in a brief multiple-choice quiz to confirm their prior knowledge. We can then be sure they are capable of making a useful contribution to the community.

What do people think? ;)

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

I agree, but only if the same rule is enforced for Windows users :-)

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

I think I detect a touch of satire in this post, lol. However, you touch on an aspect of Maemo going 'consumer' that I worried about - people coming from the Symbian world aren't going to want to (in most cases) submit bug reports, follow up, etc. They want out-of-the-box usefulness.

How will Maemo, which is largely driven by community participation, going to work with/around them?

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Hmmmm......no ignorant purchases...kinda like no drunk dialing...

Wouldn't it be simpler to have to pass a quiz to register for the forum? No ignorant posters? Naaahhh...they're too much fun.

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

What is a forum? :D

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Well think of them this way, they have no preconceptioons on how things currently are so bring an air of fresh thinking with them. With technology to play with it sometimes becomes a confusing blur of what to impliment.

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Thanks for the one-star rating, whoever that was. :)

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Oh dear. I fear I had better cancel my order right away, since I clearly ordered under false pretensions. I have never had 'root access' (well, there was that time I dug up the fuchsia), I don't know what a SDK is (I'm a Super Duper Knitter?) and the first time I read something about the maemo repository I read it as suppository. Which is something rather different.

So I don't qualify.

Can't we have a two level qualification? A Maemo Enrolled User (MEU) for ordinary users - you need to be able to turn it on, connect to your network and type 'google' into the browser - and a Meamo Registered User (MRU) for those capable of the toughest stuff. Then we could have Maemo doctors (devs) Maemo Consultants (Nokia staff) and Reggie could get to be Matron in charge of us all (Oooh! Matron!)

Yeah, I know, there's a serious point here. I'm looking forward to having a bug to file and creating mayhem when I try. ;)

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Hmm good idea :) But why stop by banning some people from the N900..this could be widened to all things in life...
Well you made me laugh Krisse and I thank you for that :)

Re: A Modest Proposal
 

Well... I am not sure about the quiz, but maybe insuring that the people in question are at least able and willing to read more than a single sentence of text at a time is not such a bad idea...