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Bug 626593 - Gnome ate my boyfriend! Help!
Gnome ate my boyfriend! Help!
Status: VERIFIED INVALID
Product: empathy
Classification: Core
Component: User Guide
unspecified
Other Windows
: Normal critical
: ---
Assigned To: Maintainers of Gnome user documentation
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2010-08-11 05:18 UTC by ilana.m.ventura
Modified: 2010-12-15 14:38 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description ilana.m.ventura 2010-08-11 05:18:10 UTC
Dear Gnome, 

Please, have some empathy and help me out.  

Because of you, my boyfriend is chronically attached to his computer and has ceased to pay attention to me.  I try to plan fun things for us to do on the weekends and then he cancels on my because of GNOME conferences!  He even went to the Netherlands to GUADEC two weeks ago and left me at home alone for a week!  He keeps going to all these conferences and I just don't know what to do.  Apparently there is some Boston Summit thing he keeps talking about?  

Way back when, he used to talk about Linux every once in a while and I found it nerdy and cute.  However, as of late, his obsession has become a large dark gloomy cloud on our relationship.  Even when we are away from our apartment, he is perpetually attached via his MAEMO Linux phone.

He even tried to put Linux on my computer and I simply could not take it.  I came home from work one day and my computer said "UNIX" all over it!  Recently, he installed Linux on his mom's computer and now she is calling me complaining and I don't know what to do!

Please, help me bring my boyfriend back from "Linux Land."  His name is Zach.  If you find him, you may have to shut off the computer you find him in front of to get him to speak in anything other than "C."  Sometimes he will speak to you in French, but thats only because he has his phone in French.  I don't speak French so this too has become a wedge in our relationship.

This is a severe issue.  Please fix this.   

Desperately,

Ilana
Comment 1 Akhil Laddha 2010-08-11 06:45:46 UTC
This is a GNOME bug tracking system, not any family consultancy.
Comment 2 Lionel Dricot 2010-08-11 13:57:10 UTC
Hi Ilana,

My girlfriend was able to reproduce the exact same symptoms but, now, the bug cannot be reproduced, meaning the fix is probably in TRUNK.

To apply the fix, follow that procedure :


1) Decide together of one Linux week. During this week, you will accept "changing your virtual life". He will accept to answer patiently all your questions.

2) Let him install an easy end-user oriented Linux (not Slackware or Gentoo) at the beginning of the week. I recommand Ubuntu for such case because it's highly popular, with a lot of forums dedicated to newcomers.

3) Now, live that life for one week. It will be hard for both because you will sometimes be lost and he will be sometimes annoyed by what he might consider as "basic questions". Hold on !

4) After that week, you will probably me a lot more confident with using Linux. At that point, ask him what he's developping in GNOME and propose him to become a beta-tester. You already have a Bugzilla account, so it's great.

5) Now, make the following deal : for each bug you report, he has to spend one night with you without the computer.


Applying until step 3 might be enough. 4 and 5 are only for harder case.

If it does not resolve your bug, please try to post a backtrace of the exact situation when your problem is happening.
Comment 3 james.hodapp 2010-08-11 14:39:13 UTC
Love it! Brilliant! I think this needs to be changed from bug, to feature. :)
Comment 4 Calum Benson 2010-08-11 14:50:26 UTC
(In reply to comment #0)

> He even tried to put Linux on my computer and I simply could not take it.  I
> came home from work one day and my computer said "UNIX" all over it!

This bug should be filed with the distro in question.  Linux is not Unix.
Comment 5 Jean-François Fortin Tam 2010-08-11 22:39:17 UTC
I believe gnome-love is appropriate here, so adding it to the keywords.
Comment 6 brianherman 2010-08-12 01:00:23 UTC
Use empathy to talk to him?
Comment 7 Scott 2010-08-12 08:38:13 UTC
> Linux is not Unix.

I thought GNU is not Unix.

:-P
Comment 8 David Liang 2010-08-12 08:53:16 UTC
不得不顶
Comment 9 Bin Li 2010-08-12 09:03:22 UTC
Join the gnome-women-list@gnome.org, learn GNOME and join it, become a famous member, then your boyfriend will be your adorer, or kick out your boyfriend in GNOME. :D
Comment 10 Alberto Ruiz 2010-08-12 12:02:07 UTC
Without you telling us who your boyfriend is, we can't really help ;-)
Comment 11 Zach Goldberg 2010-08-12 12:21:07 UTC
(In reply to comment #10)
> Without you telling us who your boyfriend is, we can't really help ;-)

*whistles*
Comment 12 Joanmarie Diggs (IRC: joanie) 2010-08-12 13:56:45 UTC
I think the thing to do is make Ilana the maintainer of whatever module(s) Zach is most focused upon. Zach would be forced to pay attention to her then, and it would improve the current, male-dominated, maintainership situation we currently have in GNOME.
Comment 13 cantona 2010-08-12 15:01:57 UTC
Lionel has great idea.
Comment 14 Nahuel Rosso 2010-08-12 15:07:43 UTC
if u have an debian distro , try #apt-get remove boyfriend --purge
Comment 15 nixomose 2010-08-12 15:55:52 UTC
I realize this is a joke, but the problem isn't that she doesn't know linux or gnome, but in fact the problem is that her boyfriend is becoming introverted.

If you ask a bunch of geeks to solve a not-into-computers problem (though it WAS cute) they're going to fix the problem by telling you to become a computer geek.

Depending on your perspective the problem may be that the girlfriend isn't a geek or that the boyfriend is becoming more interested in computers and less in girlfriends. 

For an objective truth I'm going to have to go with this: Humans evolved because of relationships not because of software development.

The real answer? She should break up with him.
Comment 16 Diego Escalante Urrelo (not reading bugmail) 2010-08-12 16:08:00 UTC
(In reply to comment #12)
> I think the thing to do is make Ilana the maintainer of whatever module(s) Zach
> is most focused upon. Zach would be forced to pay attention to her then, and it
> would improve the current, male-dominated, maintainership situation we
> currently have in GNOME.

I agree. And we would even get a new women contributor. In fact, Ilana you might want to read about the GNOME Women Outreach Program:
  http://projects.gnome.org/outreach/women/

We would be happy to see you apply!
Comment 17 Zeeshan Ali 2010-08-12 16:27:43 UTC
Ilana, I must admit I played a role in this by asking Zach to look into gobject-introspection to write GUPnP python bindings. Though I'm selfish and I'm therefore not sorry. :) If it makes you feel any better, my wife has the same issues.
Comment 18 Nahuel Rosso 2010-08-12 17:06:52 UTC
(In reply to comment #15)
> I realize this is a joke, but the problem isn't that she doesn't know linux or
> gnome, but in fact the problem is that her boyfriend is becoming introverted.
> 
> If you ask a bunch of geeks to solve a not-into-computers problem (though it
> WAS cute) they're going to fix the problem by telling you to become a computer
> geek.
> 
> Depending on your perspective the problem may be that the girlfriend isn't a
> geek or that the boyfriend is becoming more interested in computers and less in
> girlfriends. 
> 
> For an objective truth I'm going to have to go with this: Humans evolved
> because of relationships not because of software development.
> 
> The real answer? She should break up with him.

Im totally agree.

cus my previous commment was : #apt-get remove BOYFRIEND --purge .

(a little joke)
Comment 19 Kevin Evans 2010-08-12 17:59:07 UTC
Try typing this in terminal:
cat /dev/boyfriend | grep love
Comment 20 Nahuel Rosso 2010-08-12 18:02:27 UTC
(In reply to comment #19)
> Try typing this in terminal:
> cat /dev/boyfriend | grep love

jajaja, real funny...
Comment 21 heavy 2010-08-12 22:02:59 UTC
From a woman to another woman...

You choosed to get yourself a 'nerdy and cute' boyfriend. So you know that such things could happen. Would I would suggest now? Don't try to change your geek ;)

If you're missing attention it's maybe related to the fact that you're jealous at [computer|OSS-projects|other programmers] getting more attention than yourself. How to get attention back? Don't try to get your boyfriend away from computer immediately... First of all a question like "what are you doing?" helps:
In my thoughts two reactions are possible
1) 'coding' Which means something like "I'm really into it right now." You should tolerate this state and let him continue if this is not the reaction in 100% of the situations. Especially prior to releases or when in the middle of fixing a bug, this will be the reacon.
2) <enter here a very long response with a lot of buzzwords where you probably don't understand much>. Force your boyfriend to explain it on low level. This has two effects: 1. If you are close to him or the screen, he will probably turn his face to you and explain the situation - yehaaa you sent a successful interrupt to his brain and got his attention. 2. if he belongs to the advanced kind of geeks, he will realize how deep he's into his usual language and will "develop" more feeling for you.
Additionally you will learn more about computers and what your boyfriend is interested in. This has also two effect. There will be always a topic you can talk about, cause there are always bugs which need to be fixed or some kind of cool code he just managed. The second effect is that you're becoming geeky too by taking profit of his knowledge, this can be either positive or negative depending on the nature of your boyfriend. Most geeks like women which know something about computers or are interested in that - just for a few of them it's a problm if the women knows more about computers.

Back to the interrupt of the brain... This is the situation you should use. This is the situation in which you can get him slowly away from the computer. How you should do this? Like fixing bugs needs creativity you should use your creativity in this situation ;)

But you should keep one thing in your mind. You shouldn't see the [computer|OSS-projects|other programmers] as a competitor, but as a part of your relationship. A geek isn't a geek without his computer. So he won't be 'nerdy and cute' anymore.  But maybe you can convince your boyfriend to treat the computer like children --> sometimes a couple needs time without them.
Comment 30 Mario Sánchez Prada 2010-08-13 07:29:02 UTC
(In reply to comment #12)
> I think the thing to do is make Ilana the maintainer of whatever module(s) Zach
> is most focused upon. Zach would be forced to pay attention to her then, and it
> would improve the current, male-dominated, maintainership situation we
> currently have in GNOME.

+1 to Joanmarie's suggestion, althouth Lionel's plan doesn't sound bad either.

Good luck!
Comment 33 Olav Vitters 2010-08-13 08:42:44 UTC
Don't try and spam.

Thanks,
GNOME Bugzilla maintainers
Comment 34 Dot Net Coder 2010-08-13 10:51:44 UTC
Hi Ilana,
           Linux Users are morons....Dump ur BF...
Comment 35 edmarsj 2010-08-13 13:53:41 UTC
Hi Ilana..

Let your boyfriend. And go after someone who really cares about you.
Comment 36 holmes86 2010-08-13 14:59:06 UTC
(In reply to comment #34)
> Hi Ilana,
>            Linux Users are morons....Dump ur BF...

操你大爷
Comment 37 kendisk 2010-08-13 18:33:28 UTC
Linux 輕度正轉向重度用戶表示木有鴨梨,剛和女人分手。
Comment 38 Odin Hørthe Omdal 2010-08-13 19:41:57 UTC
Am I the only one who can't read all the japanese or chinese signs? Can't see a good reason for using it here.

Also, were did all the negative people come from? This was a very sweet thing of Ilana to do to Zach. I guess it was noticed and appreciated very much. This bug report was probably a good fix in itself :-)
Comment 39 qiu.yunfei 2010-08-13 20:37:28 UTC
you deserve a better boyfriend, dump this nerd, call me tonight~~
Comment 40 qiu.yunfei 2010-08-13 20:39:16 UTC
(In reply to comment #36)
> (In reply to comment #34)
> > Hi Ilana,
> >            Linux Users are morons....Dump ur BF...
> 
> 操你大爷

@holmes86 you really proved his point...
Comment 41 risingfred 2010-08-14 01:42:45 UTC
(In reply to comment #8)
> 不得不顶

同顶。。。。。。。。

同时为那些QQ only的女性盆友的男友默哀。

来自天朝
Comment 42 xiaomao101 2010-08-14 08:41:53 UTC
Just have a talk about these things with your bf, if he loves you, he will care about you.
Comment 43 Mu Xianming 2010-08-14 11:43:02 UTC
我什么时候能达到你男友的境界啊。
Comment 44 Morpheus 2010-08-14 14:15:14 UTC
(In reply to comment #21)
> But maybe you can convince your boyfriend to treat
> the computer like children --> sometimes a couple needs time without them.

Great comparison. :D

It seems a joke but, if it's true, I feel sorry for her. :S

Good luck fixing that bug. ;)
Comment 45 Ghost 2010-08-14 15:22:53 UTC
LZ男友太强大了,这个BUG挺棘手的……

天朝人员路过……
Comment 46 ianifei 2010-08-15 17:13:50 UTC
天朝人员特地注册账号膜拜你和你男友
Comment 47 Wu Yongwei 2010-08-16 04:36:33 UTC
(In reply to comment #38)
> Am I the only one who can't read all the japanese or chinese signs? Can't see a
> good reason for using it here.

It seems this bug report has been popular among Chinese Linux users.  The comments are more sentiments instead of arguments.  If somebody speaks a non-English language here, I suppose it is most likely GNOME maintainers do not need to understand it ;-).

Translation of the last three Chinese comments (#43, #45, and #46):

---

When can I achieve the state of your boyfriend. 

---

The boyfriend of the bug reporter is really too powerful.  This bug is really challenging.

A person from the Heavenly Dynasty passes by.

---

A person from the Heavenly Dynasty registered his account in order to adore you and your boyfriend here.

---

Please notice that "Heavenly Dynasty" is a sarcastic name for nerdy Chinese to refer to China.  It has nothing to do with nationalism.
Comment 48 ianifei 2010-08-16 04:41:09 UTC
lol  thx!
Comment 49 xingke 2010-08-16 07:12:16 UTC
来自天朝,特地注册帐号到此西游,LZ 虽然很膜拜你,但是我是来打酱油的!

看来 来自天朝的人员很多啊!! ------------From chongqing, China
Comment 50 xingke 2010-08-16 07:14:58 UTC
(In reply to comment #47)
> (In reply to comment #38)
> > Am I the only one who can't read all the japanese or chinese signs? Can't see a
> > good reason for using it here.
> It seems this bug report has been popular among Chinese Linux users.  The
> comments are more sentiments instead of arguments.  If somebody speaks a
> non-English language here, I suppose it is most likely GNOME maintainers do not
> need to understand it ;-).
> Translation of the last three Chinese comments (#43, #45, and #46):
> ---
> When can I achieve the state of your boyfriend. 
> ---
> The boyfriend of the bug reporter is really too powerful.  This bug is really
> challenging.
> A person from the Heavenly Dynasty passes by.
> ---
> A person from the Heavenly Dynasty registered his account in order to adore you
> and your boyfriend here.
> ---
> Please notice that "Heavenly Dynasty" is a sarcastic name for nerdy Chinese to
> refer to China.  It has nothing to do with nationalism.


Do you know a hairy "celestial" SB one you know what celestial?
Comment 51 zeng zhen 2010-08-16 14:09:41 UTC
强贴留名..看各位的回复表示大家都很有见解...
bless Ilana fix this BUG herself(maybe she can)...
zzjin from 天朝 BUPT
Comment 52 xingke 2010-08-16 14:14:19 UTC
估计这里要成为中国人的乐园!!!!! 再次西游!想当年 孙悟空一个根头十万八千里,我现在一根网线就搞定!看来悟空吾及啊!我幸在不痴不慧中!!
HAHA!
Comment 53 ginzhang 2010-08-18 02:03:41 UTC
(In reply to comment #11)
> (In reply to comment #10)
> > Without you telling us who your boyfriend is, we can't really help ;-)
> *whistles*

天朝的人前来膜拜你。

Ilana's boyfriend...
膜拜

天朝的女人何时才会摆脱疼逊的圈子啊
Comment 54 chyx 2010-08-19 12:06:29 UTC
(In reply to comment #52)
> 估计这里要成为中国人的乐园!!!!! 再次西游!想当年 孙悟空一个根头十万八千里,我现在一根网线就搞定!看来悟空吾及啊!我幸在不痴不慧中!!
> HAHA!

天朝使臣发来贺电,此处已成为吾国领地,各位子民畅所欲言吧
Comment 55 xingke 2010-08-19 12:13:59 UTC
特地再次上来一下!

如果我的女人这么关注我多好啊!
Comment 56 Mina 2010-09-08 11:08:30 UTC
Dear Ilana, I feel your pain. Linux is a poison. Take number 39s comment and forget about your boyfriend. Life is very short♥
Comment 57 wang wang 2010-11-19 08:41:09 UTC
This bug is hard to fix. Maybe it can be fixed someday, but it would recur once again.

A radical cure scheme I would recommend to you is making him a China government officer, that is, the so-called public servant. Hence his attention will be paid on malversation and corruption. So he will forget what is Linux as soon as possible.

天朝组织部
Comment 58 Susanne 2010-12-15 14:38:25 UTC
Help! Ubuntu ate my laptop. Do not want boyfriend, but want my laptop back.