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RIclimber

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I get this when I click on Rhode Island.

Server Error in '/' Application.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Description:

An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. 

Stack Trace:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]Geocaching.UI.local_default.DisplayLocale() +2200Geocaching.UI.local_default.Page_UserLoggedIn(Object sender, EventArgs e) +71Geocaching.UI.WebformBase.LoginUser(User user, Boolean saveToken) +1240Geocaching.UI.WebformBase.IsLoggedIn() +878Geocaching.UI.local_default.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) +92System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +67System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +35System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +731

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I get this when I click on Rhode Island.
Server Error in '/' Application.

It has nothing to do with the OS. It's GC's side getting hit to hard at one time. For now we have to deal with it :anibad: , hopefully, not too long. And the answer is yes -- GC does know about this. SF1

Edited by strikeforce1
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Is this about bringing it to the attention of the GC.com folks that the servers are broken, or a platform for a Windows/Linux flame war?  Just stick to the issue and leave the OS choices out of this.

The messages are going to contiue until some MAJOR upgrades are done.

 

And as someone said in another thread... they want us to by $3 for an website I can't access? I would love to access more features but if I can't access the site I can't use the features

Edited by TeamMenoss
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And as someone said in another thread... they want us to by $3 for an website I can't access? I would love to access more features but if I can't access the site I can't use the features

Therein lies the rub. You want more stability, up-time, etc. before you'll spend $3/month (that is 10 pennies a day) to support GC.com. In order to give you more up-time, etc., GC.com needs to have more capacity (hardware, software, bandwidth - all aliases for money in this case).

 

The free service GC.com provides is outstanding. Yes, there are times that the site is slow due to hoards of people tyring to use it. It is those hoards of people that make the hobby/game/sport/recreation that is Geocaching viable/fun/etc. When the site is too busy I go do something else for a while and come back later.

 

I was so pleased with GC.com and I've gotten so much enjoyment out of caching that I gladly ponied up for the premium membership. I want to continue to geocache and see the h/g/s/r continue to thrive.

 

My question to you is: what is the service (cache listings, forums, etc.) that GC.com provides to you worth? If you say it is worth something, then why not give something to the site (in the form of a membership). If you say it is worth nothing then why are you using it?

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And as someone said in another thread... they want us to by $3 for an website I can't access? I would love to access more features but if I can't access the site I can't use the features

My question to you is: what is the service (cache listings, forums, etc.) that GC.com provides to you worth? If you say it is worth something, then why not give something to the site (in the form of a membership). If you say it is worth nothing then why are you using it?

I never said it was 'worth nothing'.

 

FREE is good

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FREE is good

Absolutely free is good. Some wise man once said "Anything free is worth what you pay for it." In most cases I have found that to be true. However, GC.com is an exception to that. It is worth much more than what non-paying users pay for it.

 

I never said it was 'worth nothing'.

But are you saying it is worth something? If so, put an amount on it.

 

How many times per week do you visit the forums, search the site for nearby or interesting caches and read logs? How many watch list emails do you receive per week? Add those numbers, multiple by 4. Divide $3 by the product. That is your cost of usage.

 

Your earlier point, however, reads like you want something better than what you are getting for free before you'll start to pay for it.

 

BTW - I am no way affiliated with GC.com or TPTB. Just a satisfied geocacher and GC.com consumer. It is irksome to me when ( a ) people complain that what they are getting for free isn't good enough and ( b ) they aren't willing

to be part of the solution.

 

Edit: to remove unintentional UBB code

Edit 2: to fix typo - which reminds me - whe are we getting that spellchecker? <jk>

Edited by NoLemon
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Your earlier point, however, reads like you want something better than what you are getting for free before you'll start to pay for it.

So if I access a informational mapquest page I should pay them too?

 

I'm getting the feeling in order to have a opinion here you're not a VALID member unless you pay $3 a month.

 

I'm NOT complaining about what I get for free. I was trying to give a solution to the problem... and it was meant to be funny. Hence "and class"

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Non-paying members do contribute, too. They hide caches, they log finds (thereby keeping others informed about the status of the caches), etc. They keep up the activity. Without them, Groundspeak could not exist. It is very misguided to represent non-paying members as cheapskates who just want a free lunch.

 

That said, I have recently upgraded my membership. But for my money I expect at least satisfactory performance of the server even during weekends.

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Hey Chris, I forgot to mention that I am a prem. member. I figure that it helps. I can't imagine the work. Having been a volunteer for years I can tell you that people sometimes forget what that word means. I am very pleased that something like this does exist. I can't log in during weekends...I'm not complaining, I just log in during the week :( . Hope to see your caches soon, Dawn ;)

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Non-paying members do contribute, too. They hide caches, they log finds (thereby keeping others informed about the status of the caches), etc. They keep up the activity. Without them, Groundspeak could not exist. It is very misguided to represent non-paying members as cheapskates who just want a free lunch.

 

That said, I have recently upgraded my membership. But for my money I expect at least satisfactory performance of the server even during weekends.

I'm not a cheapskate, nor do I think non-paying members are. But non paying people ARE members.

 

I too have volunteered (too long for some organizations) and been walked on. I never complained about the site being down. I merly stated a way to fix it.

 

I feel like I've said this before

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Is this about bringing it to the attention of the GC.com folks that the servers are broken, or a platform for a Windows/Linux flame war?  Just stick to the issue and leave the OS choices out of this.

The messages are going to contiue until some MAJOR upgrades are done.

 

And as someone said in another thread... they want us to by $3 for an website I can't access? I would love to access more features but if I can't access the site I can't use the features

Ok, so you're saying one of two things. Either you'll pay for the site if it wasn't based on a .net architecture, or you'll continue to complain about growing pains experienced when you use a service you aren't even paying for.

 

It doesn't matter if you come to the forums once per day or once per year. You're still using the site when you access cache pages, log your finds and submit new cache hides. I agree with the challenge to put a dollar figure on the service you use per month.

 

Let's try a comparison. You pay for ISP service, right? If so, how many of those services are you using and to what percentage do you utilize their features? Do you use newsgroups? If not, maybe you should campaign for a reduction in your service.

 

I wouldn't say your an 'invalid' member if you aren't a premium member. But I would say that if you're going to be so vocal about site issues (i.e., weekend downtime), then perhaps you should put the money where your mouth is so you have a foot to stand on when complaining about not being able to access a service you are actually PAYING for. It's fine to bring it to the attention of TPTB, but to be a smart-a** about it (I saw nothing 'funny' about your comment), is highly inappropriate.

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Ok, so you're saying one of two things.  Either you'll pay for the site if it wasn't based on a .net architecture, or you'll continue to complain about growing pains experienced when you use a service you aren't even paying for.

 

I wouldn't say your an 'invalid' member if you aren't a premium member.  But I would say that if you're going to be so vocal about site issues (i.e., weekend downtime), then perhaps you should put the money where your mouth is so you have a foot to stand on when complaining about not being able to access a service you are actually PAYING for.  It's fine to bring it to the attention of TPTB, but to be a smart-a** about it (I saw nothing 'funny' about your comment), is highly inappropriate.

I didn't start the thread about server issues someone else did. I just stated a way to correct it.

 

I still feel premium members don't feel non-payers are "pulling their weight".

I was NOT being a smart @** and I don't appreciate the comment. I NEVER complain on these forums about downtime.

Edited by TeamMenoss
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I didn't start the thread about server issues someone else did. I just stated a way to correct it.

 

I still feel premium members don't feel non-payers are "pulling their weight".

I was NOT being a smart @** and I don't appreciate the comment. I NEVER complain on these forums about downtime.

Your "solution" was to switch from .net to linux. Do you REALLY feel that would solve the problem? Many, if not most of the absolute largest and busiest websites in the world run on M$ servers, not linux. GC.com is big, but I doubt it's serving up a billion pageviews a month that Microsoft.com does. So do you REALLY think this was an OS issue? .Net can't handle the load and linux can?

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It apparently doesn't matter what I think because when I made that comment I wasn't a premium member.

 

It would be completely rediculous to even attempt re-writing a 15,000+ page website from micro to linux. It was a joke, that no one got.

 

So now I've coughed up $30 for the yearly membership, do I have a voice now?

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[...] or you'll continue to complain about growing pains experienced when you use a service you aren't even paying for.

[...]

I wouldn't say your an 'invalid' member if you aren't a premium member. But I would say that if you're going to be so vocal about site issues (i.e., weekend downtime), then perhaps you should put the money where your mouth is so you have a foot to stand on when complaining about not being able to access a service you are actually PAYING for.

You are not being nice. What you wrote here almost sounds like you are accusing him of stealing.

 

I think it is fair from a non-paying member to comment that he wouldn't pay for a service that is almost useless when one would like to use it most. The $3/month is not a donation to Groundspeak so that they can hopefully improve their service. It is the fee for the existing service. If the service is bad then it's not worth the fee. I have just become a paying member but if the service continues to deteriorate I will go back to non-paying again.

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It apparently doesn't matter what I think because when I made that comment I wasn't a premium member.

 

It would be completely rediculous to even attempt re-writing a 15,000+ page website from micro to linux. It was a joke, that no one got.

 

So now I've coughed up $30 for the yearly membership, do I have a voice now?

It's what you say, not how much you pay. You're talking out both ends here.

And class...

 

This is why we use Linux and not Windows

I didn't start the thread about server issues someone else did. I just stated a way to correct it.

So was it a serious (to you) solution to the problem like you said before, or was it a joke, like you say now?

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It's what you say, not how much you pay. You're talking out both ends here.

I didn't start the thread about server issues someone else did. I just stated a way to correct it.

So was it a serious (to you) solution to the problem like you said before, or was it a joke, like you say now?

Brian said I had to buy a foot to stand on.

 

The joke was: that its a solution to the problem if you have 4 years to rewrite every page in the database. Is this really even worth the discussion anymore?

 

The sites down. Nothing we say here is going to fix it. They are doing the best they can with the means that they have.

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It's what you say, not how much you pay. You're talking out both ends here.

I didn't start the thread about server issues someone else did. I just stated a way to correct it.

So was it a serious (to you) solution to the problem like you said before, or was it a joke, like you say now?

Brian said I had to buy a foot to stand on.

 

The joke was: that its a solution to the problem if you have 4 years to rewrite every page in the database. Is this really even worth the discussion anymore?

 

The sites down. Nothing we say here is going to fix it. They are doing the best they can with the means that they have.

My implication was not that anyone is stealing service by not paying a voluntary membership to support Geocaching.com. By paying that monthly/yearly fee, it helps sustain the site, and provides those cachers with additional resources not available to the 'free membership'.

 

Often times, it's always appeared as though those who aren't supporting the site financially are the biggest critics when there are site outages. In that, no I don't think there's a leg to stand on, because they are doing little to help ensure that the site continues to run and has the finances to expand when necessary. It's perfectly fine to be out there caching without paying for a membership, as this is what Jeremy has always wanted Geocaching to be. It's like voting. Don't vote, don't complain about those elected. Vote, you have a right to complain about those elected.

 

For at least 18 months, I wasn't a paying member of the Geocaching community. But I saw the benefit of doing so, and that $3/month has saved me literally hundreds in paper/ink costs by the use of PQs and going completely paperless. I also see it as a small contribution to making sure that an activity I've received so much enjoyment from continues to exist. Sure, it may fund a minute portion of the resources necessary to keep this site operational, but it's *that* much more that wouldn't be available if I wasn't contributing my 2 44oz drinks/month.

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Ok, a PQ is a Pocket Query. Long story short, you can customize as many PQs as you want, but receive a maximum of 5/day.

 

What you see on the actual cache page is what is contained inside a PQ. They come in either .gpx (the best format) or .loc. You can use a program like EasyMPS to open them directly into MapSource if you're a Garmin user.

 

You use the .gpx files along with a program like Cachemate or Plucker to download the cache pages directly into your PDA for paperless caching. What results is a more compact load to take while caching, and you can read cache notes, logs, decode hints all within the PDA programs. If you cache quite a bit and print tons, you'll LOVE this feature.

 

No, you don't need a $300 PDA to go paperless. In fact, I use a Palm IIIxe and it's more than sufficient for caching. You can find them (with cradle) for as little as $10 on eBay. And thanks to some polite ribbing by some cacher friends, I've sold my soul to Cachemate, because of its versatility. Heck, you can even log your find in great detail on a specific page within the program. Makes for logging finds pretty simple. In terms of cost savings, the expense up-front of buying a PDA will pay for itself without a doubt.

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I think that there are a lot of folks jumping to incorrect conclusions in this thread about what the $3/month pays for. There are many different economic models that businesses can use and if you think that the only source of revenue for GC.com is the premium membership revenue, then you are obviously mistaken. It might not even be the primary source (only Jeremy knows for sure and he would be a fool to disclose details about GC's budgets to us). Thus to link the premium membership fees to anything that has not been specifically identified as it’s benefit would be a delusion. The premium membership does not buy you priority login or prioritized throughput. If that is what you want, then you can suggest to Jeremy to set up a separate server for premium login. But you might want to be careful about what you wish for, because it might be that the premium members are the ones who tie up the service the most.

 

I would speculate that the GC.com economic model depends on having a large base of individuals who see the ads. Thus interactive access to cache data is granted freely for everyone. It obviously costs money, but it increases user number and allows collection of more funds from advertisers and sponsors (part of the economic model). Some “premium” services are available at a separate cost that is not necessarily driven by what it costs to deliver that service (e.g. PQs, restricted access to one’s "premium" cache pages, and ability to view "premium" web pages). If these three services are not worth $3/month to the end-user, then GC has a problem.

 

If a user does not intend to use any of these three services, then why would s/he pay for premium membership? Why would someone subscribe to something and then never use it? Surely you don’t do that with anything else (TV, phone, utilities, newpapers, etc).

 

Now I know that you don’t have to do a lot of research to find out that Hynr is not a premium member. At the same time, if you think that I have not paid, then you have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Things aren't always what they seem to be.

Edited by Hynr
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On that note, what's a PQ? how can that help me with the need to print the cache pages?

 

If it has to do with a PDA I don't have that, but I'm curious.

Brian pretty much explained what you do with a PQ, but not what one is:

 

Pocket Queries are basically searches of the site that are fully customizable (sp?). You can specify what type of cache, the cache size, who placed it, whether or not you've found it, if it contains TB's... ohhh, the list just goes on and on! They are the greatest thing since pull tab beer cans! If you are a premium member, try running some, but don't click on a day to generate. You can still run the search (preview) and see what you get. Basically, what a PQ does is allow you to tailor which caches you wish to search for and where you wish to look. The file you get from the query contains all the information that is on the cache page, so you can do all manner of things with that information.

 

You receive the PQ as a file in your email (usually takes a couple of minutes) which you can then run through the various programs that Brian talked about. I use the "Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) myself. With GSAK, I can then upload the coordinates (and notes!) directly to any reciever, and load the cache pages directly to my PDA (Color 16MB for $70), and view the waypoints in Mapsend. I've not tried Cachemate, so I can't speak of it personally, but I've heard good things about it. GSAK does everything I need it for.

 

As far as going paperless is concerned: when I was on vacation last March, my father and I went caching. One day, we went to Columbia, SC; the next day, Beaufort and Savannah. It took maybe fifteen minutes a day for me to create and run a query and load 500 waypoints to FOUR GPSr's and then load the cache pages to my PDA. How long would that take if you printed the pages and manually entered the coordinates???

Edited by E = Mc2
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I don't manually enter coordinates because I use EasyGPS and download through the data cable. I have a Magellan SporTrak Map.

 

I know I can't get the logs uploaded, will PQ's load to my GPSr? Or just to PDAs?

 

I read the blurb about eBooks and just got more confused.

 

I don't know if I trust paperless. The last updated software I loaded into my GPSr cleared all my memory and I was not pleased. Although if I had probably read the instructions, it probably warned me... :o

Edited by TeamMenoss
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I take it the forum server is different than the gc.com databases? I can't connect to anything right now, keeps popping into a weird search engine asking if I want to search for gc.com! LOL

 

I'm not getting email notification too, well one topic and that's it.

 

Took three times to get this message posted:

 

PHP Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in E:\Inetpub\forums\GC\sources\Drivers\mySQL.php on line 101

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I am struggling to get onto the main page, or any one cache page even with a direct link. Ive been having a lot more problems this past week or so than ever before. Im not sure what the problem is, but I hope TPTB have some idea and are working on it to fix it. This does not seem to be a question of peak hours since I look at the site on off peak times. Getting to the site 1 out of 2 times is not fun, and even then, moving around the site is excruciatingly slow.

 

This is not a bash post, only an fyi post to let you know Im having problems. Thank you.

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I don't manually enter coordinates because I use EasyGPS and download through the data cable. I have a Magellan SporTrak Map.

 

I know I can't get the logs uploaded, will PQ's load to my GPSr? Or just to PDAs?

 

I read the blurb about eBooks and just got more confused.

 

I don't know if I trust paperless. The last updated software I loaded into my GPSr cleared all my memory and I was not pleased. Although if I had probably read the instructions, it probably warned me... :P

To answer your first question, you can use the PQ for both PDA/GPSr. When you download to your Magellan, all that really transfers from the PQ are the waypoint ID, cache name and coords. To the PDA goes EVERYTHING. eBooks really aren't what you're using in this case, because the conversion programs basically convert all the PQ info to useable html which your PDA can easily read. But depending on the program you use, the way you access that information is a bit different.

 

Your comment about paperless doesn't really address anything related to the issue, as far as I can tell because firmware updates are completely different than downloading waypoints. Firmware updates to the GPSr, depending on how old the previous version is, WILL wipe out everything on your unit when you perform the update. Also, depending on the manufacturer (Garmin, Magellan or Lowrance) the memory may be wiped out period when performing upgrades. That's why I download EVERYTHING from my 60C before performing any sort of firmware update, just to save those things I really want, and simplify the process of replacing the information post-update.

 

When you download to the PDA, the information you had before is kept along with the information you want to add, unless you choose to manually delete a cache entry. Cachemate allows me to import my converted PQ into one of several customizable 'files'. I send them all to the Not Found folder for simplicity sake. When I check the Found box, the cache page is automatically archived into the Found folder, removing it from the current list of yet-to-find caches.

Edited by Brian - Team A.I.
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You guys are missing one fact about PQs.

You don't need to be a PDA for the PQs to be useful.

 

Programs like GSAK and Watcher can filter and sort caches 1000 different ways, better and faster then the website ever will. You can then print those pages from within the program if you like.

Say you are caching with little kids; filter out everything tougher then a 2/2.

You plan on heading north to go caching? Just display caches north of you.

Don't like micros/virtuals/multis/whatever? Filter them out.

Can't stand the way Team Xyz hides caches? Ignore them.

Going on a trip and have a laptop but won't have internet access? Load a few PQs onto it before you leave.

Want to plan a cache-a-thon to a new city? Use Watcher or GSAK to pick the caches you want to do, then feed those to your favorite mapping program for routing.

That's just a few examples. Almost all my cache planning is done off-line. The only thing I still need the website for is to log them, and hopefully in the near future even that will be optional.

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OS flamewar is fun... and as all knowledgable sys admin's know, Linux is the way to go when you want server performance. And having to program in VB .net, OH THE PAIN!

 

A site with a HUGE number of hits, google.com, runs Linux. IBM mainframes are starting to run Linux.

 

Oh, and don't forget what microsoft.com is running...

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=mircosoft.com

 

/extremely biased toward linux

Edited by kone
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OS flamewar is fun...
They may be fun for some, but seldom productive.

Oh, and don't forget what microsoft.com is running...

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=mircosoft.com

 

/extremely biased toward linux

 

Biased enough that you don't think we recognize a subversive typo in an attempt to be deceiving when we see it?

 

Yeah, I wish the site were more stable too, but yanking the chain of the house in this way is unlikely to accomplish anything but irritating those involved.

 

(And before geocaching, I'd lived a microsoft-free life for about ten years, so don't start on me for being a MS fan-boy.)

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OS flamewar is fun... and as all knowledgable sys admin's know, Linux is the way to go when you want server performance.  And having to program in VB .net, OH THE PAIN!

 

A site with a HUGE number of hits, google.com, runs Linux.  IBM mainframes are starting to run Linux.

 

Oh, and don't forget what microsoft.com is running...

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=mircosoft.com

 

/extremely biased toward linux

Oh yeah, the "typo" wasn't toooooo obvious.....

 

try the REAL link for the busiest servers on the internet:

http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=microsoft.com

Don't forget to check a few other little sites like ebay and see what they you.

OS flames will get you nowhere but on a troll list.

Edited by Mopar
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Well, that mircosoft link was supposed be an obvious humourous misdirection... should of added in the B) I guess.

 

Regardless, my honest prediction is that Microsoft Server will not be around in 10 years from now. It will all be replaced with Linux / FreeBSD or some other open source systems. In other words, I think Mircosoft will completely die in the server market. And if I'm bold, I might also say the desktop market.

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In other words, I think Mircosoft will completely die in the server market. And if I'm bold, I might also say the desktop market.

B)B);)

 

oh man that's good.

 

Seriously, Microsoft/Linux debates are oh so lame. They're tools. Blame the programmer for misusing the tools (me).

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