Subject: a semiotic view of win and dos ? for your musement . . .

definitely , a play of musement : subject : the software schism ( fwd ) thanks to nancy owens ( nowens @ csun . edu ) and harold goldwhite ( harold _ goldwhite @ qmbridge . calstate . edu ) i append extracts from a piece by umberto eco that was first posted on the internet in oct . 94 : " . . . i am firmly of the opinion that the macintosh is catholic and that dos is protestant . indeed the mac is counterreformist and has been influenced by the methodical path of the jesuits . it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach-if not the kingdom of heaven - the moment in which their document is printed . it is catechistic ; the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons . . . . . dos is protestant and even calvinistic . it allows free interpretation of scripture , demands difficult personal decisions , imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user , and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation . to make the system work you need to interpret it yourself ; the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment . . . . . with the passage to windows the dos universe has come to resemble more closely the counterreformist tolerance of the mac . it 's true : windows represents an anglican - style schism - - big ceremonies in the cathedral but with the possibility of returning to dos to fiddle with things . with windows you can still decide to allow women and gays to be priests if you want to . and what about the machine language that lies beneath both operating systems ? ah , that is the stuff of the old testament , talmudic and kabbalistic . " alan c . harris , ph . d . telnos : main off : 818-885 - 2853 professor , communication / linguistics direct off : 818-885 - 2874 speech communication department california state university , northridge home : 818-366 - 3165 spch csun fax : 818-885 - 2663 northridge , ca 91330-8257 internet email : aharris @ huey . csun . edu
