On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 11:52:50 -0400, Bob George <mailings02@ttlexceeded.com> wrote:
Marc Hughes wrote:
I got 5 invites to gmail if anyone wants them.
Nothing personal intended, but why on earth would "the linux crowd" WANT such a thing? I've been having an ongoing discussion with some of the Phoenix LUG members. Everybody seems to be falling over themselves to store some of their most personal information on SOMEBODY ELSE'S servers. True, Google promises that they won't do anything bad with the info. But even after reading the ToS, I'm creeped out by the idea. One of the reasons I find linux appealing in the first place is that it give me the capability to be (largely) idependent of others, and free from their machinations. I hated being part of @Home (few years back) knowing they were more focused on the marketing aspect rather than just providing me the bandwidth I craved.
Anyhow, now that drives are cheap, and we can run and fully control our own servers, what's the APPEAL of gmail?
I don't see gmail as conflicting with Linux ideals. Linux is about choice. I feel having my email on someone elses machine is worth the benefits it gives me. Some people may hold their email conversations muce more dearly than I. Those people could make the choice to do things a bit more difficultly and register a domain and run their own mail server. -Marc