Well said! I've been discussing that in length at my site recently. I disdain fanboys. I try to avoid any fanboyism myself on the things I'm passionate about. You can be passionate without being a fanboy, and some people don't realize that. So in the end, my thoughts are, "Be passionate about whatever you believe in. Just never, ever be a fanboy."

Definition: Fanboy

An individual with an unbounded passionate belief in something on which they have no proper knowledge, understanding, and/or reason for why they believe in said object, other than it's "cool", it's "the best", or some other vague reason.

I think the best way to be passionate about what you believe in, but avoid being a fanboy comes from, interestingly enough, Christian witnessing guidelines.

1. Be prepared to give an answer for what you believe in. IE, if someone asks you why you believe in it, don't give them some trite answer. Give them a good, quality, informed answer.
2. Be polite. Don't rant and rave and act like an animal. (or inversely, like an idiot)
3. Talk on the level of the individual. If you discover that you're either talking above or below them, adjust your speech so you're either on, or as close to the same level they are.

Trust me, these three simple tips work wonders when dealing with people new to Linux. Heck, I ought to know. I teach enough of them.
My experience with Ubuntu hasn't been that great. However, I've had great luck with Linux Mint, a stepchild of Ubuntu (they seem to have fixed many of the issues I had with Ubuntu), and most of the new users I've introduced to it just adore it.

But to each his own. Just because I don't like Ubuntu doesn't mean it won't work for others. The only thing I hate are the raving fanboys.

Benson: LOL. Awesome comic!

Agreed. My mother and brother use it extensively and, after a time of using it, no longer prefer Windows. (My brother uses Windows on his laptop to play WoW.. but even that runs fine on his Linux box lately too.. he's pondering dumping Windows altogether lately.) My sister wishes she could, after trying it out, but her laptop's a damned Acer with a really crooked ACPI that makes a lot of things broken under Linux. Otherwise, she seemed to take to it easily when she tried it on a Live CD.

Come on, folks.. how hard is Ubuntu/Kubuntu to use, reeeeally?

Mind you--I barely have had to aid them. Only on a very rare moment, and usually not a usability problem (usually if there's a crash or a compatibility problem... same thing users would do in Windows if they ran into problems--they call the geek in the family).

I often boggle that they're allowed to drive cars and vote.

Bring back the Atari vs Commodore vs Apple wars, man! Come on! Those were FUN!

Ah, I miss those days. Atari and Apples never had a chance against Commodores and Amigas. Anyhow...

I find it ridiculous the overzealous did more damage to Ubuntu by harassing the girl and calling her names. Who wants to be a part of a community that does that?

apple still create a fair share of flames with its products, just check out the iphone related threads...

This woman must be extremely computer illiterate (I know many people I'd consider to be computer illiterate, none of them match up to this...) or looking for attention.

I personally love Ubuntu. Having always used windows, I decided to get into linux. A friend of mine who's an avid fan of Debian suggested Ubuntu to start off with, then move into other distro's once I got the hang of it.. I'm glad I did so. Despite how much many linux fan trash talk it for various reasons (mostly I've heard that it's just generally not as good because of its ease...) it's a great distro for those moving away from windows for the first time. Jumping into other distro's would just be mean.

This may be more of what I have been seeing a lot of lately...
Call it a kind of blind faith in technology.

Apparently the pace of technology has exceeded the ability of some to understand it thoroughly. This includes Doctors, Lawyers and people with advanced degrees. It is easier, and less time consuming to just blindly accept that the little box does "x" when you push button "y" than to admit a short coming in understanding and actually do something about it... like learn.

Unfortunately as the pace of technological development accelerates, the percentage of people who chose "blind faith" as a way to go through life will also increase.

makes one wonder if not sir clarke was right after all...