So now I've given up on pricing Windows XP Server -- apparently, it's ceased to exist, or never existed in the first place.
So I'm trying to price Windows 2000 Server. And this is so difficult that Microsoft has a web page titled How To Buy Windows 2000. I have reduced the process to three easy steps, presented IRS tax-form style:
1. Calculate your net worth. Enter it on line 1.
2. If the amount on line 1 is less than zero, STOP. You may not buy Windows 2000.
3. If the amount on line 1 is more than zero, write a check in that amount and send it to Microsoft. We will send you one Windows 2000 server license.
Seriously, though, WTF is up with the CAL's? Do I need one to connect to an IIS process running on the server, or just to connect to file sharing/print sharing/RAS/terminal services?
Jeez, I understand why people get excited about free software. You just waste less time figuring how to license things.
Colby's heat, phone, and -- most importantly -- DSL are out, prompting him to dizzy heights of irony:
9:33 am We have heat! And I'm broke. But we have heat! Not only will I never take heat for granted again, I'll never even take the concept of taking things for granted for granted. What other pleasures of civilization am I failing to appreciate sufficiently? Hot water from a tap! Nicotine! Deodorant! Corn shavers! Telephones! ...oh, right.
Unfortunately, I have to pretend this isn't a joke so I can ride one of my favorite hobbyhorses. Everyone with a sense of humor, please duck out now.
...
Right.
I had this conversation a couple of times with Peace Corps volunteers who said things like "I'll never take running water/flush toilets/24-hour convenience stores for granted again."
Modern conveniences exist so you can take them for granted. In fact, you only receive their full benefit when you take them for granted.
If you don't take these things for granted, if you fall down on your knees and thank Edison every time you flick on a lightswitch, what kind of pathetic moron will you be? Our advanced society is about taking these things for granted: that our utilities will work, that the water will flow, that the bread will be delivered to the stores, that the waste will disappear from the cans in back of my house.
These things don't happen by magic, to be sure. It is some poor schlub's job to keep the sewers running. But that schlub is getting paid adequately for the unpleasant aspects of the job, so he does it, so I don't have to worry about it.
The time I don't spend worrying about sanitation, I can spend doing productive work and causing the Canadian economy to grow. (Go Team!) Or posting here. But I can only have that security by taking civlization for granted.
It makes me want to tear my hair out.