Computer zealotry
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The label Computer zealot pejoratively refers to a person who strongly advocates a specific operating system, programming language, program or hardware for every application, appropriate or not.
Some of the most common types of computer zealots include :
- BSD zealot, some one who advocates BSD.
- Linux zealot, someone who advocates Linux.
- Amiga zealot, some one who advocates Amiga software and hardware.
- Apple or Mac zealot, one who advocates Apple hardware and software, such as Mac OS X, iPod, G5 and XServe.
- Java zealot. Someone who advocates the Java programming language
- Text editor zealot. A zealot of a specific text editor. A term used in editor wars.
Since the word zealot is extreme, the label zealot is only leveled at the most extreme advocates, or used satirically.
Anti zealotry
Due to the phenomena of zealotry, so called anti-zealots have appeared. These can include parodying the zealots points in favor of the zealots pet hate, for example "PC zealots" when against Apple zealots. Trolling with "facts" about the platform, when done professionally, is known as "FUD". Highly publicizing when something is wrong with the platform, a common occurrence when a security vulnerability is found in a "secure" platform. The worst form of all is parodying the Zealots themselves, but deliberately over advocating the platform and spreading misleading facts.
Examples of places where anti zealots are common include MacSlash (http://www.macslash.org), comp.os.linux.advocacy on USENET, Slashdot BSD (http://bsd.slashdot.org), and OS news (http://www.osnews.com)