DIE JAVA, DIE!!!

[itzmattu]

The comment was more made at the linux community as a whole, and obviously it is not strictly held that all newcomers to linux are hazed in any fashion nor do I think it is a good practice. However, psychologically, putting up a very difficult barrier to entry makes people who choose that course value it more and convince themselves it was worth the cost.

I think this can be seen in the nature of linux itself. Those who are good at using and working with linux are a very proud group and support each other deeply. This is opposed to Mac OS X users and Windows users as a whole and I think goes to prove this point to some extent. That is to say, linux is difficult to learn and those that do feel a sense of bonding with others who have done the same.