Re: What should I say to a *nix community?

[James Lampert <jamesl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lukas Beeler wrote:

> Isn't this the reason why your car industry is dieing? Sticking to
> running old 6l engines with a carburetor, instead of going with new,
> high pressure, fuel injection, turbocharged for maximum engine
> efficiency?

1. No matter how efficient an automobile engine is made, it will always 
be stuck with the inefficiency of rubber tires on pavement. Passenger 
trains, from streetcar to transcontinental, will always require the 
fewest BTUs per passenger-mile, because the lowest-technology, 
least-efficient kind of train, i.e., completely conventional steel 
wheels on steel rails, is still much more energy-efficient than rubber 
tires on pavement. And whenever a more efficient kind of prime mover is 
developed, it usually finds its way onto the rails at least as fast as 
it finds its way on the highways. For example, diesel locomotives have 
almost universally had electric drivetrains since my parents were in 
diapers, and diesel-battery hybrid locomotives have been around at least 
as long as gasoline-battery hybrid automobiles.

2. My old carbureted, normally-aspirated, Datsun 510, which would be 30 
years old this year, ran as cleanly and efficiently as my Camry does. It 
wasn't as roomy, but . . .

3. My point was that change to the "latest, greatest" is not always 
progress, and can sometimes be a step backwards. And sometimes something 
that looks like a step backwards can be the real progress.