>From: michael hast <evylrobot19@cox.net>
>Reply-To: slug@nks.net
>To: slug@nks.net
>Subject: Re: [SLUG] New Windows Singularity
>Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:43:39 -0600
>
> I was talking with a die-hard M$ tech today about Linux. He said that
>he has played around with it, but he doesn't think he'll ever want to
>pursue seriously using it. He said that he knows a lot of people that do
>use it, but he doesn't think it will ever "catch on" for the masses. I had
>to agree with him. To most people, you could hang laptops from the ceiling
>in a haunted house, and it would be creepier than a guy with a chainsaw and
>a hockey mask. From there, if you take away what people percieve to be
>secure and familiar--the OS--they will really freak out. I've been shocked
>at how many people say to me, "I don't even know what Linux is." On SFD,
>giving away live and install cd's was brilliant. I have to tip my hat to
>every one that was involved with that. If you have handed them a cd and
>told them that it won't affect their computer, they will take it. Hey,
>free software, good deal, right? When they get it home, they will try it.
>Sooner or later, the curiousity will catch up with them. Even so, I
>don't believe that an entity like Linux will ever take a foothold in the
>mainstream. For one, it is not a unified entity that can have a marketing
>department, or support centers, or any of the things that make people feel
>like it's okay. (Some of you will probably argue with me on this.) Yes,
>if I purchase a copy of Redhat or Mandriva, it will come with support. But
>most Linux support comes like the Slug list for the obvious reason that the
>GPL causes diversity in programming. The average user would not consider
>replacing their precious OS with something that a handful of people wrote
>in their free time, and most people have a hard time thinking of something
>free as useful. That, in a nutshell, is my take on the double-edged nature
>of free software. I like it (although I'm not really well versed on the
>command line yet.)
>
>--Michael
Speaking of handing out Linux CDs and SFD, there is an interesting article
over at NewsForge that explores what became of some individuals a few months
after having obtained live and install discs for Ubuntu:
http://os.newsforge.com/os/05/11/07/1646250.shtml?tid=2
I often wonder myself if software that I give to family and friends ends up
buried under a stack of papers in a corner or installed and used frequently
on a computer.
-Jonathon
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