[ILUG] Small office project

[cybersean3000 at yahoo.com]

Microsoft are accused by the US Dept of Justice to have something like a 
90% market share monopoly.  It is not that Winderz is intuitive, it is 
the fact that the consumer thinks he has no choice, and is confronted 
with Winderz everywhere, the work place, the consumer computer shops, 
magazines, books, adverts.  What trendy pop song did RedHat use to 
release 7.0?  What sarchastic American comedian (referring to Lotus Notes 
using Dennis Leary as a spokes person) did Mandrake hire to announce 8.0?

In order to convert others to Linux, it must be as easy and painless as 
possible to install and use.  It is unreasnoable to require the user to 
be smarter, especially a dyed in the wool Winderz user.  Computers and 
Winderz are just tools to most people, and they don't care about kernel 
versions, distribution wars, etc.  They just want to get at their spread 
sheets, documents, eMail, web sites and games.  To prostelise the 90%, 
Linux needs to be dumber, not users to be smarter.  RedHat, SUSE, and 
Mandrake have the right idea.  Tiny Linux, Debian and LFS are for the 
rest of us.  Linux is a big tent, able to hold all of us, gear heads and 
newbies alike!

One of the biggest challenges are middle managers who are afraid of 
bucking the Trade Rag Gospel according to Gates.  Every periodical, 
brochure, training syllabus and white paper praises Winderz products.  
And when asked about trying more reliable open-source solutions, they say 
something like "If it causes us lose business, who do we sue?"  In the 
class action suits against MS, how many claim "Microsoft software is 
unstable and insecure, and the crashes, viruses and worms cost us in 
overtime and lost business"? I am actually asking becasue I do not know.

Just to underscore the stupidity of it all, the US Dept of Justice now 
says that as a punishment, Microsoft must make their software affordable 
to the public school systems in America.  "You big bold monopolists, your 
punishment for having a 90% market share is to distribute more of your 
product, and if you don't you will really be in big trouble (insert  
'slapping of wrist with wet noodle' sound here)!"


On 23 Nov 2001, at 11:58, Justin Mason wrote:

> 
> Chris Higgins said:
> 
> > Windows has one way of doing things, it's the microsoft way, it's what
> > you'll find in the books... and every windows person you ask will give
> > you that same solution - because it's the only one they know.
> > 
> > When you come to a non-windows environment, the range of possibilities is
> > endless and the range of options is almost the same - and that brings 
> > with it some additional work on the behalf of the user that doesn't
> > exist in the windows world.
> 
> BTW -- just to go off on a philosophical tangent:
> 
> I reckon that a lot of the "linux sucks, windows is more intuitive"
> comments that we see, are off-base.  Next time you use Windows and
> try to do something with it, think about each step and consider
> how "intuitive" it would be to a beginner.
> 
> In my most recent experiment (viewing some streaming video for the
> Ireland-Iran match ;), I came across several moments where a newbie
> would be ringing up their techie mate to come 'round and "fix the
> computer". [*]
> 
> In other words, Windows is *not* as intuitive as people make out; it's
> just familiarity.
> 
> You can go further back -- right back to the moving the mouse on the
> mousemat, that bendy arrow button being the "Return Key", etc.  but
> I reckon most want-to-try-linux folks have got that far anyway. ;)
> 
> But anyway -- the bottom line is, linux has different ways to do things
> from windows.  there will always be a learning curve when you're making
> the switch.
> 
> ([*]: in the end I just gave up anyway, it was just too much work
> for 3am after the pub ;)
> 
> --j.
> 
> -- 
> Irish Linux Users' Group: ilug at linux.ie
> http://www.linux.ie/mailman/listinfo/ilug for (un)subscription information.
> List maintainer: listmaster at linux.ie



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