[NBLUG/talk] #se7en -- http://windows7sins.org/

Bob Blick bobblick at ftml.net
Wed Sep 2 22:27:26 PDT 2009


Jordan Erickson wrote:

> This needs to be communicated to school districts. Even better, 
> alternatives need to be communicated to *everyone*, because most people 
> still don't KNOW that you can run anything but Windows on a PC (PC. vs. 
> Mac is a great example). If people understood what open source was, 
> especially schools, many of them would be running Linux instead of Windows.

That made me smile. Here are two reasons why you are wrong.

1. Since someone else pays, Windows/OSX and software are essentially
free to schools. So why switch to something that requires time to
master? They already know how to use Photoshop and Word.

2. Substitute "Christianity" for "Windows" and "Islam" for "Linux" and
think how your communication plan would play out. You can just as easily
get someone to switch to Linux as you can get them to become a Muslim. I
know that's not a great analogy and not perfectly true, but you probably
see there is something to it.

People switch to Linux as an individual decision. Change comes from
within. It's a slow process and what flips that switch is different for
everyone.

I've been using Linux for something like 16 years but when someone asks
me about it, it's rare that I suggest they try it. The "bar" is still
higher than Windows/OSX and the last thing I want is for someone to try
it who is not ready and then they are soured for life.

Cheerful regards,

Bob



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