Then you have those people who have actually switched away from linux after years of use.. Interesting, I guess that would be like a Muslim becoming a christian or atheist ;)<br><br>-Steve<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 10:27 PM, Bob Blick <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bobblick@ftml.net">bobblick@ftml.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="im">Jordan Erickson wrote:<br>
<br>
> This needs to be communicated to school districts. Even better,<br>
> alternatives need to be communicated to *everyone*, because most people<br>
> still don't KNOW that you can run anything but Windows on a PC (PC. vs.<br>
> Mac is a great example). If people understood what open source was,<br>
> especially schools, many of them would be running Linux instead of Windows.<br>
<br>
</div>That made me smile. Here are two reasons why you are wrong.<br>
<br>
1. Since someone else pays, Windows/OSX and software are essentially<br>
free to schools. So why switch to something that requires time to<br>
master? They already know how to use Photoshop and Word.<br>
<br>
2. Substitute "Christianity" for "Windows" and "Islam" for "Linux" and<br>
think how your communication plan would play out. You can just as easily<br>
get someone to switch to Linux as you can get them to become a Muslim. I<br>
know that's not a great analogy and not perfectly true, but you probably<br>
see there is something to it.<br>
<br>
People switch to Linux as an individual decision. Change comes from<br>
within. It's a slow process and what flips that switch is different for<br>
everyone.<br>
<br>
I've been using Linux for something like 16 years but when someone asks<br>
me about it, it's rare that I suggest they try it. The "bar" is still<br>
higher than Windows/OSX and the last thing I want is for someone to try<br>
it who is not ready and then they are soured for life.<br>
<br>
Cheerful regards,<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Bob<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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