In Silicon Valley, alternative computing is easy
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| A lot of tech types talk a good game about the high falutin' democratic
| principles of open source code, but it's what they do behind closed
| doors that really counts. And it's there that many well-meaning users
| balk at a commitment to what has traditionally been seen as an admirable
| but
| intimidating personal-computing path. But with all the community support
| at hand in Silicon Valley, there's little to fear from Linux anymore.
|
| [...]
|
| Linux replaces the original operating system, so the computer must
| be reformatted first. "It's like the foundation of a house," said Paul
| Reed, Silicon Valley Linux User's Group (SVLUG) president. "You can't
| flush it out without knocking down and rebuilding."
|
| [...]
|
| The extensive support is recent, compared to earlier years when Linux
| was esoteric and you had to go somewhere and create a user's group to
| get help, said Reed. Open source has become more mainstream, especially
| with Silicon Valley's startup mentality.
|
| [...]
|
| Linux has grown in popularity because of the ability to escape the
| Windows "treadmill," said Reed. "Linux runs on weird, underpowered
| hardware," he said. "You don't need to buy a new operating system
| every 18 to 36 months that won't run on the old machine because it's
| too slow, making it so you never get off."
|
| This makes Linux cheaper from a personal standpoint, because the cost
| of upgrades that go with Microsoft software is avoided, he said.
|
| [...]
|
| Linux usage in Silicon Valley is growing tremendously, said Aitkin
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http://www.metroactive.com/metro/07.26.06/alternative-computing-0630.html
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