Roy Schestowitz came up with this when he headbutted the keyboard a moment
ago in comp.os.linux.advocacy:
> __/ [ Jim ] on Monday 25 September 2006 19:18 \__
>
>> <anecdote>
>> So any way, today I'm shopsitting, and this guy comes in spitting his
teeth
>> out over the fact that his Windows won't activate after the third attempt
>> at getting his graphics driver working (all three times b0rked his
>> installation to the point where he had to start again). So he's in
wanting
>> to buy another license.
>>
>> Being the nice guy I am, I advise him that Linux has no such activation
>> requirement, that it'll run out of the box on most typical hardware.
>> Another fifteen minutes extolling the virtues of this wonderful platform
>> and giving him the tour of the package set on my laptop, and the guy's
>> literally begging me for a copy!
>> So, I ask him if he's ever used Linux before. He's not even /looked/ at
it
>> before today. But he's that curious he's ripping the edge off the counter
>> to get a hold of a copy. So, I finally put him out of his misery and give
>> him a Knoppix CD.
>> "What about software?" he says.
>> "Eighteen hundred packages on that CD, so you can try out a pretty wide
>> range of it," says I, "And it won't touch your hard drive or your data
>> until and unless you /tell/ it to. So don't worry about your mp3
>> collection."
>> "Well, how does that help me?" asks he.
>> My answer: "If you're going to have any problems with any of your
hardware,
>> then this'll tell you pretty quick, then you can look at resolving those
>> issues. Here, you can talk to me about those, or... are you a student, by
>> any chance?"
>> "Yes."
>> "OK. Good news. Lots of your student buddies use Linux as part of their
>> coursework or as a preferred OS on their systems, because it's far less
>> expensive than forking out for a mouse and a Â65 XP Home OEM license, and
a
>> Â120 Microsoft Office Student License which expires in forty three weeks.
>> Plus whatever software on top of that you need. With Linux, you get not
>> only a very low-cost or even free OS with a MASSIVE choice in free or low
>> cost, and open source, software, you also get /community/ support which
>> extends well beyond the walls of Newton House. There're newsgroups, user
>> groups in Nottingham abound, IRC chatrooms, even at least one shop in the
>> area where you know there's someone who can help you or point you in
>> exactly the right direction for a pretty much instant answer to whatever
>> problem you might have."
>> Next thing I know, he's snaffled the CD and dropped a tenner on the
counter
>> and on his way out the door, he's like "Thanks for that, I'll be in in a
>> couple of days and tell you how it went!"
>>
>> So there we have it. A deliriously happy customer and he's not even
booted
>> the OS yet. :)
>> </anecdote>
>
> 10 quid? Who said there's no money in Linux?
funny that, considering I /gave/ him the CD... :)
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