__/ [ 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 £65 XP Home OEM license, and a
> £120 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?
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