"The Ghost In The Machine" <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:98sc74-l2c.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> http://www.seopher.com/articles/why_linux_should_be_taken_over_vista
>
> Reasonably good, if lean, article. But then, if it were a huge article
> it's not clear how many would read it. :-)
Agreed that it's reasonably good. A few small nitpicks, though.
<quote>
3. The Community
The Linux community is an active and helpful group of people able to provide
advice, support and any number of tips. This means that if you're stuck or
at a loose end - there's a massive group of people (for each major distro)
on hand to help you out. This is not something Microsoft offers beyond a
help section on their website.
</quote>
This is misleading. AFAIK, no distro "officially" provides free support.
For official support with Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. you have to pay support fees.
However, these distros have message boards, IRC channels, newsgroups, etc.
on which you can ask questions for free, and other users of the OS can chime
in and provide "unofficial" support.
But of course, this is true for Windows as well. There plenty of message
boards, IRC channels, newsgroups, etc. on which you can ask Windows
questions for free, and other users of Windows will chime in an provide
unofficial support too.
<quote>
6. Regular Updates
Get tired of things quickly? Well distros such as Ubuntu release a new
version every 6 months allowing you to receive new features on a bi-annual
basis. For free don't forget. So every 6 months you'll get a more stable,
more user friendly, more compatible version of your operating system?
Useful.
</quote>
"Get tired of things quickly?" is kind of a weak hook line. For the
segment of the population who would not label themselves "computer
enthusiasts" (i.e. the majority), given the choices "don't change anything"
and "I want a new version of my OS every 6 months", they'd probably mostly
choose the former. These type of people are very risk averse, when it comes
to computer. I know one guy who would rather have the "This copy of Windows
is not genuine" message pop up constantly, than "risk" running a free-tool
which removes that message.
I'm not sure what target audience this top-10 list is directed at, but
if it's at potential converts, I'd rephrase number 6.
<quote>
10. Customisation
Finally, because most things are done in an open source way, it means that
dedicated members of the community can modify the code to create mash-ups or
extra functionality. This means that whatever you want - it can be done (if
it hasn't already) without having to pay for new software.
</quote>
This glosses over the fact that most people who use Linux and FOSS will
not be able or willing to modify the source code to add the features they
desire. It also glosses over the fact that a lot of FOSS is available for
Windows (Vista) too, and is more of a FOSS vs CSS argument than a Linux vs
Vista argument.
Otherwise, the article is pretty clever in its choice of wording and
would probably make an effective (and relatively FUD-free) form of advocacy.
- Oliver
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