Jerry McBride <mcbrides9@xxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> ____/ Mark Kent on Monday 29 October 2007 10:21 : \____
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>> ____/ [H]omer on Sunday 28 October 2007 01:38 : \____
>>>>
>>>>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It took some protest for them to even include a Linux option.
>>>>>
>>>>> Really? Where did you hear that?
>>>>
>>>> In Digg.com. By the time I saw this (about half a day later), the Linux
>>>> option was suddenly there.
>>>>
>>>> Bottom line: MSBBC tried to ignore Linux, but the large number of Linux
>>>> users in the UK led to an outcry. The suppressor was unable to suppress,
>>>> so to speak.
>>>>
>>>
>>> But look at this:
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> VOTE RESULTS
>>> Will you be buying Leopard?
>>> Yes - I need new spots 22.26%
>>> No - I'm happy with Tiger 6.31%
>>> No - Linux is my OS of choice 14.43%
>>> No - I'm a Windows user 56.98%
>>>
>>> 62508 Votes Cast
>>> Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> So, 14% of people voting when reading an Apple article are,
>>> ... wait for it ...
>>>
>>> Linux users!
>>>
>>> No doubt there have been a lot of people paid to vote for our two
>>> proprietary contenders, too. Anyway, if you are a linux user and
>>> haven't voted, get on there *now* and do it! If you're an Apple or
>>> Windows user, why are you in cola?
>>>
>>
>> I could never figure out people who spend a lot of time promoting Apple
>> products. Apple already pays mil/billions for full-time marketing people,
>> so the others are doing it for free, making somebody else rich. This isn't
>> the case with Linux, which has no parent company or owner. I'm not talingk
>> about cheerleading for one Linux company like John Bailo does... I'm
>> talking about plain Linux... you know, the plain Linux that Novell is now
>> working to destroy, along with Microsoft.
>>
>
> Same for windows advocates. If windows is the dominant species, then why
> do "they" feel so compelled to defend windows/microsoft and spend so much
> energy and time bashing/fudding Linux? Talk to anyone that works with
> windows and they will tell you how horrible it is... talk to any paid
> microsoft shill and all you hear is how good it is. It's so obvious, it's
> actually funny.
>
There's a very interesting issue about people and how they think
underlying all of this. Almost all pro-Microsoft Windows people I've
come across have relatively weak technical backgrounds, but then fall
into two further sub-categories. Cat a) are those who, when given a
little more information by myself and others regarding the practices of
Microsoft as well as the alternatives, and their pros and cons
(particularly on the economics of lock-in, and the position of control
in proprietary versus open platforms), will come around to a more "open"
perspective; Cat b) are those who, no matter what is expressed, are so
technically weak that they are convinced that they could not possibly
learn anything new technically anyway, so will "demand" that Windows is
better, no matter what evidence is put in front of them.
We have quite a few Cat b)s here, and I do not recall seeing many Cat
a)s, although there could've been one or two through at some point.
People are inclined to stick with what they know, *but*, if enough
people go a different way, the same people will *go with the flow*
instead. This is the crux of the "tipping point" argument, and is why
tipping point occurs so far before the major adoption curve.
The hard part is "crossing the chasm" from a niche offering to something
which will inevitably have mass adoption. GPLed software got around
this problem completely by the nature of the licence. It's impossible
for anyone ever to become stranded with GPLed software in the way that
they can with proprietary, since it's always possible to take it forward
in some way.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| My (new) blog: http://www.thereisnomagic.org |
|
|
