On Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:14:29 -0700, Snit wrote:
> Goblin stated in post 4a775f8e$0$3945$6d5eeec5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on
> 8/3/09 3:07 PM:
>
>>> Contrary to being "forgotten", GNU/Linux coverage seems to be
>>> increasing at an accelerated rate.
>>>
>> Hi!
>>
>> I made similar comments a week or so ago when, for the first time in
>> about a year I too went into WHSmiths...It was coincidental that at the
>> time one of the trolls was trying to convince people that Linux was not
>> mentioned in the press.
>>
>> For those non UK'rs, WHSmiths is one of the biggest newsagent chains
>> in the country (if not the biggest) and in the computing section it
>> appears there is a Linux majority in the off the shelf press.
>
> With all that publicity, why do you think it is still essentially MIA on
> the desktop?
The problem I have with those who come out with this magical 1% every
time Linux is in the press is that perhaps Linux and Open Source software
adoption may be different in countries other than the USA. Linux and OSS
have a very strong following here in the UK, which would account for the
number of magazines available here, (supply and demand), and the vague,
confused comments emanating from so-called 'biased establishments' are
beginning to appear more frequently.
The BBC have many Ubuntu users and FOSS supporters, prompting more
articles like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8178929.stm
A recent BBC Click mentioned ChromeOS, and a demonstration of the
laughingly super-fast BT broadband trial in Wembley which showed the
reviewer downloading Ubuntu 9.04 from Virgin Media servers.
A couple of instances to back up my opinion:
1. An independent retailer of computers and peripherals was due to give a
demonstration of Windows 7 at the local computer club. He could not get
it to install on four machines he tried, but on the fifth (a new laptop),
he did manage to get it to work.
The demonstration did not go down well at the club, as when he booted it
up, the members said 'It looks exactly like Vista - what's new about
this?' A recent talk on different applications and desktops available
with Linux faired much better, the consensus was that people are
interested in change - maybe Google has pitched it right? The main
comments were the lack of Photoshop available in Linux, and out of the
box support for things that Windows users take for granted. I am due to
talk about Linux systems that have this built in soon (Pardus, Mint KDE)
I offer for comment my opinion that, here in the UK (I am not qualified
to speak about other areas of the world), users are becoming interested
in Linux and OSS at rates much greater than in other parts of the world,
for many reasons. It is simply foolish to throw opinionated assumptions
around based on what is, or is not, happening in that person's neck of
the woods. The earth /includes/ the USA - it is not the whole world.
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