VanLUG Email Archive
Do we really have a choice?
The more excitement Linux generates, the more average users are going to
"make the plunge". The open/free software community will either rise to
the challenge and make Linux work well for these folks, or they are
going to get a hybrid Open/Proprietary Linux system from a sharp vendor
who will wean them away from open software in an attempt to be the next
Microsoft.
These "joe users" are pragmatic and will go with whatever works best
right now. Having the source code is not high on their list of
priorities. Linux is interesting to them because it's in the press as
an exciting new technology, it's something that doesn't mysteriously
crash several times a day and it comes with a lot of free stuff. They
rely on the "smart kid down the street" to help them set up and problem
solve their computers -- increasingly the kid knows Linux best.
Linux is *real close* to doing everything "home users" do. Netscape has
really been a big help. A simple GUI word processor, more games and
some information titles would round it out nicely. Preinstallation by
hardware vendors at the low end is not far away now. For the US$600 PC,
software is 20% of the manufacturers' costs. How many "joe users" do
you think will chose a US$500 PC with Linux instead?
We live in interesting times.
-Brian