A reason why Linux is behind in North America
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| PaulFerris Jan 13, 2005 7:15 AM EDT |
It's rather simple, actually. People in North America, in the past decade mostly, have been able to afford it. Oh, and let's not forget it was illegally crammed down their throats, pre-installed on the hardware they bought. When Windows costs 150 bucks, and that represents a week of excess income, you might think it's a bargain. When it represents two years of income, you begin to look at alternative operating systems. Can we still afford, especially in bad economic times, this kind of overhead for software that we (collectively as a business whole) already bought and paid for a few times over? Answer: Sometimes. But it's getting harder and harder to justify. The rest of the world easily sees the cash on the table. Finally, there's the whole "open-source strategy as a way to get better pricing from Microsoft" vector -- businesses that aren't at least looking at open source are really not seeing the whole leverage-in-reverse dimension. |
| mdl Jan 13, 2005 8:26 AM EDT |
Agree, but I think the main factors are: 1. It is hard for the average consumer to buy a PC without MS preinstalled. They will use what comes on it, because..... 2. Chances are, they are already familiar with MS. For some reason, most people are reluctant to learn something new... even if it is better. This situation will, unfortunately, change slowly. But it will change. |
| PaulFerris Jan 13, 2005 8:45 AM EDT |
Oh, it might happen more abruptly, but we shouldn't speak of such things -- some inspired 15 year old kid might get bored and speed things up. Of course, then Microsoft, after another few billion dollars in data and time resources have been blown, will point to the kid and and say "if it weren't for people like you, we'd all be safe!" -- not -- "Maybe we should have designed our software with security in mind." |
| DrDubious Jan 13, 2005 10:27 AM EDT |
Or, to reiterate my "Slashdot" .sig, which I think explains not just the slowness with which the Windows(tm) majority has been eroding but just about ALL human behavior: "1: People are lazy. 2: Thinking is work." |
| mvermeer Jan 13, 2005 12:02 PM EDT |
I think there is more to it. Firstly, the role of nationalism. Microsoft is an American success story. True, you have to look away from the moral dimension to make it an unqualified success, but lots of people are willing to do that. Outside America, Microsoft looks much more like the threat it is, especially with tacit Washington backing. Secondly, there is ideology. America has traditionally been more friendly to business and capitalism than Europe and the rest of the world, sometimes uncritically so. In that climate, the depiction of Linux as a collectivist kind of thing may easily work against it, especially in the minds of people that aren't very smart :-) - Martin |
| PaulFerris Jan 13, 2005 12:27 PM EDT |
Martin, what you're trying to say is that some people think it looks a lot like communism. (right?!? :) Well, I can understand the comparison, except it's possible to build a company in America that makes money from Linux (RedHat). It's actually quite paradoxical. The GNU/Linux phenomena represents a paradox when you start comparing it to political ideologies -- especially ones that are pure in the design but when implemented present people with power issues that totally negate the design ; human nature can spoil the best of dreams. If Linux is really communal in nature (and the word community has a Latin root here to support that I'm sure), why, oh why has it had such a positive impact on Microsoft's products? Like the quality for one -- if Linux wasn't around today, I'd wager that Microsoft products would be orders of magnitude more unusable and unstable. So, there Linux is, providing some competition ("Competition GOOD!" says the capitalist). It's also forcing their pricing down ("Lower prices, GOOD!" says the capitalist). It's very much like democracy for operating systems ("Democracy, GOOD!" says the capitalist). As you say, it looks like something else in the minds of people that aren't very smart. Unfortunately, a lot of those people are lobbist for our government ("Lobbiest, GOOD!" -- yeah, right!). *sigh* --FeriCyde |
| mvermeer Jan 14, 2005 2:05 AM EDT |
> Martin, what you're trying to say is that some people think it looks a lot
> like communism. (right?!? :) Right... and wrong. Those people don't think. They manipulate or are manipulated. Those that think know better. ...and yes you're right. Those still beholden to MS products should be happy about Linux's existence and competitiveness, a ray of light in their Soviet computing experience. Arguably a large part of Linux "value" to society goes through Redmond... Windows users ought to be grateful and support us! - Martin |
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