From: "Timm Murray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > The biggest problem with getting a GNU/Linux for the masses is being > able to walk into a store like Best Buy or CompUSA, see a box running > GNU/Linux, and take it home. The hard part of GNU/Linux is just setting > it up; after that, it just works. Your Aunt Louise probably couldn't > even set up Windows from a bare hard disk, so why would we expect her to > be able to set up GNU/Linux. > > Once I see GNU/Linux boxes sitting on the shelf at Best Buy, I will know > that we have won. Excellent point, Timm! :)) *Everyone* can help with this. All one has to do is ring up all the computer dealers in one's area, come across as an interested buyer, and ask about new computers with Linux pre-installed. If the sales rep says 'no', then say "I'm sorry, I don't feel good about dealing with a company that perpetuates Microsoft's illegal trade practices", and hang up. Cheers David ----- Original Message ----- From: "Timm Murray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 14:40 Subject: Re: [freenet-chat] Re: CPRM in BIOS > David McNab wrote: > > > From: "Seth Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >> http://www.slashdot.org/yro/01/02/23/2134255.shtml > >> http://pcsupport.about.com/compute/pcsupport/library/weekly/aa030101a.htm > >> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/2/17230.html > > > > > > Looks like the copy protection 'arms race' is set to flare up like never > > before. > > > > The copy-protection advocates, like IBM, 4C, BSA, RIAA etc will do > > everything in their power and bloated budgets to lull the consumer into 'pay > > per view', and accepting all levels of privacy violation and suppression of > > intellectual freedom. > > > > Thank goodness that universities, as opposed to (say) cable companies, > > masterminded the birth of the internet. Their legacy of freedom of > > information will prove hard to defeat, but the 'information capitalists' are > > determined and extremely well funded. It's going to be one helluva fight. > > > > I can envisage future versions of Windows which will firewall any > > non-standard internet traffic (blocking protocols not approved by M$, > > including Freenet), and which will require constant phoning home to > > Micro$oft to keep tabs on users. > > > > I can also see a heavy thrust towards 'web-ware', software which will simply > > not run without the cooperation of central servers. > > > > The first step in this is the new Windows XP and Office XP, which shut down > > unless they are 'activated' via phoning home to M$. Soon, the only operating > > system available with new computers will be XP. (I bet the cracking scene > > has already found a workaround to this:) ) > > > > I guess the key to victory here is to make all efforts to keep the public > > suspicious of the content industry - a process of education, from the > > grassroots level of telling all one's friends and acquaintances, through to > > larger-scale activism. Encouraging people to switch to Linux and free > > software in general. > > > > Optimistically, though, I can see Linux becoming so user-friendly that it > > will ultimately emerge as the operating system of choice, with the majority > > of PC buyers saying no to windows and promptly installing linux. Mandrake is > > a leader in usable linux, with their 8.0 version delivering a class act in > > ease of installation and usage. Not *too* far to go before Linux is truly > > fit for mass consumption - 18 months perhaps? > > > My personal opinion is that Mandrake is a broken, broken distro. It is > easy to use, though. And my opinion stems from personaly using ver. > 7.2, so perhaps 8.0 has gotten better. > > The biggest problem with getting a GNU/Linux for the masses is being > able to walk into a store like Best Buy or CompUSA, see a box running > GNU/Linux, and take it home. The hard part of GNU/Linux is just setting > it up; after that, it just works. Your Aunt Louise probably couldn't > even set up Windows from a bare hard disk, so why would we expect her to > be able to set up GNU/Linux. > > Once I see GNU/Linux boxes sitting on the shelf at Best Buy, I will know > that we have won. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Chat mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.freenetproject.org/mailman/listinfo/chat > _______________________________________________ Chat mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.freenetproject.org/mailman/listinfo/chat
