Hi,
On Jul 16, 9:46 am, Santhosh സന്തോഷ് VS
wrote:
> Also telling the piracy and cost of the
> extra applications they may use (eg:photoshop) and telling the opensource
> alternative.
Trust me! I tried it. But it doesn't work! No amount of paranoia is
worth some people's willingness to try something illegal. And then
there are people who complain how gimp is no match for photoshop. I
only wonder if they have even tried the basics of either s/w - much
less complain about advanced features (I am not talking about
professionals).
> Telling the hidden cost behind proprietary software is another good idea. A
> good example is vista online registration in which you may use the key only
> once. What if the system crashed and no image backup (which is also
> illegal).
This point will work with some people. The one event that convinced
me to change from windoz was when I realized that there were open TCP
ports connected to M$ servers. Since the users have no idea about such
connections, who knows what these connections are meant for! This
actually scared some people :D .
> Many other points like the source visibility could be explained
> even to beginners.
I wonder how useful a point it is for promotion. I even wonder how
many free software enthusiasts (incl me) have actually read free
source codes. Sure, there is the aspect of back doors- but that
concept is rather hard to sink in.
> Also telling the piracy and cost of the
> extra applications they may use (eg:photoshop) and telling the opensource
> alternative.
This would have been a great point - except that for most users
here, free s/w and proprietary s/w means the same - s/w for free! For
some strange reason, people seem to think that piracy is not a crime.
This is one instance when I wish companies did enforce copyright
rules.
> Yes, For those stick with windows afraid of the interface change good idea
> is introducing firefox , gimp etc.. in windows itself and finally they will
> be happy to use the same in linux.
A slow stage by stage introduction is indeed a good idea. But we
often try to solve that by emulating windoz looks on Gnu/Linux. That
is trying to hide an entirely different OS under a thin veil of the
UI. We can fool absolute beginners with that - but what then? What do
we do when they start complaining about the difference in file
systems, commands, installation methods, so on and so forth? Look at
it another way - there are hundreds of models of mobile phones out
there - but rarely do people complain about their difference in UI or
keypad. Shouldn't we be trying to arouse people's interest in trying
out something different? Trying to project free s/w as equivalent to
non-free s/w will only cause heart burn in the end.
In general, we should choose points that presents some gain to users,
like perhaps:
1. How much lesser time is wasted maintaining the OS (virus scans,
defragmentation, crash recovery, security, etc)
2. Easy 2 click install system and automatic updates
3. Extensive feature support for some apps - eg: pidgin can open
multiple IM accounts together. If you use company IM clients, you may
have to open several of them together. Same about media player - you
need several proprietary media players for different formats. Again,
the same with office suits.
4. Extensive device support - many devices are not supported yet. But
most devices work right out of the box. No driver CD required!
5. Look, feel, customization & eye candy - I am not a big fan of this.
But this community has rather successfully demonstrated its
effectiveness. In this area, it is actually better to show that free s/
w is completely different from non-free ones.
6. Trust: As said earlier, this idea is hard to sink in. But it is
still worth a try - it may work with some.
7. Lightness: Some people would rather buy expensive hardware than go
for less bloated s/w. Still, there are some who understand this point
very well.
8. Games: What do we do with that? We better hide the lack of it!
9. Bragging rights: Though free s/w supporters are often viewed as
nerds, they do command a fair deal of respect for it!
Once people like free s/w, the free s/w ideology will slowly become a
part of their religion. It is rather hard to convince beginners these
ideologies. In some matters like these, it is better to be
opportunistic than to be honest!
Regards,
Gokul Das
--~--~-~--~~~---~--~~
"Freedom is the only law".
"Freedom Unplugged"
http://www.ilug-tvm.org
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "ilug-tvm" group.
To post to this group, send email to ilug-tvm@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
ilug-tvm-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
For details visit the website: www.ilug-tvm.org or the google group page:
http://groups.google.com/group/ilug-tvm?hl=en
-~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
