Political Blather

[Bradley Hook]

We tried to use Vista. We (a team of 3 techs) couldn't get a brand new 
HP printer to work. That's a deal killer, and certainly a permanent loss 
of me as a user. (Note that Linux and Mac OSX had an easier time than 
even WinXP with this printer)

Everything is a matter of perspective. Yeah, Linux can be a pain in the 
arse to get up and running, but once you get it there, it stays there. 
Many of our users are slowly migrating away from Microsoft products to 
open-source alternatives, mainly because of stability and consistency.

We have roughly half of our administrative staff using a decent amount 
of OSS now, where 2 years ago it was just me. Every single one of them 
migrated by choice, and none of them are tech savvy. Granted, I'm the 
only one to go (almost) pure-OSS, but I imagine within the next year or 
two we will have a much more diverse set of platforms on campus.

~Bradley

Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> A Snow Penguin is off topic, but this intense exposure of sociological 
> ignorance isn't?
> 
> Windows sells because Windows works.  Most of the time, for most people, who 
> need it specifically for one thing or another.  Linux can be made to work 
> better if a) you're very lucky or b) you are or have access to a Linux guru.
> 
> My dad tried Linux - I think it was a Knoppix disk I sent him - and he 
> couldn't get his printer to work.  That's a deal killer - and probably a 
> permanent loss of a potential user.  Not everybody would have an easier time 
> using a Linux computer, even one running Gnome.
> 
> There's a reason there isn't a "College of Conservative Arts".
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