Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderingKnight
I'm not saying it should matter only to programmers. The openness of software should matter to everyone--since the more open it is, the more chances it has to be improved upon by the community, even if you're not part of the development community. I know I'm not, and I'm benefited daily by the Open Source community and the fact that it's free (as in speech).
I barely qualify as a coder, and among the Ubuntu Argentina users, probably less than 25% are programmers. And yet everyone is benefited by the openness of software, and everyone regards it as a useful thing.
Of course, I'm not denying that. What matters to me is that Windows has such a deep entrenchment on the market that people don't even choose. They just accept whatever's shoved down their throats, and Microsoft gets to be one of the most powerful companies in the world that way.
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See the "openness" is also a problem not from the security standpoint but from a more all encompassing directional standpoint. At times open Source o/s have so many things they're trying to fix each fix invariably breaks something. Personally the the last 3 xubuntu/ubuntu updates have broken audio on java sites which I then have to fix. Which was time consuming the first time, a mild annoyance the second and downright irritating the third.
From a corporate standpoint what choice do you have? All your staff is windows trained, all your hardware is windows based, there's a severe shortage of qualified Linux technical support in most western countries. The lack of standardization is a massive issue from a staff training perspective. Most corporate environments can get away with a Linux based network but there's no way you could roll out Linux on an unsuspecting workforce and expect not to take a massive hit in productivity. (I can see the most common thing asked "where's my start button" and other similar level questions)
And we seem to forget open Source isn't just linux and it's derivatives. Audacity, Firefox, Thunderbird Open Office are all open source available on windows. It's not like Linux has the market cornered on open source.
Demonising M$ isn't doing Linux any good either. They just have to compete and refine the product (which at the end of the day is all it is). It's still too alien to the consumer. case in point the return rates for linux based netbooks (the eee I think from an article I read recently)which is triple that of the xp version - main cause stated it was too foreign to them. Now this is a very very basic system were talking about too.
Personally I think Linux needs to get it together as a package - training, support and the product. Not every one knew Windows use pre 1995, but all of a sudden training was everywhere. Every one felt confident in the day to day use. I look around for a Linux course and I have a total of 0. A lot of websites but no standardized approach. The documentation can be hit or miss.