Windows Is Free - The impact on Linux

[zapjb]

Windows Is Free
The impact of pirated software on free software

.......A recent column on Zdnet, by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, discussed the reasons why people won't change from a retail operating system to a free one. The implication is that Linux can't even give away their softhttp://tlug.jp/articles/Windows_Is_Freeware.

That sounds pretty dire. Windows retails for around 200 US dollars, give or take depending on which version and where you buy. If the above statement by Mr Kingsley-Hughes was true, it means that Linux is so bad that people would gladly pay 200 dollars to avoid it. Do users really think Linux is that lame?



Read the whole article - fn amazing! -zapjb
Edit: I yanked this from the Linux section. Maybe it'd get more views & responses here. Thanks.

Source: http://tlug.jp/articles/Windows_Is_Free

[fritz]

A MUST READ article...

[backlash]

I installed ubuntu on a laptop I have b/c of this article. Now to get my wireless card working...

[tacoflavakiss]

This is an amazing article.

[4play]

The article is not a bad read though its really is needlessly long.

the point that windows is widely pirated by home users is one of the reasons for Microsoft's dominance in the market. but piracy is not the only factor stopping people from using Linux.

offices and academic institutions have become locked into Microsoft products for various reasons

1)the .doc format only works on office, everyone uses it so your gonna need a copy of office to do business or read your lecturers notes. open office has 95% of the functionality of word and 100% of the stuff i use but who is going to be able to use a odf document if they don't work with word.

2) Microsoft's business practices of punishing pc manufacturers who even dare mention using another os. by reducing the discount they give to pc makers they could easily kill them off. instead of costing $75 a copy its now $230 that's a big cut in their profit margins.

what people forget is that your average office or home user will wait years before replacing that ageing pc. it really is going to take years before decent Linux distros dribble into the mainstream pre installed on machines. I was in an office the other day that still uses windows 95.

very few will actually go out and install a new os on their machine. i know people who want to replace their machine because its running slowly and things keep popping up.

pc makers can also offset the actual cost of them buying copies of windows for their machines by installing crapware on peoples machines for a price. anyone ever bought a new machine that doesn't have 42 icons on the desktop selling stuff from real player to casio.com, as far as i know bonzi buddy doesn't work on Linux yet but rest assured when market share tips he will.

The article claims its impossible to know exactly how many copies of windows are counterfeit but rest assured they have very good numbers using their new windows genuine advantage software but they refuse to show them since its in their best interest to keep people pirating and maintain market share. if they really wanted to they could disable pirate copies but it would hurt them since people would start looking at alternatives.

[true_neo]

In addition to 4play's post, I can't remember seeing gaming mentioned too much in the article. It was just a footnote that gaming companies might offer more games on Linux if it becomes mainstream.

This is a sort of a vicious circle, because I dare say a large copy of enthusiast gamers (meaning those who keep on top with the latest hardware) run Windows because 99% of all games work best on Windows. If you paid $3000 for new hardware, you don't want to lose $750 worth of performance (assuming things like Cedega takes a 25% performance toll on games). That would just be money out the window.

Games won't come to Linux because it's not mainstream, and Linux won't become mainstream because games don't come to Linux.

[Snee]

1)the .doc format only works on office, everyone uses it so your gonna need a copy of office to do business or read your lecturers notes. open office has 95% of the functionality of word and 100% of the stuff i use but who is going to be able to use a odf document if they don't work with word.

.doc works with Open office as long as you don't might getting the occasional bit of formatting scrambled, but I get what you mean. Especially about the article being needlessly long.

WRT true_neo's post, I'm not sure that games have to come to Linux before it becomes mainstream.

I know an awful lot of people who pretty much only use their computers for surfing, checking their e-mail and word-processing, and several more who only ever play what comes pre-installed with windows (ie: mine-sweeper, solitaire and etc.) and possibly the occasional spot of Mah Jong. My impression is that it's not the lack of games holding them back from using Linux, it's that they either don't have a clue that it exists, or they don't want to leave windows (what with them having mastered navigating their cluttered start-menus, after years of trying, like). Which is much in line with what the article says.

I agree on that if ever big game companies started releasing their games for linux, it'd be a huge boost towards making it mainstream, though.

[zapjb]

How much of the general public could install an OS, any OS from scratch?

5-10% maybe.

[4play]

@true_neo gaming really inst a big deal when it comes to pc's. schools and the work place really don't want you installing the latest games on their machines that's where Linux will start to take off. like snee said the majority of pc users will use it to check their email, browse the web or maybe play video/music. The market for game enthusiasts who buy the latest hardware is tiny in comparison to the regular users.

oh yeah id software do release native ports of most of their games to linux.

Linux at the minute is well placed to slowly take off on the desktop

1) support is now being offered by huge companies (red hat, Ibm, novell...) this is a must for businesses to actually adopt since they feel its a must if something goes wrong.

2) cross platform apps like firefox, thunderbird, open office and amarok(well soon) make the desktop underneath inconsequential. If you can use firefox on windows its a fair bet you can find that same icon on any Linux distro these days and use it.

3) security is also a major factor, I know lots of admins who are sick of windows viruses because some user has open an email up and infected the machine. It then spreads through their network easily and you then have to clean lots of machines to get people working again. downtime in any office is bad and is not forgotten easily since it cost the company MONEY.

4)hopefully open office xml (which is Microsoft attempt at an open office document type) will get rejected for use by governments worldwide in favour of an actual open document type the 'open document format'(odf). Then people are not locked into using Microsoft office and widespread adoption of open office will occur. imagine your buying a new pc it comes with Microsoft office for an extra £30 or you can get open office free which do you get. don't get me wrong it will take years until people stop using .doc but it will come sooner or later.

5)vista flopped big time. people are either sticking with xp or they looked for something else and where probably surprised you can get a mac or this new linux thingie.

I am no fan of Microsoft but windows xp was a fantastic os and is going to be with us for a lot longer than any other. its not uncommon to still be using windows 98 in this day and age so imagine how much of an improvement the next os is going to have to be to get people to convert.

[SynsNow]

Quite a good read, thanks.
Main problem is just the image imo:
windows - standard
mac - designer, graphics, multimedia
linux - computer savy, (hacker distro?)