[TriLUG] RE: This is what happens when a OS company shoots its self in the foot (MS Vista)

[Matt Frye]

On 12/26/06, Cristobal Palmer <cristobalpalmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> It honestly isn't about lack of common sense. It's about sensemaking
> of your options.

With specific respect to Linux, a few more reasons why many more
people haven't dumped Windows are:

1) Lack of leadership - People are sheep.  Without a leader,
rebellions don't get off the ground.  The open source MO doesn't
support clear leadership and when leaders could emerge, they are
either making deals with M$ to save their own ass (Novell) or exude so
much ambivalence (Red Hat) that it's a real turn off.  Much fewer
people feel empowered as a result.

2) Design goals are backward - This is a point I made on the Open
Source Now list
(https://www.redhat.com/archives/open-source-now-list/2004-August/msg00015.html)
about 2 1/2 years ago.  The open source typically produces two kinds
of software:
     a) software written for developers or their friends
     b) knockoffs of proprietary software

With a few notable exceptions, the open source community fails to
produce truly awesome products.  Part of the problem is the "scratch
an itch" basis upon which open source projects often come into being
and the Unixy "do one thing well" approach.  It's fine that the sort
command doesn't read my mail or tell me what time it is, but that's
just why it's no fertile garden for innovation.

Lack of innovation perpetuates itself right down to the activist
level.  We find ourselves selling Grandma on Linux because "it's just
like windows."  In the end, people who would use Linux aren't
interested in your dissertation on freedom, and they interpret "lack
of innovation" as "apathy."

Ultimately, what you do inside an OS is *way* more important than what
OS you do it on.  Web 2.0 is proof of this.  This is why M$ now fears
Google more than Linux.  Tools will eclipse OS as an important
battleground and that's where real innovation starts.

So, if Windows puts bread on your table, fine.  Entrepreneurs often
can't turn away business because customer wants Windows.  And why
would they?

When it comes to being tech support for friends and family, I teach a
man to fish.  I don't have time to fish for them and I already
volunteer with Linux.  OS has nothing to do with it.


-- 
Matt Frye
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattfrye
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