[PLUG] more lies about Linux

Keith Lofstrom keithl at kl-ic.com
Fri Sep 11 02:16:52 UTC 2009


On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 08:44:14AM -0700, David Kaplan wrote:

> Ken points out that Best Buy, Office Depot and others are lying to people
> about Linux so they only think to buy Windows 7.

Linux is not a revenue opportunity for the stores.  Of COURSE they will
only sell Windows.  Just like Computer City, or CompUsa, or PC Club,
or Good Guys, or ... (your favorite defunct computer store here).

Do you see a trend, here?

Microsoft revenue was down 23% last quarter.  That means less money
to peddle their nonsense.  Layoffs.  Fear.  Which will lower next
quarter's revenue even more.  I don't think they are smart enough to
downsize while retaining their lock on the minds of their users, 
with massive advertising and bribes to politicians.  Death spiral.

Is the trend becoming clear yet?  

The recession is not over - in fact, it is just getting started.
August unemployment was reported as the highest in 24 years.  
Meanwhile, garden seed sales are at an all time high.  

Best Buy and Office Depot may not be here in two years.  What "they
think" will not matter.  Meanwhile, our friends and neighbors will
no longer be able to afford the "my PC has a virus, buy a new one"
yearly cycle.  They will be volunteering at Free Geek to get repair
parts for their current machines.  The Windows licensing model does
not support that.  People will learn to maintain their computers
themselves.  Easy with Linux, almost impossible with Windows.  Smart
people will stop looking for easy, and start looking for empowerment. 
Windows is entertainment.  Linux is a survival tool.

Linux is as easy as it needs to be.  It can and should be easier, 
and some of us are working on that.  Mostly Linux should be more
empowering, providing survival capabilities to people who can't
afford retail.  Since geeks need to survive, too, we are more
likely to develop and provide open and adaptable solutions than
the proprietary folk.  And if we keep our eyes open, we are more
likely to find survivable niches when the money appears to be gone.

If we want Linux to dominate in the future, we should stop trying
to emulate dancing paper clips and learn how code, document, teach,
run a business, and most of all listen.  A new world is coming. 
I don't think it will have a place for a Microsoft monopoly. 
Whether it has a place for computation depends on us.

Keith




-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs



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