[KLUG Advocacy] Re: Reactions to the Reuters article and related folly -- don't lie to yourself, nor users ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

--=-OVNyvLBoE+eBfcX9H95J
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

On Tue, 2003-01-14 at 08:44, Bruce Smith wrote:
> Here's one:  SHUT THE HELL UP!!!  ALL OF YOU!!!   :-)

No.  This is very important to dispelling FUD out there.

> I posted the article because it was nice little fluff article to
> encourage newbies to try Linux.  It said that Linux is easy to install,
> and newbies can use it to replace Windows.

And someone can in and made a very, widespread and ignorant statement.

Although he was trying to make the point, which I _did_ understand, that
most people don't care, I was trying to wake him up to the reality that
the Linux community can do *0* about what he, and many other people,
want.

Just let those users who don't get it "go."  Don't try to "appease them"
by asking for what can_not_ be done!!!  Don't ask for it, because you're
asking for something impossible.

Again:
  1.  Proliferate non-upgrades
  2.  Introduce Open Source solutions as they fulfill users needs

I'm not advocating you go "smack" the common user.  But don't lie to
them either anymore than yourself!  If you don't know how to put it,
then do _not_.  I've learned this after many years of dispelling
Microsoft FUD -- and I was a Microsoft NT "cronie" before NT 3.1 was
released!!!

> Then all you guys come along and nit pick the hell out of the article,
> erasing any credibility the article might have had with newbies, and
> scaring them away from Linux!!!

Dude, maybe I came off "abrasive," I do that.  But I'm sick and tired of
the lies that Linux people _themselves_ distribute!  Ignorance popular
is _widespread_ in the computer world.

[ E.g., On "Who Wants To Be a Millonaire," 92% of the audience thought
Microsoft published "Wired" magazine.  A $1,000 question. ]

Again, I don't advocate "smacking" the user.  Let them live in "their
world."

Don't ask for things to happen that are technically infeasible.=20
Everyone is wanting Linux to solve licensing and marketing issues
_introduced_ by Microsoft.  Linux can solve some, but reverse
engineering is the *BIGGEST DAMN WASTE* in the universe, and *NOT
EFFECTIVE* if the vendor keeps its product a "moving target."

Heck, don't wish for Microsoft to port MS Office to Linux.  Why?  It
would _suck_ as bad as the version for MacOS does!

You see, many of you don't understand the _real_ problems with the MS
Office codebase, as well as the political and marketing motivations of
"high marketshare" companies like Microsoft and Autodesk.

Just let those users go.  Don't try to "appease them."

*SOME OF YOU* (not all ;-) missed the fact that Linux is _not_ out to
"please everyone."  It's trying as best as it can, but some people won't
be reached.  Heck, how do you think Microsoft got its current
marketshare?  Ignorant users had a _lot_ to do with it.

Be kind, courteous and generally helpful to people who "don't get it."=20
But don't "oversell" or "promise the future that cannot be" when it
happens.

Sometimes the _only_ time you can reach people is when Microsoft
products clusterfsck.  And they do, trust me!  That's when I come in and
say, "I was an original NT 3.1 beta tester, and every version since.  I
was somewhat of a Microsoft insider at one point.  And I'm telling you
that Microsoft is _not_ here to keep your enterprise running."

And I help them with their _immediate_ needs, almost always with OSS, or
at least a "consumer-focused" commercial alternative as necessary.

> Sure, I know some of the nit-picky points aren't 100% accurate, but so
> what!  It's a nice propaganda piece to encourage the switch to Linux!
> And it's basic jest is true, than Linux is now easy and can replace
> Windows on the desktop!  PERIOD!

Yes.  But people think "MS Office equivalent" =3D "100% MS Office document
compatibility."

Can _anyone_ give me a version of MS Office that interoperates 100% with
a version 2 versions back???  And, again, the fact that Mac cannot read
many documents (especially in older MS Office for Mac versions -- like
_no_ .XLS to/from Windows support!) is a result of various factors (both
coding and political).

You just need to wait and "accommodate" users _when_ they run into these
issues.  Don't promise what can't be done, don't ask for it.


--=20
Bryan J. Smith, E.I. (BSECE)       Contact Info:  http://thebs.org
[ http://thebs.org/files/resume/BryanJonSmith_certifications.pdf ]
------------------------------------------------------------------
* A lecture on software piracy from Bill Gates is like a lecture *
* on adultry from the owner of a brothel of other people's wives *


--=-OVNyvLBoE+eBfcX9H95J
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc
Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQA+JC+iDjEszaVrzmQRAlEBAKCNKva10GNTRgjXrT3GkNnPN9WRCQCgleM8
K2pyG/Fk7gphH6700CdMT7Y=
=DR5B
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--=-OVNyvLBoE+eBfcX9H95J--