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From: M <ihatespam.0.a101...@spamgourmet.com>
Subject: Re: [News] Gates: "Ubuntu is a bigger threat than Mac OS X to Windows"
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
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Date: Sat, 06 May 2006 17:08:01 GMT
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DFS wrote:

> M wrote:
> 
>> What consumers need is a choice at the point of sale.
> 
> Get to coding.  Get to selling.
> 
> 
>> What they also need is for the cost of their
>> operating system to be separated out.
> 
> The vast majority of the people don't care, and in fact are glad the
> system comes ready to run.
> 

Well it rather depends on your definition of 'ready to run'. Not every PC
with windows pre-loaded comes with a load of bundled applications. If all
you get is the Windows OS then it's a bit limiting. If you have got
broadband then that certainly helps.

One of the linux distros that 'works out of the box' (and there are a few),
would be a much better bet. It would also have the advantage that it comes
with a load of software packages that are free to install and use, and are
not full of payloads that you don't want.

> 
>> At the moment they are not really given the chance to make an
>> informed choice.
> 
> This is the only way cola nuts can rationalize away the failure of desktop
> Linux: the population isn't informed or isn't given a chance (variants of
> "the world is stupid").  Why aren't they informed?  Whose responsibility
> is
> it to tell me I can run Linux or BeOS or any other operating system?  Why
> should a vendor sell and support an unpopular operating system?
>

The hardware supplier pre-loads windows on the PC because he thinks he is
doing the customer a favour by having it ready to go. Although you could
equally argue that he is doing himself a favour, because he knows you will
be back in a few months time to get it flattened, and he can charge you for
the privilege. Last thing he needs is for you to be educated and to know
what he is up to.

 If you have a look around you will see a *large* number of pc's being sold
with XP Home edition on it. If I have got to have windows pre-installed, I
would rather it came with XP Pro. In a *lot* of cases you don't even get
this simple choice. 

You might be able to claim that it was unpopular if everyone knew about
Linux, truth is most don't. I am also willing to bet there are a lot of
people who don't know what Solaris is either.
 
> 
> 
>> In the vast majority of cases the computer is sold
>> pre-loaded with MS Windows, and the cost is hidden.
> 
> So is the cost of every single component and app in that system.  Yet cola
> complains ONLY about Windows.
> 
> 
> 
>> In spite of all the efforts that Ubuntu (and it's siblings) along with
>> PCLinuxOS and all the rest to make installation really easy, from the
>> people I have talked to, linux still seems to have a perception
>> problem. If people are not open minded either then that doesn't help.
>>
>> It would be very interesting to see if people's perception of Linux
>> would change if one of the Linux vendors went on the offencive with an
>> advertising campaign,
> 
> Now you're making sense.  First obstacle faced in Novell's marketing
> meeting is "How are we going to pay for full-page print ads [for
> 3/6/12mths] in PC
> Magazine, Computer Shopper and Maximum PC?"  They can't pay if nobody buys
> Suse - I can't imagine server sales alone will support such expensive
> retail advertising.
> 

May be Novell doesn't have the money to mount an advertising campaign, I
don't really know, but Google certainly does, and could very easily go on
the offensive if they choose to do so.

> 
> 
>> or if computer mags started to educate the general public about linux.
> 
> Maximum PC recently wrote a good article on the experiences of one of its
> editors who switched to 100% Linux for 6 months.  PC Magazine mentions
> Linux frequently, though with not much detail or inches of coverage.
>
> The Linux magazines are already good, I think (except for Linux Magazine -
> needs some pizzaz).  I feel like Linux Format is a truly excellent
> computer magazine, though at $15.99 here in the States it's too expensive.
> 

I don't think you are going to buy Linux Format unless you are running
linux, and as you say the price, is also quite an effective deterrent.

> 
>> I think Google started advertising Firefox on their US web site.
> 
> Don't see it just now.
>

Has it now disappeared?
 
> 
>> Would be really interesting to see what would happen if they also
>> started pushing Linux too, and the campaign went world-wide. This
>> strikes me as one company that could seriously undermine Microsoft if
>> they choose to do so.
> 
> Possibly.  I do believe a successful desktop Linux marketing campaign HAS
> TO include OEM vendors offering Linux pre-installed on a decent range of
> retail
> systems, both online and in-store.  I also believe a selection of in-store
> games and apps - proprietary with a high price tag - will help drive Linux
> adoption.

-- 
Regards,
M

http://za1012001.googlepages.com/home