algeriatul team mailing list archive

[Tom <1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi :)
Barry has.  Check his recent attachments to this list.  

I'm
 not suggesting ranting.  Richard Stallman seems to get away with it but
 i probably wouldn't.  Barry's approach seemed to be very effective.  
Make them feel the market pull.  The market is changing.  These shops 
will only realise that if increasingly they find that customers ask for 
compatibility with Gnu&Linux.  

As the "age of the desktop" 
ends we see people use a plethora of mobile devices, from laptops to 
hand-helds and even down to watches which almost all entirely  run on 
unix-based platforms.  Mostly that is Gnu&Linux (such as Android, 
Blackberry, soon Ubuntu) but Apple's iThings (iPad, iPhone etc) are also
 strong in the market.  Often devices are used in  a combinations  that 
co-operate with each other.  MS is infamous for taking over rather than 
co-operating.  Gnu&Linux tends to co-operate.  

There needs 
to be many different layers of approach.  Richard Stallman is good for 
those that are into "Direct Action" such as ranting or finding the 
specific day that FSF organises for massed returns of desktops to demand
 refunds on unused Microsoft licenses.  Direct action entrenches people 
though and pushes them into fighting back so we need other approaches.  

Class
 actions and legal routes have been used against MS before and MS often 
loses in such cases.  The RTF case.  The web-browser wars.  Generally 
fighting MS in court seems to suck all the energy and drive of an 
organisation.  Opera won against Internet Explorer in court but they 
don't reap the benefit.  At least, not yet.  The companies involved in 
the RTF case similarly vanished.  They won pyrrhic victories.  Court 
action needs to continue but so do other approaches.  

The 
professional approach of Mark Shuttleworth and they way Barry used are 
more likely to result in dialogue that opens the way for businesses to 
realise they need to support the new range of devices that almost 
exclusively don't use Windows.  If they only support Windows in the 
future then a lot of those businesses will go bust.  They need to know 
that.  We need to let them know.  Humour and professionalism go a long 
way.  

As you point out businesses might suffer if they offer 
options at the moment because MS will withdraw support from them.  
However there will be a tipping point where businesses find that they 
can do without the support because so many people have been demanding 
non-MS support.  

It's not the case the 1 approach is good and 
another bad or that 1 way leads to victory and another doesn't.  All 
different ways going on at the same time does seem to be getting there.  


So, if you are in the UK then check out Barry's recent attachments.  Modify and apply for yourself.  
Regards from 
Tom :)

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu 4
dz, which is subscribed to the bug report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1

Title:
  Microsoft has a majority market share

Status in Club Distro:
  Confirmed
Status in Computer Science Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in LibreOffice Productivity Suite:
  New
Status in dylan.NET.Reflection:
  Invalid
Status in dylan.NET:
  Invalid
Status in EasyPeasy Overview:
  Invalid
Status in Ichthux - Linux for Christians:
  Invalid
Status in JAK LINUX:
  Invalid
Status in LibreOffice:
  In Progress
Status in The Linux Kernel:
  New
Status in The Linux Mint Distribution:
  In Progress
Status in The Linux OS Project:
  In Progress
Status in The OpenOffice.org Suite:
  In Progress
Status in Tabuntu:
  Invalid
Status in A simple player to online TV streaming:
  Invalid
Status in Tv-Player:
  Invalid
Status in Ubuntu Malaysia LoCo Team Meta Project:
  In Progress
Status in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in Arch Linux:
  Confirmed
Status in Baltix GNU/Linux:
  Invalid
Status in “linux” package in Debian:
  In Progress
Status in Fluxbuntu: The Lightweight, Productive, Agile OS:
  Confirmed
Status in openSUSE:
  In Progress
Status in Tilix Linux:
  New

Bug description:
  Microsoft has a majority market share in the new desktop PC
  marketplace. This is a bug which Ubuntu and other projects are meant
  to fix. As the philosophy of the Ubuntu Project states, "Our work is
  driven by a belief that software should be free and accessible to
  all."

  "Ubuntu software is free. Always was, always will be. Free software gives everyone the freedom to use it however they want and share with whoever they like. This freedom has huge benefits. At one end of the spectrum it enables the Ubuntu community to grow and share its collective experience and expertise to continually improve all things Ubuntu. At the other, we are able to give access to essential software for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it – an advantage that’s keenly felt by individuals and organisations all over the world."
       * http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/our-philosophy

  Non-free software leaves users at the mercy of the software owner and
  concentrates control over the technology which powers our society into
  the hands of a few. Additionally, proprietary software stifles
  innovation, maintains artificial scarcities, and enables malicious
  anti-features such as DRM, surveillance, and other monopolistic
  practices.

  This bug is widely evident in the PC industry.

  Steps to repeat:

      1. Visit a local PC store.
      2. Attempt to buy a machine without any proprietary software.

  What happens:

  Almost always, a majority of PCs for sale have Microsoft Windows pre-
  installed. In the rare cases that they come with a GNU/Linux operating
  system or no operating system at all, the drivers and BIOS may be
  proprietary.

  What should happen:

  A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software.

       * http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
       * http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
       * http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/clubdistro/+bug/1/+subscriptions