Comment 920 for bug 1

Here again, two old arguments:
1. Linux does not come pre-installed. My answer: are people still buying
crappy hardware instead of having it assembled ? Most good techies will
install Linux for you, and charge for the labor. In Apple or MS-Windows you
pay a heavy price for programs, the profit for the techies is in there. It
will *not* cost you less; to buy better hardware.

2. Too many choices, no one standard. True. Otherwise we would all be using
MS-Windows with an upgrade or die every 6 months, viruses galore and a blue
screen of death every hour . (yes I'm exaggerating)

Note, Ubuntu is extremely popular, that's great. But it should never be the
only distrro. How many Linux users are there worldwide? Look it up !
Allengg

On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 11:31 PM, spandanj <email address hidden> wrote:

> Please take a look at the following article:
>
>
> http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/linux/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100714
>
> where it presents causes and solutions to fixing linux. The causes can
> be summed up as too many choices lead to fragmentation before it leads
> to or along with innovation. You can't bring innovation if different
> software/components won't work with each other in the first place.
> Although open source sounds much better than closed source
> philosophically, it's implementation to provide user-friendly computer
> experience is not achieved--IMO, mainly due fragmentation of software.
> The greatest advantage of open-source philosophy ie. to allow freedom of
> choice to design as per a particular individual or a group's preference
> and inspiring innovation, is also it's greatest weakness because it
> leads to fragmentation at many levels which eventually leads to sub-par
> user experience. Obviously, in theory, by allowing anyone to contribute
> in bringing change to the linux software universe, it should bring
> faster innovation than in a closed-source enviroment where an authority
> holds power over what changes are allowed. However, open source software
> (OSS) fails because the changes and innovation are not co-ordinated <--
> a direct result of a lack of supreme authority. very good example that I
> know of is the Audio API -- alsa, pulse, etc. Very annoying. In fact,
> such fragmentation hinders innovation. Consider the fact that there
> isn't an audio editor that works under ubuntu 8.04 that supports pulse.
> Compare that to a universe of audio editors available for windows
> platform! Software developers working with windows are fully aware and
> clear about specifications for design because there's only one
> specification--windows. That is much easier than fitting to not only
> many but also ever-changing specifications found in linux universe!
>
> That is the fallacy of choice. Due to this fallacy, the potential for
> open source innovation is not realized and leads to a chaotic user
> experience.
>
> What I would like to know is the steps taken to overcome this fallacy.
> Please list them here. Is FOSS one of them? Open "standards"?
>
> --
> Microsoft has a majority market share
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Club Distro: Confirmed
> Status in Computer Science Ubuntu: Confirmed
> Status in Ichthux - Linux for Christians: Confirmed
> Status in JAK LINUX: Confirmed
> Status in The OpenOffice.org Suite: Invalid
> Status in Launchpad Translations: Invalid
> Status in Tabuntu: Confirmed
> Status in Ubuntu: In Progress
> Status in "bum" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "casper" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "djplay" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "firefox" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "ubuntu-express" source package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
> Status in The Breezy Badger: Invalid
> Status in The Dapper Drake: Invalid
> Status in Baltix GNU/Linux: Confirmed
> Status in "linux" source package in Debian: Confirmed
> Status in Fluxbuntu: The Lightweight, Productive, Agile OS: Confirmed
> 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 is designed to fix.
>
> Non-free software is holding back innovation in the IT industry,
> restricting access to IT to a small part of the world's population and
> limiting the ability of software developers to reach their full potential,
> globally. This bug is widely evident in the PC industry.
>
> Steps to repeat:
>
> 1. Visit a local PC store.
>
> What happens:
> 2. Observe that a majority of PCs for sale have non-free software
> pre-installed.
> 3. Observe very few PCs with Ubuntu and free software pre-installed.
>
> What should happen:
> 1. A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software like
> Ubuntu.
> 2. Ubuntu should be marketed in a way such that its amazing features and
> benefits would be apparent and known by all.
> 3. The system shall become more and more user friendly as time passes.
>

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