Comment 740 for bug 1

@ Rooker:
Okay, point taken.

If people we educated in the first place to use Linux (e.g. Ubuntu ;))
then a whole new generation of people would be more open-minded. It is
a good point. However, I still feel like most people teach themselves
the important computer skills. They main learn to use Microsoft Office
from doing it. The point about what parents want their kids to learn
is equally valid though. Pupils *should* be taught the most useful
skills. But they should also be taught alternatives - the benefits of
open source ideology.

This is because I think the Information Technology part of the
National Curriculum in most countries is quite young and
inexperienced. It kinda lacks direction - doesn't yet know exactly
what it should include.

So the answer here would be to somehow persuade governments to put
something about the benefits of open source ideology in the national
curriculum. What a great idea! - how can we achieve it?

Come to that, I think that the open source community could do with
better representation in general. Everyone involved with it knows what
it is. We know the benefits and the ideals, but other people don't. It
takes a lot of commitment to find out. We must be able to find some
way in which we can put it very simply to people in general, and so
make people generally more aware of the benefits.

@vadim:
Yes, there is a huge amount of commercial software being built all the
time, and it would be brilliant if they would develop it for Linux
(which the more open-minded already do) - but how can you persuade
them to? We need a strategy for persuading companies to develop
software for a minority market. What benefits can we offer them?

@simon:
There are two main points I can see from what you've said:
> Linux communities could do with more awareness of proper business strategies
> Linux communities could do with strong leadership

I completely agree on both points. Although the second is absolutely
resounding in my head. There are so many people fiddling around with
Linux, arguing about it, touting it to their friends etc. but mostly
without any real direction. With better leadership we could seriously
harness this community power and do some incredible things.

The only problem is: how can one gather together and lead such a
diverse and spread out community?

Any more thoughts?

I'm thinking sometime soon I'm going to write a blog summarising all
the points that have been raised here since I subscribed to the
mailing list on May 5th - all about how to de-throne Microsoft as
OS-king.

Robin.

2008/7/12 ^rooker <email address hidden>:
> Robin:
> Sorry for sounding rude.
>
> My critization of the teacher's reaction was related to lack of support
> *for* them. They have a hard time dealing with the children, and since
> most of them are from a non-computer generation, they're really having a
> hard time: no time, no budget, no support... I'd get grumpy too!
>
> Of course their complaints *are* valid. It's great to see that a lot of
> FOSS apps are getting more and more user friendly, but without the users
> being willing to work with these "new" (different) applications, it's
> hard to get a foot in the door. If someone *wants* to use Free Software,
> she/he is also willing to tolerate some effort getting into it (or
> working around present bugs) - and it's the exact opposite if someone
> feels being forced to use something (e.g. Admins just installing
> GNU/Linux in schools - without full consent of their colleagues)
>
> You said:
> "I don't think education is particularly the issue. Windows is no more ubiquitous in schools and universities than it is in every other area."
>
> (It might not be *the* thing to focus on, but I think it's a valid bottom-up strategy with a positive, long term impact)
> Sure, but an argument against any non-mainstream application (or OS) I hear very, very often is: lack of know how.
> A lot of companies couldn't run their servers on anything else than Windows, because they simply have noone who knows enough about alternatives (or their existence).
> That's where education kicks in: If you've seen/worked/learned how to handle e.g. GNU/Linux, you can continue to do so in a company you'll work for later on. Do trainings, etc...
>
> Parents argument against free software, because they *want* their kids
> to be skilled with mainstream apps: "Why are you teaching my kid this
> OpenOffice thing? It's not used in "the real world" - please teach them
> the "real" office, so they have a valuable skill in their CV"
>
> *ouch*
>
> Same situation on the home-desktop:
> No matter what problem you have with e.g. Windows, just go round the corner to find someone who can help you.
> I wasn't able to setup my friends' computers on GNU/Linux before I hadn't gained the knowledge to also support them - because there's noone around their or my neighbourhood to help out. Sad, but true.
>
> So that's also a reason why "shipping computers with GNU/Linux" alone
> won't make amends - Without someone supporting, teaching and helping
> them to use their new, better OS, they could end up turning against
> FOSS, because their first experience was: "WTF? Where is...? Why...?
> setup.exe won't run! Where's Photoshop? - help! anyone? anyone...?
> hello?"
>
> You know what their local IT salesman/specialist will tell them: "Why aren't you using Windows? I could help you with Windows!"
> If the neighbour kid (which is very often the local IT specialist ;-) ), learned about GNU/Linux at school, that situation would look different. If not now, then at least in a few years.
>
> Maybe it's better in England, but here that's the unfortunate status
> quo.
>
>
> At university I've also "seen" *nix like OS, but they were never explained to us. Most of my co-students had a hard time dealing with the shell - and they were complaining, why we have to use "this complicated OS". Additionally, when a professor held a class, you saw PowerPoint presentation on Windows. In 5 years at university I saw only *one* lecturer not using PowerPoint. Some professors even *demanded* (!!) that you hand you work in as .doc file - What happens? Students of computer science (!) hand in their diploma thesis as .doc file - because they've never seen Latex.
>
> --
> 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 Computer Science Ubuntu: Confirmed
> Status in Ichthux - Linux for Christians: Confirmed
> Status in JAK LINUX: Confirmed
> Status in The OpenOffice.org Suite: Confirmed
> Status in Launchpad Translations: Invalid
> Status in Tabuntu: Confirmed
> Status in Ubuntu: Confirmed
> 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: Invalid
> 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 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.
>