Note to John and others : *building a PC*.   Anyone can go to ANY small
computer shop, talk to a techie, and have a computer built, CHEAPER and
BETTER !  Ask your techie which O/S he/she is using, if it is not Linux, get
another techie. Every techie that I know that is any good, uses Linux. Most
think Ubuntu is too mainstream. (who cares)
For a price, they will load Linux, even Ubuntu !!!! It may cost the same as
MS Windows, again, who cares ?!?!
Most users only want a system that "just works". Tomorrow I'm going to a
friends' house to repair a "Windows Vista" system, it has a few viruses,
lots of Spybots,  and is now generally slo=o=o=oW !
To install Ubuntu and totally configure it will take me too long.  <<<<<ahah
is that the real problem ???
Allen

On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 6:04 PM, John Pyper <email address hidden> wrote:

> If the average Joe would buy parts individually and build a computer
> instead
> of getting a pre-built one, we wouldn't have this "Microsoft tax" to deal
> with. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy a pre-built solution, but they are
> there for those who eight don't know much about computers or don't want to
> take the extra bit of effort to match up the colored wires to the back of
> the box. Just my 2 cents, and I want a penny back. :)
>
> John Pyper
> BaD_CrC on Freenode #ubuntu,#ubuntu-offtopic
> Kent, WA, USA
>
> On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 9:50 AM, »John« <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> > Don't get me wrong - I never made the assumption you mentioned. The
> > point is, that even if the ratio is much lower (say 2:8), the GNU/Linux
> > user base will start growing much faster and at some point all the
> > problems with 3rd-party support will be gone, leaving only the bugs
> > causing problems with usability for average joe standing in our way (I
> > guess we can all agree that majority of ICT users are nothing more than
> > average joes knowing nothing more than just how to use their machines
> > for basic tasks).
> >
> > The problem is that although (using your own words) "anyone can
> > uninstall windows and replace it with whatever they like", they still
> > make you pay for the bundled OS with absolute disregard to whether you
> > actually use it or not and getting your money for unused license back is
> > almost impossible despite the fact this right is granted to everyone by
> > Microsoft's own EULA; you see where this is going - this way you
> > literally pay Microsoft the ransom for being so bold to purchase a
> > computer, giving them the money they need to survive and recover from
> > failures like the one with ME & Vista. If this can be stopped, they
> > wouldn't be able to withstand too many failures which make them loose
> > money and expend their reserves...
> >
> > I agree GNU/Linux isn't ready for prime time quite yet, but it's already
> > pretty suitable for user who doesn't need anything more than browse the
> > internet, play his multimedia and use the office suite (I agree that
> > multimedia can be hell of a pain in the ass if hardware acceleration of
> > these things doesn't work on your machine, but that's exactly the kind
> > of 3rd-party support I meant; the same thing understandably goes for the
> > lack of drivers for the WinSomething kind of "hardware").
> >
> > What I'm trying to tell is: all present OSes suffer from usability
> > problems to the certain extent, so it's something we can deal with, but
> > that is not the case of any unfair advantages Microsoft has over us...
> >
> > --
> > 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.
> >
>
> --
> 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.
>



-- 
http://picasaweb.google.com/allenggraham/Mazatlan