[BadVista Advocate] Vista owners

[Jacob Maynard]

Let me sleep on these e-mails. I like the thought on both of these
e-mails. I will get back to you with my opinions. I know we can come up
with a good plan, and I'm sure that some of us are willing to donate some
help from our own servers for this effort. I know I am.

Jacob

>
> Something I'm a bit curious about: Does anyone on this list actually have
> a
> Vista box up and running?
>
> One of the real problems I have, is that as all my systems are GNU/Linux
> (I
> left Windows behind quite some time ago), I really am hard pressed to
> actually get into technical problems with Vista.
>
> I can read what information is available, and I can see the impossible
> problem
> presented in the "If you can't open it, you don't own it" aspect of any
> proprietary software.
>
> And the underling problems with DRM are apparent as a simple exercise in
> logic.
>
> The problem is "How do I explain to a Vista user, or prospective Vista
> user,
> exactly what Freedom his software lacks (and what freedoms he is giving up
> by
> using Vista), when I don't even use it at all?"
>
> That is a point by point issue that perhaps we could work on getting into
> a
> form that might reach "Joe Sixpack", or "Anonymous".
>
> Every time I get serious about explaining this, I see eyeballs glaze over.
> Well what can I say, I am an engineer by training, a hacker by inclination
> (not the hacker the news media has corrupted the honorable title into).
>
> So how do I reach the average end user?
>
> I don't believe it's a requirement to reach "Granny", she will come to it
> on
> her own, or go with whatever the family geek sets up for her. (I get all
> my
> 'old people' because either I am recommended, or they have had such a bad
> experience with Windows that they are out searching for something better,
> and
> run across me).
>
> So long as it's set up for them, they are the easiest bunch I know of to
> get
> to be happy GNU/Linux users. Notice that I am in a de facto manner, simply
> becoming a non evil Redmond for them. I have made it all work, from the
> first
> time they use it, I hold their hand as long as is needed, and am available
> to
> help (i.e.; fix it.) when they do have a problem.
>
> This is not "Joe Sixpack" gets a distro and tries to install it...
> Games?????
> where are games??? No Second Life! Why!!
>
> But then gaming is not often a big thing with my clients, maybe poker or
> solitaire. Frozen Bubble is always a big hit.
>
> So any suggestions would help. That's what I would like to see, a FAQ that
> is
> written to show point by point why one not only should, but will benefit
> from
> using GNU/Linux and why one should not, and will not benefit from using
> Vista.
>
> Why giving up some things that Microsoft is using to entice you (and
> developers) with, is the right thing to do. And why it's going to
> ultimately
> benefit them to forgo some of those poisonous things.
>
> And the FAQ needs to be in easy to understand terms and verbiage.
>
> As Jacob and I not long ago discovered, what seems obvious to one person
> (or
> age group) may not be obvious at all to another. This is one of the things
> that needs to be considered when creating any sort of "come on over, this
> is
> great" sort of page, be it a FAQ or otherwise.
>
> I await some feedback from all of you.
>
> As most of you know (I hope) feedback that does not agree with my take is
> fine
> with me.
>
> I'll leave you all with this observation about life (at least my life, and
> I'll bet yours too):
>
> "I have never, ever, not once, learned anything from someone that agreed
> with
> me." If he agreed what was there to learn from him?
>
> Don.
> --
> GNU/Linux is the future.
> Join the FSF: http://www.fsf.org/register_form?referrer=4458
> Get the Real Facts: http://BadVista.org
>
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