Please.. don't go to the movies for Ice Age 3 If you look the 1 and 2 its okay, even the second was "fine" with those opossums that made the movie a bit funny. This time there is nothing new. Please, don't go you will loose your money as I did.
After the movie I went to the midtown, again, I start reading the book
La ofensiva del software Libre (
Free for all) by Peter Wayner, interesting book that
xbitcarry lend me, I just start and I don't want to give a final comment about the book but, for the first 50 pages I read, they seems to focus on Microsoft??. I mean, Its ok he have to mention it, but why start the book with the Microsoft
antitrust issue... I don't get it, anyway, I will read the whole book.
I don't know why Free Software means "Against Microsoft" for many people, why? is Microsoft the only one that sells privative software? NO. Its true that microsoft is the major software vendor in the world and its operating system runs on most personal computers but, IMHO is not just because they used some mafious techniques. I think most people use Windows (and love it) just because they works for them, the same happends for those using Apple Mac OS X and those using any BSD and Linux flavour, if it works for you fine!.
With this, I remember many people I know, use the "Its because Windows is bad" statement to start advocating if favor of linux, they add the "Linux is great, it doesn't crash like Windows, it doesn't get viruses, it doesn't......." as if they where selling one of those reductive creams. And guess what, if you sell linux like that, then you will have the results as if you where selling those creams: An angry client because the system doesn't work.
As one of the articles of Joel Spolsky:
Controlling Your Environment Makes You Happy if the user feels that the computer is not behaving the way they are used to, they will feel that the computer sucks, and if the computers sucks after you installed Linux, they will think that Linux suck. If you are advocating for Linux, please be honest, explain the pros and cons of Linux, the way it behaves and why your client (a customer, your mother, father, cousin, wife, kids, teacher, whatever) should
think about using it and I remark the "think" word
In my family I'm the only that uses Linux just because I fell it have everything for me, My brother uses it as server for its business, my wife uses it in his computer because that computer was mine and I didn't change the OS, but its okay she likes Linux and by the time I'm writing this she didn't ask me to install Windows, but every often she ask me to teach her how to do something that she already know how to do in Windows. My mother and father uses windows, and for me it is okay. Everyone in my family know Linux and I have explained the good and cons of using Linux, obviously they made their choice. The same happens with Free Software, do the same,
Hey.. wait,
Are you going to allow that your brother, mother and father use privative software?. Why not? again, it's something that they choose, then, the worse thing I can do if I'm a Free Software evangelist is try to impose the use of the Free Software, if I do that everyone will look the Free Software as the Evil Software that you don't want to use but have to use just because your brother is crazy and will get mad if you don't follow him (This happens in many religions too).
In summary:
- Microsoft and its products are not bad
- Linux is not the eighth marvel neither the Free Software is
- Live and let to live!. I mean, if it likes to you, good, if it doesn't it is good too.
