On Thu, 31 May 2001, Bill Sconce wrote:
> Nothing we can do will protect people from that. (*1)
>
> (in reference to protecting the unaware from
> hurting themselves)
Actually, that statement was in reference to people who, despite being told
otherwise, form their own expectations, with no basis in reality, and proceed to
act on those expectations, despite repeated attempts at correction from
others. Basically, PHB behavior. These people will continued to believe
whatever they want to believe, and there is little we can do about it.
I was in no way suggesting that the unaware, uneducated, or unknowing
should be abandoned to the wolves.
> Instead of sneering at developments such as Linux being sold at Wal-Mart
> (*3) perhaps we should be looking for potential advantage.
I, for one, *do* see it as a good development. For Open Source/Free
Software to truly do well and right, we have to have a good retail
penetration.
> We might, for instance, ask Wal-Mart to display a GNHLUG poster near
> the Linux shelf. Or we might provide a leaflet to be given to each
> purchaser, or prospective purchaser.
Retailers generally have a policy of "No Soliciting" that is very broad and
very immutable. Such policies stem directly from the possibility of lost
profit. Trying to get them to distribute anything for us is a lost cause.
A better approach is to try and make the sales people aware of groups such
as GNHLUG. This works well at places like Radio Shack or Best Buy. It is
harder at a general retailer like Wal-Mart. Employee turn-over is high, and
the employees are often apathetic. Their function, as far as the corporate
structure is concerned, is to facilitate sales, not provide product support.
They generally lack technical experience, and certain receive no training from
the store. This is not to say that we shouldn't try, but we shouldn't expect
a great response from the likes of Wal-Mart.
I think might have better luck at computer retailers and local shops. We
should contact the person(s) in charge of their computer departments, and make
sure they are aware of Linux in general, and GNHLUG in particular. We should
make up a sheet of information about who we are, what we do, and how to get in
touch with us (web site). Such a sheet would be for employee reference
purposes, not distribution purposes, thereby hopefully skirting "No
Soliciting" rules.
Since these places often focus on product sales, we should provide them with
any hardware compatibility information we have, so they can advise their
customers on what will and will not work with Linux. Hardcopy of the
information at <http://www.linuxdoc.org> would be adequate. We would need to
make sure any information provided is *kept* current, too. It will do no good
if they all have copies of last year's compatibility lists.
If we *really* wanted to help out, we could make a note of the products they
are carrying, research Linux compatibility and support, and provide them with
the results. That might require more effort than we are willing to invest,
though.
We should be sure we cover national retailers (such as Radio Shack, Best
Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City), as well as local resellers, repair shops, and
integrators.
> Wal-Mart might turn down such ideas, of course.
My mother works as an assistant store manager for Wal-Mart. You won't find
a more wretched hive of dumb and apathy. ;-)
--
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not |
| necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or |
| organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. |
**********************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the
*body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter:
unsubscribe gnhlug
**********************************************************
