hello all.
there are a few points on which I would surely like to comment.
firstly I *TOTALLY AGREE* with JTD that nothing should be given for free.
I and Nagarjun did experience this last year in an exhibition in SIES
college where we created a set of one ubuntu cd and 2 apt-on cds (3 cd
set ) in all and packed it nicely in a cardboard box with an
installation and basic migration/ manual.
we sold it for Rs. 75 and only those who were convinced and interested
purchased the cd. not only that, they did write back to me on email
and even contacted me for solutions on problems they faced.
They are now complete ubuntu users and the number is 45 users in all.
I have ever since tried this experiment in 3 more places including Bal
vividha done by comet media foundation and a couple of other
exhibitions in nagpur and nasik.
all gave me similar results.
secondly, if my customers don't realise the power (forget freedom and
idealogy for a while), then it is nither the mistake of free software
and its supreme quality nor the customer. it is the vehicle that is
at falt and I am not ashamed to admit that I have done this mistake a
couple of years back when trying to promote free software in a big
company.
but last year I tried in that same paper mil in rahuri and the people
who were actually fighting tooth and nail for keeping free software
away, eventually became biggest supporters of the same. and now I
know arun khan on this list also had a similar experience.
I believe having good knowledge and communicating the right tips and
tricks at the right moment during a demo is the key. talk the "aam
aadmi ki bhasha " and let people into a smooth migration which
includes having good knowledge of document transfer and things like
formula etc in a spread sheet.
make people realise how bad their own experiences have been, this
needs to take a bit of insight of what problems they must have so far
faced.
Eventually there is one point where the freedom aspect actually meats
the practicalness. it is our job then to find this meeting point and
properly emphasise on that point and let the client understand things
which they just can't do in windows for example. and most of you
would agree that for most tasks today windows is an absolutely rubbish
option.
For example the links list and headings list option in mozilla
firefox, which I demonstrated in the last lug is just a dream for ie
users. people can be told that this is just one extention which gives
such a rich web experience. there are so many extentions and they
keep on growing just because u as a customer has a "say " in the free
software world.
Then there is the common question of "how easy it is?" my question is
"how easy can we make it for our customer"?
again the key is communication and how smoothly we can bring the
customer to shed his mentel blockage that "afterall microsoft is
microsoft. it has not become popular just like that?".
so these are a few things which can help future service providers.
I don't want to flame roni or any one else. but again it will be our
approach which makes customer go this way or that way. give me a new
customer who knows nothing about computers, I promis I will make him
feel a fool using windows. it is the matter of how we present things.
happy hacking.
Krishnakant.
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