On Wed, 2007-07-25 at 12:37 -0700, UNIX admin wrote: > That's correct - they do, and that also goes along with my previous point: > they prefer Windows because they are computer illiterate.
This is a dangerous statement. It allows you to pigeonhole anyone who might like Windows for some reason, regardless of how valid the reason might be. I know many "computer-literate" people who like Windows for perfectly reasonable causes. I know computer scientists, PhDs in CS, people who design processes and algorithms and can describe to me the inner workings of a computer to a detail I can barely follow... who I would absolutely not give administrative access to a computer for any reason. > Not only do we need to wean them off of Windows, we need to wean them > off of the "personal computer" - aka "PC" computing model. ... And you do that by making the alternatives better. "Do it this way because you're too inept to handle it yourself" is a poor marketing slogan, even if it's true. The world you describe already largely exists. Gaming consoles. People buy Dell computers with applications pre-installed, and never touch the OS install. The iPhone. The Zune. Windows Vista with a tighter grip on the hardware and the data than ever before. I said it in my last post, and I'll say it again: for a huge portion of consumers, the only difference between what they have now and what you want for them, is the location of the machine and the length of the cable. > will be low. If they knew and understood more about Informatics, then it > wouldn't be > so tough to get them to use a superior / easier / cheaper technology. Superior/easier/cheaper... by whose measure? I ask you to picture the world you like coming to pass. The PC has largely disappeared. Everyone has a nice, quiet, bright LCD screen on their desk, with a keyboard and mouse, and that's all. The actual unit sits in the living room. The unit runs the applications it was installed with, perhaps with some automatic patching system (it would have to be automatic) over the internet. The only writable area the user has access to is the Document/Music/Movie/Pictures area. And the huge, vast majority of those machines are running some "computing appliance" version of Microsoft Windows. Your entire position is based on the notion that these PC-killer appliances will be running an operating system *you* like, with features *you* want. And worse, you seem to be making the huge assumption that you might actually be one of the people trusted with the keys to this appliance. Or maybe you'll be one of those entrusted with one of the "open" platforms. One that is less stable, but moves faster, improves faster, and quickly outpaces the closed platforms in features and gee-whiz. How will you keep the unwashed masses, those computer illiterates you look down your nose at, from moving over to that platform the minute they see something they like? Some kind of pre-purchase aptitude test? I'd hope your arrogance and elitism doesn't extend quite THAT far. Far more likely is that you'll be one of the majority of people picking amongst a selection of appliances, trying to find the one you *dislike* the least. There'll be no trying "indie" software... there'll only be the applications that can buy their way onto the platform. No "homebrew". You'll use what you're given, and trying something more will void your warranty... or, given the way IP laws in North America seem to be, or trending towards... expose you to criminal prosecution. I can see the value in a "computing appliance", and chances are I'd buy such a machine for my mother in a second. However, I wouldn't waste a moment thinking the maker of such a thing would be a "philanthropic" company. > Computers are everywhere, and they will not go away. You say this, and it doesn't even appear to occur to you: the reason computers are everywhere today is precisely *because* the home PC ran amuck, putting unrestrained computing power in everyone's hands and just generally making a mess. I have no intention of continuing on this topic... mostly because it has nothing to do with OpenSolaris, and the rest because until the OpenSolaris developers take up the same refrain, I don't think I have much to worry about. And I don't worry about that, because I think the world you describe, where software is bound behind lock and key, is directly antithetical to the whole "open source" concept. _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list [email protected]
