On Thu, Aug 22, 2002 at 09:52:01PM +0800, thadphole wrote: > Im more optimistic, i think it will be successful why? OS plus other > softwares are free in gnu/linux so that his software cost is nada. > > if he will buy legitimate win98 plus microsoft office for each > workstations, his better-off in putting his money elsewhere unless his > willing to take risk with BSA. OpenOffice would be a better > alternative to be used as ms-office substitute.
When your would-be customer base has to figure out your "difficult" (read: different) software, they'll check out other shops instead. And we all know how many Internet cafes there are in Metro Manila, unless you plan to deploy in some far flung area. And when you start losing customers in an already uber-competitive market with minimal margins, the fact that you didn't spend for your software doesn't matter. You have overhead costs to cover, and food to put on your table. So cost is not an issue. Not unless your software works EXACTLY like the norm (read: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows) for similar outfits (Internet cafes, we're talking about a limited setup here). And don't tell me you'll spend on training your customers. They don't have the time for you. They have real work to do. Plus: the games don't come free, even if you talk about the Linux binaries. I have used OpenOffice.org. I use it regularly, and have version 1.0.1. But I must admit, there are slight differences between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office. And I know a number of people who freak with even these little nuances I find fairly trivial. You'll need tech staff ready to help people. Mozilla versus IE should be a non-issue, though, and X-Chat versus mIRC as well. > However as you said, clients usually are for gaming and not for > surfing. There might be a lot considerations for the clientside or > workstations but on the server-side, its better to use linux as game > server and we have a lot of success stories here in plug for doing > that. On the server-side GNU/Linux has always been really great. Workstation accounting, network protection, proxying, game serving. But your workstations will be the bulk of the issue in an Internet cafe, and I do not think GNU/Linux + Wine is ready for the primetime as far as the predominantly Windows-based hardware-intensive games are concerned. >From the administration point of view I know that GNU/Linux is great. And there are other really awesome points, too. And GNU/Linux is very close to my heart. Don't get me wrong on these points. But when I attempt to put myself in the shoes of a would-be all-GNU/Linux Internet cafe shop owner, I think about the "ignorant masses" whose butts I want to warm my shop's chairs, whose hands I want to coat my mice with sweat, and whose cash I really need, for time spent happily doing their thing the way they do their thing. And then I doubt whether a GNU/Linux-based solution is available -now- for this type of application (remember: Internet cafes). --> Jijo -- Federico Sevilla III : http://jijo.free.net.ph Network Administrator : The Leather Collection, Inc. GnuPG Key ID : 0x93B746BE _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
