Actually, to me, he just spoke the truth. When somebody buys a platform, he would want to make the most out of the investment. Therefore it would be more difficult to convince him at that point and time if he is none the wiser. a) If that somebody have not spent anything yet, he might have mixed feelings on using open source/free software. b) If that somebody is told that open source/free software is a possibility, he will then be on the defensive, having spent an amount already. b) If that somebody experienced all the problems using commercial software, then he wished that he should've considered open source.
Re-reading Joey Gurango's snippet, it seems like he mixed up the terms free software and open-source. There are commercial open source software, so how do you make of that? Anyway, at point a) the user will think, it's too good to be true. At point b) the user will not even think of shifting, having had to make good the expenditure. At point c), he's given up hope and evangelizing is easy. Joey made sense that it's the business that drives the platform choice. If a system is only available in a particular platform, then by all means get that platform. If the platform does not perform, then you have no choice (which is a sad reality). It would be suicide to ask the vendor to port that to an open source platform -- true enough, like most development work -- it'll be prone to errors, bugs etc. One thing he failed to explain is, one also chooses platform based on familiarity rather than performance. On the technical side, it means that if something goes wrong, I can't fix it. On the business side, does that mean I have to send my techie to training? Two hard realities, that are difficult to change. He therefore ends his explanation in a form of a question, which is open ended -- draw your own conclusion. It can go both ways. That's why as a teacher, do not ask rhetorical questions in class unless you know what the student will answer, les you fall flat on your own face. On Wed, 14 Jul 2004, Manny wrote: > Below is my reaction to a column by Mr. Joey Gurango. His column appeared > in the July 12, 2004 issue of Computerworkld Philippines and can be > accessed at this URL: > > > Mr. Gurango states: > > Today, the vast majority of your potential customers have existing > investments in software -- operating systems, applications, tools > etc. -- that will make them more favorably disposed to open urce > or commercial platforms. They have already made their platform choice; > therefore, it will take a lot of time, effort, and money to convince > them to change their choice. You're better off spending that time, > effort, and money convincing them to buy a solution that runs on > their chosen platform. > > So, guess which software platform those potential customers have > investments in -- open source or commercial? > > How would you like to spend your time, effort, and money -- selling > or evangelizing? > -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
