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>> How many people have installed an operating system; most computers come >> with windows, and most people are too scared to mess with it. >> also their first reaction is to head to the shop. Look around pc world, >> how many of the shiny , expensive boxes contain software you could find >> open source, free alternatives to. >> > > Yes, I mentioned that in my thread referred to above. But I have realised > that the big problem seems to be that so few people have heard of Linux et > al. I know that most computers are already installed with Windows. But most > accept that because they think that is all that is on offer. While this ubiquitous nature of windows in showrooms obviously plays a major role in this perception that windows = computer, I still think that this monopoly is maintained in part by the consumer industry as a whole. For instance, if you look on the shelves in any games shop, there is a PC section. This PC section contains games that run under windows. Linux isn't really much of a consideration. Look at the box for a graphics card, a sound card, a cd rom, a printer. All of these items will laud in large gaudy letters their apparent compatibility with m$ products. Walk into PC world, and ask any of the advisers what they think of the latest release of ubuntu and they will probably ask what you're on about or give you a talk about how windows makes printing, email, gaming or whatever much easier. Hell, I've been an advocate of open source for a long time now and I've only just been able to run ubuntu on my lappy without a major fight from the rest of the family. Linux, for all intents and purposes is all but completely off the radar, and the consumer industry is happy for this to continue as it still pays the shareholders. Get blizzard to release a linux version of wow, get ATI and Nvidia to stamp Linux all over those shiny boxes and those "experts" at pc world will have to learn a little about it. Can't see it happening somehow though. Where Linux appears to me to be making good headway is with governments and official bodies. We're hearing of m$ closed source software being dropped in such places in favour of software with a real audit path. Colleges and local government need to be encouraged to reap the rewards open source can offer. Once the question becomes "but is m$ office compatible with open office?" as opposed to the other way round, perhaps we'll be on the home straight. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html