[TriLUG] Fwd: [linux-elitists] Vista Launch

[Kevin Otte]

On Thu, Jan 25, 2007 at 11:28:54AM -0500, James Brigman wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-01-25 at 10:26 -0500, Tanner Lovelace wrote:
> > Anyone have any thoughts about doing something
> > like this locally?
> 
> It's a great idea to take advantage of the Vista launch to publicize
> Linux, and be ready with a good distro like Ubuntu or CentOS.
> 
> I wish the Linux Faithful had a catchy slogan, like "64x5" for "64 bit
> for 5 years now" or something like that.

Careful.  We may have been 64-bit for the last five years, but ISVs are
still making weak (if any) efforts to support this.  To this day you cannot
run the Sun Java plugin or Adobe's Flash plugin in a 64-bit environ without
some serious mental gymnastics.  In effect we are playing the same game
Microsoft is with "third-party" vendors.  The only people who seem to have
gotten any traction is Apple.

Last week I read this document and found it quite enlightening:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/world-domination/world-domination-201.html

I'll echo the sentiments here that we have to be careful not to come across
as zealots.  Then again, when it comes time to "seek us out", it would be
nice to be the first ones they think of when the time comes by virtue of at
least having had a frank discussion about the alternatives.

Another strategy to consider is introducing people to the virtues of Open
Source on their own platform.  The Ubuntu Live CD for x86 includes a number
of Open Source applications built for Windows.  Other efforts include
http://theopencd.org/ and http://www.opensourcefreecd.org/ .  If we can
attain visibility in this manner, we can be ready with a set of install CDs
when they ask "What's the next step?"

-- 
Kevin Otte, N8VNR
nivex at nivex.net
http://www.nivex.net/

-=-

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 
-- George Santayana

"It seems no one reads Santayana anymore."
-- Cdr. Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5