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Re: [Linux-aus] Open source: time for a name change?

At 02:39 PM 08/06/2003, Dan Shearer wrote:

Until a person reaches that point, what better word do we currently have
than "Linux" or "Linux-style" to describe Open Source, from OpenBSD
through to Cygwin? Greg, you started this thread -- can you improve on
this?

I wonder if it is a solution that works because it seems to irritate all
technical people about equally: the FSF dislikes it, BSD people dislike
it, Microsoft dislikes it, fans of Solaris and other Unix variants
dislike it, and even SCO dislike being called Linux. But non-technical
and mildly technical people have no problem understanding it, and the
media loves it.

Who seriously thinks they have a chance of altering this worldwide
perception?

I don't think it is worldwide, simply because there are a great number of people that do not yet have the opportunity to contribute.

When I have the opportunity to chew someone's ear about open-source or free software it is often along the lines of collaboration and a shared resource. People who are "not" involved in developing or implementing ICT solutions just want the computer to do as they expect, whether this is in business or for home use.

Business owners or mangers just want results, and home users expect to pick it up as they do a pen.

With home users I can usually win them around talking about the community aspects of open-source/free, whereas managers it is a shared resource along the lines of natural capitalism, see ABC's interview with Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s231834.htm

All the best
Jacqueline McNally
www.decisions-and-designs.com.au/jacqueline

Community Contact, Australia/New Zealand
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project
(www.openoffice.org)

Are you a computer angel? (www.computerangels.org.au)