[Linux-aus] For those of us who aren't on the same Planet...

[Leon Brooks]

...specifically http://planet.linux.org.au/ here is a copy of my most 
recent 'blog post. Please read and consider:

The news aggregator that everybody loves to despise is running a 
story<1> on /Using Computer Stores to Spread Open Source/, but what 
caught my attention was a post<2> asking:

    How does the local computer guy, FireFox, GIMP, etc differentiate
    themselves not among the geeks, but among the general population?
    Being a marketing guy (hold the hisses) with a good dose of
    liberalism and technology I'm all for F/OSS, and I be happy to
    offer a few hours a week to good software I believe in. So, is
    there an opening on the F/OSS world for the marketing guy as well
    as the coder?

You see, each copy of MS Office (standard) sold wins the OEM AU$60, and 
MS Windows XP netts them $75, which means that if they just made 
$120-$150 selling a basic $1000 system, then they make /twice as much/ 
if they then sell MS-Windows and MS-Office with the machine.

So... if you want to get them to distribute FOSS with the machine 
instead, you have to replace half of their profit as well. Showstopper?

I think not.

But is the answer better to implement as an Open-Source-style 
"community" response or as a commercial enterprise?

If commercial, perhaps this is something for those arch-CD-confettists, 
Canonical?

Read the post, read my answer, tell me what you think. Go ahead, post as 
an Anonymous Coward even -- you know you want to! (-:

Cheers; Leon


<1> http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/28/2215246

<2> http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=151034&cid=12667321

--
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