Ah, but In the real world, most software consumers are not also software producers. If people don't like something, they switch to a competitor's product. Hence why Photoshop will still cost as much as it does until a group with enough incentive decides to seriously take them on.
Free Software exists in the real world. You don't need most people to be simultaneously software consumers and producers...you only need just enough of them to get the software fixed and/or forked. Tack on a new name (Like, say, "Ubuntu", "Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox", "Perl" or even "CentOS"), and the laypersons memory of the bad version of the product isn't associated with the new codebase.
Suddenly, the consumer sees another competing product, but this one's free. So they give the "new guy" a try. That's the beauty of this whole FL/OSS movement.
(I mention Perl above, because it's a derivative of awk...and has greatly exceeded awk's usefulness and popularity.)
At PC Clinic, the Grand Rapids Commmunity College Computer Club removed over 3000 infections from one PC, plus several viruses. (Including multiple Sober variants.)
And three years from now, GIMP will still be free, while Photoshop will still cost more than a new low-end computer.
Forget what "those in charge of" something think. In the Open Source world, if enough people don't like something, it gets forked and fixed. I believe someone even rewrote the GIMP UI to look like Photoshop...but nobody uses it.
Oh, about your "Most dual-users find Photoshop's UI vastly superior" comment. No, I won't ask for numbers, you don't have any. I want to know how in heck you could expect to come up with an unbiased survey.
I find Both GNOME and KDE's interfaces to be superior to Windows XP. Does that mean there are more users of those two desktop systems than of Windows XP? No. But I bet if MS Paint was replaced with the GIMP, or Elements downloads appeared right next to GIMP downloads in most places, you'd see a shift in attitude.
To your point about geeks building social skills, let me tell you a little story.
I have Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. I didn't have any friends until high school, where I started hanging out with another social outcast. (We happened to sit next to each other during an assembly and were commenting on the cheerleaders.)
Now, in college, I've got too many friends to name all of them. And my friends aren't just geeks. A lot of them are people who know only a little about my passion, computers. I've been an elected officer of the GRCC computer club for two years, first vice president, now president.
Computer Club is thriving, with ties to the college administration and to the local community. I feel pretty damn good about it, and don't mind saying I'm proud.
It hasn't been a certain thing at any point, though. My social skills are constantly improving. I read others' body language better than most people, but it's a learned, even practiced, skill. I'm still not very good at controlling my own body language. If I'm frustrated, you can see it in my face, even if you don't hear it in my words.
In short, I've accomplished a lot, both socially and personally, but there's still a long way to go for me. And I'll never really be done learning social cues and body language.
But then, any person who really cares about such things is never done, either.
The argument is flawed, because people who don't pay attention to art are still likely to see it. People who don't pay attention to video games are unlikely to see them.
Released in 1998, sure. But it's still common on machines made before 2000/2001. And that's a lot of machines.
At the free PC Clinic I organized, we easily see as many Win98 and Win95 machines as WinXP. And a lot of those machines aren't running anything newer than IE5. So if your clientele are mostly people who don't care about the latest hardware, you may want to keep that in mind.
Our clinic caters mainly to the computer illiterate. We snag any computer literate people as volunteers.
How is something snagged from a comet tail and brought back different from what would have gently settled here when the Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet way back in 1910?
Internet keys? Not really. But those media control keys are awesome. I had GNOME trap them, so they controlled XMMS or totem, depending on if I was listening or watching.
I never got the Internet keys working, though, as they aren't caught by the input layer, and don't get reported as normal keyboard scan codes.
I'm trying KDE again after many years' hiatus, and I haven't found how to bind those keys to desktop-wide media app control like I did in GNOME. I'm not even sure it's possible.
I've read several anecdotes about tech workers willing to move to India to work, but were refused work visas. But that was a while ago...maybe it's no longer true?
Ubuntu may be nice (I haven't used recent versions, so I don't know), but it lacks a recognizable marketing push.
I don't care how good your product is, unless it gets significant advertising, it won't get noticed by the pundits. The ironic thing is that pundits often feed on each other's stories, so once you reach critical "mass," you'll get more and more free advertising as pundits hash and rehash the commentary about you.
If there was a "GetUbuntu" campaign that put ads in national papers, it might go somewhere. Until then, it's free to get better and better until too many developers lose interest, and the project rots.
I'm a member of that "community" you say doesn't exist. I run Debian Linux as my primary OS for over five years, write Open Source code, and am even working on an article detailing how to make Debian easy if you don't have a sufficient Internet connection. Oh, and I also wrote my congressman about open source voting.
In addition...Change the system so that Anonymous submissions are anonymous, and logged in submissions are shown as such. Link back http://slashdot.org/~username. They're welcome to put a link to their page in their profile.
Rotate shifts. That way, night posters won't get associated with any particular editor, and ScuttleMonkey gets to see daylight during the winter.
Do all the posting during the day, and schedule posts hours in advance. Queue up night submissions for review during the day. That way, you get a better selection of posts, and the advantage of posting at a particular time is limited.
Slashdot Mirror
If its free, but it sucks, is it really free?
I won't argue against flagrant bias.
Ah, but In the real world, most software consumers are not also software producers. If people don't like something, they switch to a competitor's product. Hence why Photoshop will still cost as much as it does until a group with enough incentive decides to seriously take them on.
Free Software exists in the real world. You don't need most people to be simultaneously software consumers and producers...you only need just enough of them to get the software fixed and/or forked. Tack on a new name (Like, say, "Ubuntu", "Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox", "Perl" or even "CentOS"), and the laypersons memory of the bad version of the product isn't associated with the new codebase.
Suddenly, the consumer sees another competing product, but this one's free. So they give the "new guy" a try. That's the beauty of this whole FL/OSS movement.
(I mention Perl above, because it's a derivative of awk...and has greatly exceeded awk's usefulness and popularity.)
At PC Clinic, the Grand Rapids Commmunity College Computer Club removed over 3000 infections from one PC, plus several viruses. (Including multiple Sober variants.)
And three years from now, GIMP will still be free, while Photoshop will still cost more than a new low-end computer.
Forget what "those in charge of" something think. In the Open Source world, if enough people don't like something, it gets forked and fixed. I believe someone even rewrote the GIMP UI to look like Photoshop...but nobody uses it.
Oh, about your "Most dual-users find Photoshop's UI vastly superior" comment. No, I won't ask for numbers, you don't have any. I want to know how in heck you could expect to come up with an unbiased survey.
I find Both GNOME and KDE's interfaces to be superior to Windows XP. Does that mean there are more users of those two desktop systems than of Windows XP? No. But I bet if MS Paint was replaced with the GIMP, or Elements downloads appeared right next to GIMP downloads in most places, you'd see a shift in attitude.
Unless your wheels are very badly lubricated, you're going to get a lot less friction from wheels than from skis.
I sent them money for the first time just a couple months ago. I'm glad to see it's being well-spent.
Of course, I'm going to have to deal with them asking for more money after a while...but I'm OK with that.
When I was helping my dad with his on-site telecom jobs, sometimes I'd be able to use the soda fountains there.
Well, at this one site, they had mountain dew, but the CO2 and water weren't hooked up. Mmm....Mountain Dew syrup. That was a buzz.
Checked...eBay's got them dirt cheap. Cheaper than most external modems you might buy retail these days. :)
That will be a toolbar worth getting.
:)
No more going out and getting a new toolbar every time the standard changes.
(I may be dating myself, but I'm only 22, I swear.
To your point about geeks building social skills, let me tell you a little story.
I have Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. I didn't have any friends until high school, where I started hanging out with another social outcast. (We happened to sit next to each other during an assembly and were commenting on the cheerleaders.)
Now, in college, I've got too many friends to name all of them. And my friends aren't just geeks. A lot of them are people who know only a little about my passion, computers. I've been an elected officer of the GRCC computer club for two years, first vice president, now president.
Computer Club is thriving, with ties to the college administration and to the local community. I feel pretty damn good about it, and don't mind saying I'm proud.
It hasn't been a certain thing at any point, though. My social skills are constantly improving. I read others' body language better than most people, but it's a learned, even practiced, skill. I'm still not very good at controlling my own body language. If I'm frustrated, you can see it in my face, even if you don't hear it in my words.
In short, I've accomplished a lot, both socially and personally, but there's still a long way to go for me. And I'll never really be done learning social cues and body language.
But then, any person who really cares about such things is never done, either.
This just in...there also seems to be an expressed lack of empathy.
That night my daddy came home, all pale and weak.
Said the woman up the block just gave birth to a geek.
Full version.
So it goes.
I doubt even Halo appeals to 1 in 100 people.
The argument is flawed, because people who don't pay attention to art are still likely to see it. People who don't pay attention to video games are unlikely to see them.
More often than "A small company patents something, and sues big company for failing to pay for using it."
The two are often related.
Released in 1998, sure. But it's still common on machines made before 2000/2001. And that's a lot of machines.
At the free PC Clinic I organized, we easily see as many Win98 and Win95 machines as WinXP. And a lot of those machines aren't running anything newer than IE5. So if your clientele are mostly people who don't care about the latest hardware, you may want to keep that in mind.
Our clinic caters mainly to the computer illiterate. We snag any computer literate people as volunteers.
How is something snagged from a comet tail and brought back different from what would have gently settled here when the Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet way back in 1910?
...instead of the latest rehash of Madden NFL.
There are two games that I've even considered purchasing in the last couple years: Quake 4 and Battlefield 2.
Sick of consumers not buying the latest game? Try focusing on gameplay over eye-candy.
I liked the first and second seasons of Enterprise. Most of the third season is better watched through episode summaries, though.
I'm still waiting to get season 4, though.
Internet keys? Not really. But those media control keys are awesome. I had GNOME trap them, so they controlled XMMS or totem, depending on if I was listening or watching.
I never got the Internet keys working, though, as they aren't caught by the input layer, and don't get reported as normal keyboard scan codes.
I'm trying KDE again after many years' hiatus, and I haven't found how to bind those keys to desktop-wide media app control like I did in GNOME. I'm not even sure it's possible.
I've read several anecdotes about tech workers willing to move to India to work, but were refused work visas. But that was a while ago...maybe it's no longer true?
Ubuntu may be nice (I haven't used recent versions, so I don't know), but it lacks a recognizable marketing push.
I don't care how good your product is, unless it gets significant advertising, it won't get noticed by the pundits. The ironic thing is that pundits often feed on each other's stories, so once you reach critical "mass," you'll get more and more free advertising as pundits hash and rehash the commentary about you.
If there was a "GetUbuntu" campaign that put ads in national papers, it might go somewhere. Until then, it's free to get better and better until too many developers lose interest, and the project rots.
Uhm..ahem...excuse me. Sir? Sir? You missed me.
I'm a member of that "community" you say doesn't exist. I run Debian Linux as my primary OS for over five years, write Open Source code, and am even working on an article detailing how to make Debian easy if you don't have a sufficient Internet connection. Oh, and I also wrote my congressman about open source voting.
So, um, maybe there are some of us out there?
...activate!
(Sound of Pac-man dying.)
(With apologies to Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie)
In addition...Change the system so that Anonymous submissions are anonymous, and logged in submissions are shown as such. Link back http://slashdot.org/~username. They're welcome to put a link to their page in their profile.