I think the biggest problem companies have in making linux profitable is how to mix free software with software you have to buy, and how to make the user comfortable with their choices. The problem is that it is hard for them to justify buying something when it is freely available.
What I think is needed are books (or a series of books) geared towards a person who is computer-savvy, is motivated, and wants someone to show them how the stuff is done, without having to go through the low-level beginner stuff. It seems like there are an absence of books that are out there for this group, which I happen to be in.
I had a mac when I was 7, and the only thing that kept me from getting mad at my parents for buying a game that had such a lousy library of games was power pete. For the unenlightened, Power Pete is a body builder who goes back in time to to save these bunnies, all while collecting various power-ups and such. I lost the install floppy, and MacPlay doesn't support or publish it anymore, and the demo (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/7334/ ) doesn't run great on my IBook. But it is great from time to time for an old dose of bunnie saving heroics!
At my school, we have a laptop program set up where all of the kids in grades 7-8 have laptops and access to the school's wireless LAN. For the first three months, teachers had to repeatedly tell kids to turn off their computers when they came into class, because we might not be using them that day. Basically I have not seen a difference in productivity or new and exciting ways of doing assignments. We use Word and PowerPoint mostly, and get some of our assignments over e-mail, but nothing that couldn't be done on a normal computer, and we dont do those tasks enough to warrant carrying a computer around with us. Our school also has 2 computer labs with 30 Gateway boxes hooked up to our T-1 line. And here's the worst part: I got in trouble for installing redhat 9 on my comp. I guess that's what happens when you go to the same school Bill Gates went to!
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I think the biggest problem companies have in making linux profitable is how to mix free software with software you have to buy, and how to make the user comfortable with their choices. The problem is that it is hard for them to justify buying something when it is freely available.
What I think is needed are books (or a series of books) geared towards a person who is computer-savvy, is motivated, and wants someone to show them how the stuff is done, without having to go through the low-level beginner stuff. It seems like there are an absence of books that are out there for this group, which I happen to be in.
Ok, so now people are using coke and weed to get our children to listen to music? This is frickin' rediculous....
I had a mac when I was 7, and the only thing that kept me from getting mad at my parents for buying a game that had such a lousy library of games was power pete. For the unenlightened, Power Pete is a body builder who goes back in time to to save these bunnies, all while collecting various power-ups and such. I lost the install floppy, and MacPlay doesn't support or publish it anymore, and the demo (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/7334/ ) doesn't run great on my IBook. But it is great from time to time for an old dose of bunnie saving heroics!
At my school, we have a laptop program set up where all of the kids in grades 7-8 have laptops and access to the school's wireless LAN. For the first three months, teachers had to repeatedly tell kids to turn off their computers when they came into class, because we might not be using them that day. Basically I have not seen a difference in productivity or new and exciting ways of doing assignments. We use Word and PowerPoint mostly, and get some of our assignments over e-mail, but nothing that couldn't be done on a normal computer, and we dont do those tasks enough to warrant carrying a computer around with us. Our school also has 2 computer labs with 30 Gateway boxes hooked up to our T-1 line. And here's the worst part: I got in trouble for installing redhat 9 on my comp. I guess that's what happens when you go to the same school Bill Gates went to!