[Ilugc] Linux and Users
- From: parth.technofreak@xxxxxxxxx (Parthan)
- Date: Sun Jul 9 10:37:03 2006
Prashanth Mohan wrote:
> On a related note, I was talking to parthan about promoting Linux in
colleges and schools. I was of the opinion that when promoting Linux,
care should be taken so that they adopt Linux along with support (say
something like RHEL). Along the way they may face problems and might
drop off. But if they do have some kind of paid support, they always
have someone to rant to :D.
Parthan on the other hand was of the opinion that Linux will not be
adopted if it is not free (as in beer) since the users who use pirated
versions of software will still not be willing to pay. The cost of an
Operating System with paid support is rather small when compared to the
entire price paid for the hardware along with its support. ``Free
Support'' will make them look forward for more freebies. The concept for
paying for support needs to be imbibed.
I am very sorry that Prashanth didn't post the context in which my
comment was made, as well as the other faces of the argument. That makes
the above quoted commented of mine to be short-in-focus. We were
actually arguing how the activities of LUG should be focused and what
shall be the motive of it. As he said, he was trying to justify adding a
price tagged model or may be said as commercial model and not as 'free'
model.
IMO, the activity of the Linux community such as ilugc can be focused on
three different kind of people,
1. Linux Users ( i.e. within the community)
2. Students and teachers
3. Common men who are in need of an economic solution.
Considering these 3 types of people, the approach of LUG towards each
type is very different.
Considering the academic community, consisting of students and teachers,
who are atleast computer literates to some extent, if not Open Source
literates. And, the fact is also that they have been using proprietary
software for a long time. Our aim should be to make them FOSS aware and
with a little of motivation and effort we can achieve this. This is
what, ilugc has been doing through LDDs and seminars held in various
colleges/schools and plan to carry the same further in the future.
Considering the schools, who may not be as wealthy as colleges, is it a
viable option for them to buy RHEL ? Do they really need things like
RHEL, when they are just beginning to get into OSS. I do not commit to
Prash's argument that 'along the way, problems might turn them off/drop
them off". We, in ilugc, not only strive to create linux/OSS awareness
but also ready to help academic people become OSS literates. We showed
this with our arunai college experience, where ilugc was able to train a
group of volunteers who were able to run the LDD very much upon
themselves, backed by the ilugc. And for the kind information, we didn't
put up any banner like 'free CDs' will be distributed and perhaps din't
give any. Still there was a huge crowd turn up that day. Hence, we
believe that the term 'Free' as in 'Free beer' is not mandatory w.r.t.
academic community.
Considering the common men, who are need of support of computers but
can't afford for costly solutions like RHEL support. These people aren't
really computer savvy but the seek the help of computers to make their
work simple. For these people, 'Free' as in 'Free beer' does matter a
lot. In this way, the Open Source can help them a lot. It is also true
that, the requirements of these people can be solved with 'free as in
free beer' softwares available in open source world today. If not, a
solution can be developed with an economically viable price tag for them
in OSS.
People don't understand when you speak them the benefits of OSS, but
surely when you show them. Thats what we do, by holding LDDs. Indeed,
ilugc wishes and plans to reach more people in the academic community as
well as the common men who are in need of OSS's help :)
With Regards
Parthan ('technofreak')
------------------------------
Research Assistant @ NRC-FOSS and Python\PHP Developer
A Proud Tuxian and an Ubuntero
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