[H-GEN] Room Bookings Update

[QuarkAV.com - Hilton Travis]

On 15/01/2009 10:48 AM, Arjen Lentz wrote:
> Hi Dennis
>
> On 15/01/2009, at 10:23 AM, Dennis Gilmore wrote:
>    
>> i think in the world of livecds its really easy to grab a few and
>> try some different ones.
>>      
>
> It is, but it's also irrelevant. They start, and present a desktop.
> To a non-geek, it looks just like what they have now: a desktop, a
> taskbar, some icons.
> Thus, it serves no purpose.
>    
>> Alot of FOSS is about choice.
>>      
> People have an inbuilt aversion to change.
> Choice implies differences, and thus more change.
> You want people to change from Windows, AND choose other differences
> on top of that.
> Thus you're battling human nature. We should really stop doing that,
> it's not productive.
>
> Pushing someone harder (or making them make more choices) about
> something they fundamentally don't care about is really a waste of
> time, and often has adverse results.
> I am all for software freedom, but I do not push it when I talk with a
> client. For them it's generally a choice of practical features,
> overall pricing (including support), and sometimes strategic. Later,
> when they've been using the OSS stuff for a while, you can bring up
> some other aspects.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Arjen.
>    
G'day All,

I have some input from a regular Windows user (me) who's been involved 
with Linux and other open source products since I started looking at the 
Amiga 1000 and Yggdrasil Linux (from memory) when it was on 30-odd 360 
KB 5.25" disks way back in the 1980s.  I know that as this really is a 
religious debate, I'll be targeted and flamed personally for my input as 
it won't all be tainted by an ingrained hatred of all things Microsoft, 
but I'm willing to wear that if there are others will take my input as 
it is intended - as input from someone who uses and supports Windows on 
a daily basis as I make a decent living from it, yet who appreciates and 
supports the open source (and other variants of that) movements and what 
they stand for.

Why am I offering this?  I can see a good "desktop-sized" hole that 
Linux has failed to fill for a great many years due to way, way too much 
internal struggle in the Linux community.  If you want an analogy, then 
look at the last State election - Teflon Pete managed to personally 
phuck up pretty much anything he touched - he really had a serious case 
of Shitas Touch for quite some time - and yet he won the election 
without the loss of a single seat because the opposition (sic) couldn't 
figure out whether to form a coalition or not, what to call this 
possible coalition, who'd run the coalition, and then backstabbed both 
parties who may have formed that coalition to the point that they'd not 
realised that the election had already been held and they lost.  And 
lost quite convincingly.  If the "opposition" cannot present a valid 
argument for their product/service/whatever, then they are no opposition.

Sure, I *know* it isn't as simple as this, but this sure is one of the 
issues.

So, if people are willing to listen, I'm willing to offer my input.

By the way, I've been selected by Microsoft to represent the views of 
the 500 or so SBSCs (Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community) 
members in Australia to both Microsoft Australia and Microsoft Corp 
(US).  If you care at all, have a read of http://www.sbscpal.com/ for a 
bit more info.  If you don't, that's fine.  And why am I saying this?  
To show that *I* have an open mind when it comes to Linux, BSD (and 
etc), open source and closed source products used today.  None are 
inherently evil (although Steve Ballmer is inherently incapable of 
running Microsoft well), though some are more consumer-friendly than 
others (especially considering the current financial situation).  And 
this does, in no way, mean that I suckle on the teat of Mother Microsoft 
without giving appropriate feedback when and where necessary.  And I 
tend not to pull any punches, as some of my blog entries clearly show.

http://hiltont.blogspot.com/
<http://hiltont.blogspot.com/>


Regards,

Hilton Travis Phone: +61 (0)7 3105 9101

(Brisbane, Australia) Phone: +61 (0)419 792 394

Manager, Quark IT http://www.quarkit.com.au

Quark Group http://www.quarkgroup.com.au

Microsoft SBSC PAL (Australia) http://www.sbscpal.com/

War doesn't determine who is right. War determines who is left.


Quark Group Pty. Ltd.

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