Big Changes Coming
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Judging from what Canonical stated as their reasons for switching to Unity, we may finally have a chance to crack the Microsoft hegemony on the desktop. Very young people, or people who don't use computers are getting used to a vastly different UI than people who grew up on Windows. These mobile operating systems are changing what they expect to see when they access a machine and if truly free software can meet their needs and expectations, we stand to liberate(and inform them hopefully) from Microsoft, or even other open source software that isn't 100% free.
What does everyone else here think? Do you agree that this change that is taking place will be able to end Wintel's stranglehold on the desktop?
I think that Canonical is trying to get rid of Gnome and open source community and have its own desktop, exactly what Microsoft is doing for ages!
Canonical is a company as Microsoft, with developers to pay each month and is trying to take a big piece of the UI cake to make money ... simply usual people use the PC turning it on, without asking what is the OS running because they often don't know that HW is separated from SW ...
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I know, I'm not saying we should use Unity. What I'm saying is they make a valid point in that people are coming to expect something other than Microsoft's UI. Between Apple's iOS and Android and even Blackberry and Symbian, a lot of people might be wooed if we give them a familiar experience on a PC, laptop or netbook.
On a side note, despite the bugs, Android 3.0.1 on a tablet is a very nice user experience, having it slightly modified on a desktop to allow more control with a mouse and keyboard would be no bad thing IMO.
Yes, I agree! Unity is a valid point of starting using Pc in a different way ... but how many people know that there's a choice in the OS of his own PC? We know that in our car whe can use different gas brand ... we cannot say the same thing about the PC ...
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MS pays a lot of money that endusers get Windows PCs. In normal stores, there is always Windows pre installed. People believe that PCs are hard to build (ok its sticking 5 things on one Big Thing). Its like BP says with other companys gas you could only drive half as far. They Pay money that Governments believe such things
http://www.golem.de/1105/83405.html
(For non Englishers, the Government tells they use no Linux because they need to update the OS for updating Applications)
MS paid Nokia a lot of money that they use WP7, I wonder what they offered Samsung or HTC for the same.
Windows is so "standard" because they can do what they want because of their money and People believe that without Office you can't make a doc that someone else opens and it looks like the one you made.
just my 2 cents
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Yea, it is pretty sad. I'm American, but I live in Mexico. My girlfriend goes to UABC here. The teachers require work to be in .doc .xls and .ppt
The funny thing is, I don't even think the teachers have legitimate copies of MS Office. It's all pirated. Their ignorance has them not only using proprietary formats when for their uses free software and formats would work, but also pirating software. This then in turn is basically a green light from university faculty that the students should pirate the software too. I don't know many mexican UABC students that can fork out for an MS Office license when the license is twice their semester's tuition.
It's a sad state of affairs I've brought to their attention time and again and they do nothing about it. I've been tempted to turn them in for piracy and condoning piracy, but on this side of the border I don't think anything would happen to them. Not so much that I care about pirating Microsoft's software, but it'd sort of stick it in their face that they either need to change, or be fined.
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Damn, that is sad.
It comes from topic Big Changes Comings.
> Yea, it is pretty sad. I'm American, but I live in Mexico. My girlfriend goes
> to UABC here. The teachers require work to be in .doc .xls and .ppt
> The funny thing is, I don't even think the teachers have legitimate copies of
> MS Office. It's all pirated. Their ignorance has them not only using
> proprietary formats when for their uses free software and formats would work,
> but also pirating software. This then in turn is basically a green light from
> university faculty that the students should pirate the software too. I don't
> know many mexican UABC students that can fork out for an MS Office license
> when the license is twice their semester's tuition.
>
> It's a sad state of affairs I've brought to their attention time and again
> and they do nothing about it. I've been tempted to turn them in for piracy
> and condoning piracy, but on this side of the border I don't think anything
> would happen to them. Not so much that I care about pirating Microsoft's
> software, but it'd sort of stick it in their face that they either need to
> change, or be fined.
Yeah. Really sad. I always doubt which will be the correct way to show
them the case. I want not to seem anti-system, also to start talking
about freedoms probably frighten them (sad too). Maybe a possible
approximation is:
"It cannot be. You teachers obtain illegal copies of the software.
Teachers ask (more or less indirectly) to obtain illegal copies of the
software. But the point is that you really don't want this software in
particular, it is only a tool that we use by habit. Also, there are free
of charge alternatives to that software which are as good as the others
and also they have been created because authors have thought before that
this situation is not sustainable. Let's change to LibreOffice (or what
it be). There will be no problems: program is free of charge, it has no
virus and is 10 MB of size. No one can be disturbed by that."
A teacher said me the other day that my problem was "very particular"
for not to use that software, and then he was not considering it
seriously. Maybe the class is no the correct moment for talking about
that with the teacher (as student) so she want to use that time for
another explanations. Maybe is better to visit her and exhibit the fact.
> Yea, it is pretty sad. I'm American, but I live in Mexico. My girlfriend goes
> to UABC here. The teachers require work to be in .doc .xls and .ppt
> The funny thing is, I don't even think the teachers have legitimate copies of
> MS Office. It's all pirated. Their ignorance has them not only using
> proprietary formats when for their uses free software and formats would work,
> but also pirating software. This then in turn is basically a green light from
> university faculty that the students should pirate the software too. I don't
> know many mexican UABC students that can fork out for an MS Office license
> when the license is twice their semester's tuition.
>
> It's a sad state of affairs I've brought to their attention time and again
> and they do nothing about it. I've been tempted to turn them in for piracy
> and condoning piracy, but on this side of the border I don't think anything
> would happen to them. Not so much that I care about pirating Microsoft's
> software, but it'd sort of stick it in their face that they either need to
> change, or be fined.
Yeah. Really sad. I always doubt which will be the correct way to show
them the case. I want not to seem anti-system, also to start talking
about freedoms probably frighten them (sad too). Maybe a possible
approximation is:
"It cannot be. You teachers obtain illegal copies of the software.
Teachers ask (more or less indirectly) to obtain illegal copies of the
software. But the point is that you really don't want this software in
particular, it is only a tool that we use by habit. Also, there are free
of charge alternatives to that software which are as good as the others
and also they have been created because authors have thought before that
this situation is not sustainable. Let's change to LibreOffice (or what
it be). There will be no problems: program is free of charge, it has no
virus and is 10 MB of size. No one can be disturbed by that."
A teacher said me the other day that my problem was "very particular"
for not to use that software, and then he was not considering it
seriously. Maybe the class is no the correct moment for talking about
that with the teacher (as student) so she want to use that time for
another explanations. Maybe is better to visit her and exhibit the fact.
It is offtopic yet. I branch it to Migrating to free software at
education.
> ignorance has them not only using proprietary formats when for their
> uses free software and formats would work, but also pirating
> software. This then in turn is basically a green light from
> university faculty that the students should pirate the software too.
Students everywhere should stand up and help Microsoft in their fight
against "piracy". They should demand their teachers and schools for
using and promoting unauthorised copies of Microsoft products.
Come on guys, don't copy that floppy! (copy ours!)
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@lluvia I'm not the student, I brought the topic up to a professor who is a friend of mine. It's not really off topic either, the changes I referred to in the op were really any changes that could bring people to foss. Be it changing attitudes about using software they don't own legally(or do for that matter), a desire to have a new user experience, and especially control over the software you use.
@Ruben That sounds like an awesome slogan "Come on guys, don't copy that floppy! (copy ours!)" or has someone already used it?
> @Ruben That sounds like an awesome slogan "Come on guys, don't copy
> that floppy! (copy ours!)" or has someone already used it?
"Don't copy that floppy" was an awful anti sharing campaign from the 90s
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I know, but the addition of "Hey buddy, don't copy that floppy(copy ours!) makes it awesome.
You obviously have not seen the 2009 sequel. They brought the same dude back and tried to modernize him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUCyvw4w_yk). It is just as laughable.
Microsoft and Adobe still benefit from pirated proprietary software, just not as much as from software paid for at the full price, and obtained legally.
It's because, even the pirated software, is still promoting the MS operating systems, encouraging the use of it's file formats and increasing the Windows share of the desktop.
Also pirated web and software development applications, like Adobe Dreamweaver and Visual Studio, still help promote MS and Adobe development systems and platforms. Its a very clever win-win for Microsoft and Adobe.
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