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Writing the previous article sparked off various thoughts in my head, one of which was “what could be done to get consumers to start realising that there is an alternative to Windows on a PC or a laptop?”.
I let that thought simmer away in the background whilst I went about the business of the day. That’s when the realisation struck me. How many of you go to a PC store from time to time? Probably quite a few of you if not all.
When you’re in the store, if you’re anything like me, you take a look at the sections where they sell the PC’s and laptops - just to see what “latest and greatest” hardware there is for sale. These are all usually powered up and you can tinker around with most of them - I usually take a peek at the hardware of a machine I think looks interesting.
And this is the stage my thoughts reached when my brain started waving metaphorical red flags and saying “Excuse me! I say! Excuse me!” until it got my attention.
I suddenly realised that the way I usually look at the hardware setup of a machine is by using the Windows Control Panel, and that’s when it occurred to me. Because I’ve been in numerous IT related jobs in the past, I’ve had to deal with supporting Windows PC’s and Servers as well as Linux and Unix servers, so doing stuff like looking at Windows’ Control Panel to do various things (like looking at the hardware of a machine) is second nature to me.
It’s also blinded me, until now, to the fact that the PC’s and laptops on display at the PC stores are all running Windows (apart from the Macs of course). I’ve never given that any thought until right now, and it’s a scary thought, because it means that up until now, in some way I’ve been somehow accepting that seeing Windows running on all the PC’s and laptops in the store is the norm. Even though I’d rather use a Linux distribution on my machines than Windows, I just blindly accept that all those machines have Windows running on them. I’ve been looking at the machine’s hardware with thoughts like “wonder if there’s a decent Linux driver for this graphics card/network card/whatever”, and just accepting the fact that Windows is on the machine.
*Epiphany*
Of course, nowadays, this shouldn’t be the norm, and here’s where my idea comes in.
We all know that bootable Linux Live CD’s and DVD’s are available in a number of distribution flavours - but as far as I know they all just boot into a Linux desktop.
What I suggest that Linux distributors - or even some enterprising and clever Linux user(s) out there do - is assemble together a Linux Demonstrator CD or DVD which, when booted up on one of these PC’s and laptops in a PC store, immediately sets about showing off the desktop capabilities of a modern Linux distribution. Have the disc automatically detect graphics cards capable of OpenGL accelleration - and if they do (and the drivers are known to not cause display problems), have the demonstrator system dazzle the viewer with fancy compiz/beryl eyecandy, amongst other things like demo’ing OpenOffice, FireFox, and all the other goodies a typical user wants to see and use and which a Linux distribution provides.
Imagine, say, Ubuntu reads this article for some reason and decides “My my what a great idea!” and promptly assembles together such a disc. Now, what you then do is have all the various Linux User Groups and advocacy groups that are dotted around the world go out to their local PC shops, talk to the managers, and try to get them to have at least ONE machine in their store running with this demonstration disk. Start campaigns to get Linux demonstrated in these shops! Even if it’s only running on a single PC or laptop in the shop.
I think this would be an effective way of getting the message across to the consumer out there that they DO have a choice - that there is more to a PC/laptop than the “norm” of buying one with Windows on it.
Stumble it!
but (unfortunately) what’s in it for the said
Showrooms etc to take the trouble to do this?
Why not do it at the public library instead. It’s done on an noncommercial basis so it should not be impossible.
It’s also in line with the one aims of public libraries - giving free access to knowledge and a possibility to freely participate in the exchange of ideas. And the net is where the action is.
Very good point, and that had me thinking for a bit!
Say a customer saw the demo running and was impressed with the Linux distro? Now the customer is interested in obtaining the machine with the distro. So depending on how much trouble a shop wishes to go through, they either install the machine with the distro, or they supply the distro DVD to the customer. Either way, it might just encourage a sale of another machine.
Then what the shop does is hand out a leaflet which tells the customer how to obtain a refund from Microsoft for the unused Windows license (if the customer doesn’t wish to have Windows that is).
Although I can imagine the frenetic campaiging this might induce from the Microsoft camp if this started to happening numbers. *grin*
Again another very good question.
Why not also approach your local public library?
Although, the systems set up in libraries are usually set up by someone other than the staff in that library - that’s what it looks like to me, both in Britain and in Japan. I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but you’ld probably have to speak to whoever’s in charge of that side of things.
Excommunication for heretics…thats why Linux is struggling…
Might work in chopshops but won’t fly in the big box retailers.
1. It is a virtual certainty that there are (or promptly would be should this become popular) contractual obligations to demonstrate the machines ‘as shipped’ and not with a totally different environment.
2. If someone bought a machine based on seeing a Linux desktop they would (reasonably) expect it to be preinstalled. Since the manufacturer isn’t going to support that it would leave the support monkey on the back of the retailer. Support is the most expensive component in a typical PC. Do the math.
You can’t assert that’s a “virtual certainty” until you actually know for sure this is the case. Is it the case? I don’t know. Do you? And if it’s currently not the case, and showing off Linux makes it the case, then even that’s a good thing because it’ll give manufacturers the message that there *is* a potential market for Linux on their hardware.
Then charge for that support - more market opportunity for the shop. I really am doing the math.
the frenchs are ahead …
http://www.manucornet.net/pcjacking/#pictures