On Mon, 2006-05-22 at 00:46 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
What the common user gets used to, he will want also in the business.
I believe 100% that Linux adoption is going the _other_ way. And it's not always Linux, but open source. First it was Internet services, Apache being the killer app. Then it was limited LAN services, expanding more every day. Then the CAM and EDA markets brought it to the workstation. Now, slowly but surely, it's taking the corporate desktop. Again, even if it's not Linux, it's open source in general. OpenOffice.org/StarOffice on Windows is getting more and more popular. The more they infiltrate the corporate desktop, the more users at home will adopt it. People use apps, not OSes. But once they have adopted ODT, it makes it much easier to move to Linux.
This is specially so for kids in school.
When it's their dime, kids in school use Fedora Core, OpenSuSE (or the freely available SuSE Linux), etc... Just like any open source BSD or UNIX before Linux. For schools themselves, Red Hat has excellent pricing on the Red Hat Desktop -- which is basically a RHEL WS volume license. Sun provides free StarOffice as well. But on per single unit? No, Red Hat left that. There's nothing in it. Red Hat _still_ has the Red Hat Desktop -- it's just a volume RHEL WS license. I guess RHEL WS is still an option for unit 1, but one that is not purchased very often from what I've seen. Most people just go Fedora Core instead. RHEL WS is "too slow to move" for most, non-corporate/LAN users.
Microsoft knows that and pushed for their systems to be used in schools and homes.
Microsoft _screws_ colleges, as well as K-16 -- private schools that are both primary/secondary and college. Those are the types that have been moving to Linux in my experience.
Both markets are interdependent, bussiness and home.
Red Hat _does_ address _both_. It has Fedora Core for the single users. It has Red Hat Desktop for volume licenses, with deep educational discounts. Red Hat doesn't see the need for a shrink-wrapped, single license on its 6 month distribution. And I don't blame them. If Novell-SuSE does the same, I wouldn't blame them either. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ----------------------------------------------------------- Americans don't get upset because citizens in some foreign nations can burn the American flag -- Americans get upset because citizens in those same nations can't burn their own