Re: [Fsfe-uk] Cheats!

[Chris Croughton]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 05:20:21PM +0000, Simon Waters wrote:

> Paul Tansom wrote:
> >
> >There's a bit in the Michaels Minute blog (now separated from being an
> >official Linspire thing) about it. The idea is to present the software
> >as a packaged product that can be picked up from store shelves to get
> >more people to use it
> 
> He's got the right idea - people really don't know how to "buy" free 
> software. If you put it on a shelf in a shop with a label - it goes - 
> even with a zero price tag.
> 
> Largely it is the being in a shop. gives them the confidence that it is 
> a genuine product - for some value of genuine.

Well, if it's in a shop you can take it back and complain (especially if
you have paid for it, even if all you really paid for was the
packaging), if you download it there's no one to sue.

> The funny thing about this, is coversation over the weekend on spyware 
> was the quotation "I only buy software from reputable companies", I 
> didn't have the heart to mention the episode with the spyware not being 
> spyware if it is Microsoft spyware, as he clearly still had Microsoft 
> listed mentally as reputable, and presumably Sony, and all the OEMs who 
> ship spyware preinstalled into customised IE installs.....

The other day I had to install something from MS, and the web browser
popped up a dialog asking whether I really trusted Microsoft!  Well, OK,
it was actually asking whether I trusted the certificate from MS, but I
really did not want to perjure myself and say that I trusted MS...

> People need a big education, but that is even harder than the free 
> software sell.

"Anything free is worth what you pay for it", and "free advice"
generally costs even more.  Which is why I don't 'push' GNU/Linux (or
other religions), if people ask then that's them saying that they are
willing to pay...

Chris C