Re: [Fsuk-manchester] Constructivne Comment request

[Benjamin Webb]

2008/6/26 Matt Lee <address@hidden>:
> Benjamin Webb wrote:
>
>> Yes, GNU/Linux is good for the all the things a lot of people use
>> their system for - documents and things on the internet, there are two
>> big areas above that cause problems. Firstly, music - GNU/Linux is
>> fine for listening to most music. However, many people have music
>> collections containing DRM or want to have itunes to buy music with a
>> few clicks. As concerns DRM, we should certainly tell people to avoid
>> it anyway, but are there any good DRM-free music services, for popular
>> artists, in the UK, that work with GNU/Linux?
>
> * eMusic
> * 7digital
> * Napster
> * Play.com
>
> I think you over estimate the amount of 'digital' music people have.
> Most people are buying CDs.

That is true actually. Its probably the group of people that I myself
am trying to convert - college age people, who tend to download a lot.
However, quite a lot are using bittorrent limewire etc., which work
perfectly with GNU/Linux :D

>> Secondly games. These are a very big problem. Any serious pc gamer
>> will not be able to switch fully to GNU/Linux. There are free software
>> games, and there is wine, but for most gamers these are no way near
>> ready.
>
> Most computer users are not serious PC gamers. I agree that serious PC
> gamers will have problems moving operating system, because they have a
> very specialised set up for their gaming.

Maybe I don't quite mean "serious pc gamers" - I'm not sure on the
exact definition. I have quite a few friends who play games like world
of warcraft or the orange box relatively regularly.

>> So, here you have two big problems for "normal" users. However, these
>> issues do not affect a lot of people. There is still a large number of
>> people who just want to make documents, browse the web, listen to
>> their drm-free music collection and possibly have a game solitaire
>> occasionally (or maybe have just one "must have" game that does work
>> in wine) - for most of these people GNU/Linux is a viable alternative.
>
> I'm not even sure most people listen to music on their computers. I can
> see that a lot of people have MP3 players that they need to fill up, but
> I still think lots of people, probably most people, are using CDs, and
> even records and tapes.

Well, I imagine a fair number of people have freedom hating music
(itunes or drmed wmv) that they want to fill their "mp3 players" with.
Again though, I do tend to base my perceptions on the young people who
I am talking to.

However, I ought to point out that I was just nitpicking what tim
said. I strongly agree that there is a large percentage of windows
users for whom GNU/Linux covers their needs.

-- 
Ben Webb - http://freedomdreams.co.uk/
Unlock your computing - http://getgnulinux.org/