Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 20:57:20 -0600 From: Chris <racerx@makeworld.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Assuming We Want FreeBSD to Grow: Who Is It For? Message-ID: <4212B690.4040404@makeworld.com> In-Reply-To: <1728728975.20050216034021@wanadoo.fr> References: <42125E71.30804@tbc.net> <200502151655.43509.krinklyfig@spymac.com> <42129CCB.5030203@makeworld.com> <1728728975.20050216034021@wanadoo.fr>
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Anthony Atkielski wrote: > Chris writes: > > >>To me? They are users that are: >> >>1. Fed up with the MS upgrades >>2. Fed up with paying too much for software (apps and OS) >>3. Looking for a viable alternative to the MS empire >>4. NOT your average Windows user. > > > All the wrong people, generally. FreeBSD is not a solution for people > who hate Microsoft. It is not a viable alternative to MS desktop > software by any stretch of the imagination, except for a handful of > geeks. About the only group above that might be in the market for > FreeBSD would be the "non-average" Windows user ... provided that > "non-average" means "computer geek." Not intended to implicate a hatred for MS. Pure and simple, people get tired of a company that puts out an upgrade to either an app or an OS and must pay a somewhat healthy price. Home folks and companies alike are hit with these high costs. That's why OpenSource is looking more attractive to your "non-average" user and company IT nuts. I never mentioned a "hatred" to Uncle Bill and his empire. Simply people growing tired of the same old, same old. > If you aim at these markets, FreeBSD will never go anywhere. Even Linux > is unlikely to ever make a dent in Windows, and it won't be for lack of > trying. You can't be successful with a slogan like "anything's better > than Microsoft." Somewhat true however, Think of Porsche. Certainly there is a market place for the auto - albeit somewhat limited, but yet there still is a demand and a market. So I say, why not? Target the people that want to do more with the PC, that happen to be a bit more sophisticated in "geek-dom" > Most computer users don't love or hate Microsoft; they don't care about > Microsoft at all. Trying to market to people who hate Microsoft is thus > a waste of time. And even of those with an irrational hatred for the > company, only a fraction have the technical knowledge required to try an > alternate desktop OS like UNIX. Again - I never implied a "hatred". I specifically said people whom are tired of (insert reason). >>As a desktop environment, we would need to ensure that the average >>Windows user is aware that it's an OS NOT for him/her. > > > Not a problem currently, since even sysadmins who could be installing > and benefitting from FreeBSD on the server side don't know about the OS. > > >>Do we really want to develop FreeBSD to be used by these groups of users >>(No offense intended)? > > > No. But neither do we wish to target Microsoft-haters, either. Trying > to get someone to adopt an OS just because it's not from a certain > much-hated vendor is a very, very poor way to market the software. > Hatred is not synonymous with technical competence, and many people who > hate Microsoft (particularly some of the most rabid MS-bashers) don't > know enough to use any other OS, whereas many people who are very > computer-literate and could profit from FreeBSD do not harbor any > irrational hatred of MS. Again - I never mentioned MS-Haters. Linux users tend to be that. Re-read the wording I typed. >>I think not - for when you start to create an OS for the masses, you >>are doing nothing more then creating a Windows Clone... > > > Yes. Here we agree. -- Best regards, Chris Performance is directly affected by the perversity of inanimate objects.
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