Help make 7 an unlucky number for Microsoft

spektrumcreations

Just felt the need to make this point, and though I'm focusing this post in the Ubuntu thread, I think it's important to make this a widespread effort from the entire linux-based OS community... GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT, JUST LIKE THE ELECTION LAST YEAR... GET INVOLVED TO MAKE THE CHANGE...

ENCOURAGE ALL PEOPLE YOU CAN TO AT LEAST TRY UBUNTU OR ANOTHER FAVORITE DISTRO THAT WOULD SUIT THEIR NEEDS, BEIT FROM A LIVECD OR LIVEUSB OR FROM A SYSTEM YOU YOURSELF RUN...

Talking points:

* Point out that the majority (something like 80-90%) of the developers who contribute to the linux kernel and other open source programs like openoffice ARE NOT pimply-faced teens but software developers and engineers working for fortune500 companies in corprate environments who RESPECT the open-source software model of taking open-source code and using it, modifying if necessary and giving back the improved code, "paying it forward" in a way, to help the community thrive and to help the next individual or company

* Point out that the only real thing that people really "need" to rely on Windows for right now is gaming and even that has been glossed over and in large part neglected in Windows 7. direct them to this artticle which makes a great point about why gaming has been neglected... http://kotaku.com/5384543/windows-7-what-happened-to-gaming -- Also accentuate that as more people use linux-based systems that use OpenGL that the game manufactures who are programming (and probably get funded in part, with discounts and bonuses, etc...) for DirectX, they will program for the system that is used by the consumers they are trying to sell to.

* Show how Wine can be used to effectively run certain productivity applications but that even then there are programs like OpenOffice, Gimp, and Inkscape that are quite compatible in doing the things that people do.

* Showcase the apps!!! Sell them on it... AND SUPPORT THEM UNTIL THEY GET THE CONCEPTS... It's like someone who switches from windows to a mac... it's different. Even though most of the concepts are the same, many people just need to know 'what button to push'. A lot of us understand that at this point, a distro can be set up really quickly for someone to just use by people who don't download apps and only check email, occasionally skype or im, use facebook, twitter and look at youtube videos... We all know these people, a lot of times they are our parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents.... Suggestion: Show off compiz-fusion and eye--candy like that... The desktop cube switcher... the desklets... cairo-dock... themes... make it look like windows, then like osx then like something they like that's different. get them involved...

* In Ubuntu 9.10 especially, show off the Ubuntu Software Center and show the number of completely free applications.... Point out something like FontForge and compare it to an app like FontLab ( the main difference is the hundreds of dollars), the difference between MS Office and Open Office (again mainly just the hundreds of dollars),

It could be easy to show how unethical M$ is just by sharing a few of the recent news items that just show how many times Microsoft tries to 'get away with' stuff and have repeatedly done the same kind of thing that it has become obvious that it's not just them innocently pushing the envolope and 'not knowing' that they were doing something wrong, but intentionally doing something and hoping to not get caught, relying on their financial backing and legal team to keep them out of trouble...

* share how Microsoft KNOWINGLY STOLE the xml code that was patented by i4i and is now fighting that lawsuit in court

* share how Microsoft's Firefox plugins (point out firefox being a competing browser with IE) were disabled by Mozilla (the maker of Firefox, if they don't know) because of crashing and security holes experienced by the firefox browser. The plugin generated controversy earlier this year because Microsoft surreptitiously injected it into Firefox via a Windows Update, without prompting or notifying users

* share how Microsoft in pretending like it supports open-source talked in July about contributing 20,000 lines of code to the linux kernel ( http://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-linux-windows-driver-code,8310.html ) but that it was several months before the code was actually released and even then was 'a good 6,000 lines short of what they claimed, and was not at all a "contribution" but a self-serving self-inclusion" ( http://boycottnovell.com/2009/08/04/hyper-v-14010-lines-of-code/ )

I'm sure there's many of you that will know of more examples...

Here's hoping that we all can do our part to stand up as consumers and empower other users to take a stand against the Goliath that is the Microsoft beast and take it down once and for all, that perhaps in a couple years when Microsoft's user base has dwindled to less than half of the computers in the world and they release another half-baked, last ditch effort at an operating system that will be so full of holes a 5 year old can hack it with their robot dog toy....

Good Luck to All of you

Chris

mfillpot

I am moving this thread to the "Getting started with Linux" section so new users can more easily see the advantages (a lilnk will be left in the ubuntu section.

Lee.Wilkerson

Thank you, Chris!
I've been cursing Micro$oft for the last 15 years, and I think it high time I switched back to an OS for which I can develop without investing all those dollar$ let alone trying not to pull out any more hair.
I just about lost all of my religion because of them, but that's what I get for going with the antichrist.
As I just posted on another thread, I would have been very happy if M$ had just stayed with Windows 3.11, but noooooo. They had to go and make it obsolete with '95 just when I had the old version tweaked to my satisfaction. Bleah!
Next time I go looking at a closed OS, I hope someone has the decency to kick me very hard in the hoohoos.
Meanwhile I will be trying my very hardest to make sure all of my friends and acquaintances switch to some version of Linux.
Call me converted!
Lee

P.S. If you ever want to really understand how backstabbing, underhanded, and conniving Billy and the people at Micro$oft can be, read the book Hard Drive.

Naiki

Could you start by not referring to Microsft as M$? People dont like having something they use / know insulted. It makes the defensive. Often aggravated. Never a good first step.

Best thread ever on the subject of bringing people to Linux Smartboyathomes : One of Linux's biggest lessons: Don't preach, mention - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=865750

altNull

I repair friends computer. If they are gamers I have to push them to Windows 7 since Vista is unsecured, and Linux can't support all of the Games they play (well it can, but you have to be a wine nut like me). If I find out the computer is used for school work, email, or web surfing, then I bump them to Linux right away. Usually I select Ubuntu for its support of a bunch of fun apps and the graphical installer. However, I really suggest Fedora since its more hardy, faster, and more secure. Problem: You do have to learn to use and love bash...wait that's not a problem. Lol.

Really, Windows 7 days are numbered. They rely on the x86 architecture, which has been maxed out on current processors. In order to keep moving forward, Intel and AMD will release Power PC architecture or another architecture which will allow them to pump out more powerful processors without paying through the nose for materials or construction. This, for Linux and Unix, simply means a recompile and tests of apps. For Windows, this means DOOM. They can't simply recompile. Since the kernel is written in C/C++ and C# they can't recompile in another architecture since C# is built around the x86 architecture. This means a complete rewrite of their compiler and then they have to rewrite the .Net framework and then they can try try try to recompile. That or they would have to write a new compiler and a new OS. Wait, that's about the same amount of work.

Examples of this can be seen in the PS3 vs Xbox360. The 360 relies on x86 architecture, while PS3 is PPC. Which has more power and performance? PS3 by a ton!

Basically, Linux and Unix just need to push for PPC.

nanouk

I guess I don't really understand all this "Microsoft Derangement Syndrome" on display here. I worked on the BSD 3.7-4.2 versions while I was at UC Berkeley (yes, I'm an old fart), but would have starved as a UNIX consultant during the years after I left UCB until now. Finally, the Web, bandwidth, and the increasing simplicity of Linux installs have brought the Linux desktop to the point where it can finally compete with Windows.

However, we have to learn that we are in the vast minority and those that have grown up with, used, upgraded, cursed, and cried over Windows do have a viable alternative. Let's understand that the way to get others to try and use Linux as that alternative is to patiently work with them, show them, and not insult their last 20 years of existence.

Remember the famous saying, "The way to get someone to agree with your opinions is to quietly walk over to them, take them by the hand, and gently lead them to your side of the discussion." (CJ Stoneman)

Happy Thanksgiving All! See you around the forums. Remember, easy does it. They will come around.

Nanouk

JonasJH

Meh.

All in all i guess this is nice.

However i personaly dont like to force people over, Anyone should use the operatingsystem that works best for them...

I myself was never told by anyone to start using any linux dist, but i just had to try it ( i always knew that linux existed and when i was 15 i tried it...) i think if anyone would pushed it on me, i would never tried it...

nanouk

Excellent point, Jonas. Though as technologist we are to suppose to be, I guess, I bit more Vulcan when it comes to feelings, but no one like to be pushed or made to feel odd for their previous decisions. I truly believe that Windows, maybe not 7, will succumb to its bloat and HW requirements.

I simply told and showed my clients, via a free Live CD of Ubuntu GNOME or KDE, how they could recycle their non-compliant Windows 7 desktops and notably their underpowered laptops into suitable Linux units and still do most everything, not all, but enough to make it worth their interest. Times of economic upheaval always demand some different thinking. Ubuntu or other desktop distros of Linux are coming on line frequently.

Welcome, Jonas.
Nanouk

mfillpot

James wrote:

I've heard that Windows 7 runs slower and slower with time. Is it that some functions are not active at the start?

Most likely the person who stated that was uninformed. Every version of windows that I have run except for 3.1 have gradually degraded performance over time because of file fragmentation. Because of how the windows filesystems write files it is necessary to continually defragment the system. If you run Windows I would highly recommend getting diskkeeper software, it has a setting to defrag your system while it is running or while the screensaver is running that will help to keep the system maintained.

I know this is a Linux site, but in some cases windows is the best tool for the job and I believe in helping people to keep their systems running at peak efficiency no matter what they run. Even though windows is the competition we can't start spreading misinformation.

Lee.Wilkerson

I've heard that Windows 7 runs slower and slower with time. Is it that some functions are not active at the start?

Every version of Windows I have ever run got slower and slower with time and that includes installations I have done for clients.
I don't have an accurate count, but I would estimate that number to be in the range of 5 or 6 hundred.

As stated in an earlier post, it is because of the way Windows writes to the HDD, but it is also because as you install more and more software the registry size rapidly increases. This means Win has to read more stuff on the drive at boot time. Also, some installers leave tracks all through your registry which they should have deleted when they deleted the temporary files which were used for said installations. The only reliable solution I have come up with for this problem is to occasionally reinstall Wdo's to a different directory eg:c:\winxp or something.

The computer on which I am currently typing this message had gotten to the point where boot-up took in excess of 8 minutes (after trying several different defragmenters and at least two registry cleaners). I finally reinstalled and it went to less than 90 seconds. Now it wants to power itself up in the middle of the night and usually has to be hard-reset (the other button on the front of some computer cases) after power-up. I only tolerate it because I use it about once a week for internet access only.

As for bad-mouthing Microsoft and Windows, I believe I have well over earned my stripes with hundreds of installations, more upgrades and repairs than you can imagine, and 11 personal computers running right now (not including my laptops). Linux, Ubuntu, Musix, Ubuntu Studio, Mepis, Mint, and/or Fedora have been installed on most of them. Fedora will be installed on this one as soon as I can get the latest version I D/L'd while I was writing this burned onto a CD.

Hey, Bill. Injest defacation and cease to exist, oh thou of the Oedipus complex.

~Lee