Re: SEUL: Observatons

[Jay Bloodworth <jay@pathways.sde.state.sc.us>]

On 24 Jun 1997 jghasler@win.bright.net wrote:

> winston writes:
> > Who is SEUL directed at?
> 
> I think it should be directed at the individual user.

I'm going to take one more stab at convincing people that the first step
needs to be geared towards a LAN/Workgroup/Intranet environment.  If most
everybody on the list continues to summarily dismiss this point of view, I
guess I'll drop it.  No use beating a dead horse.

1) I don't think people reinstall operating systems lightly.  Those who do
can probably handle RedHat.  The rest just use the OS that came with their
machine.  While Linux has a lot of technical advantages over Windows 95,
most of them are 'under the hood.' Nontechnical users are going to need
them to something very concrete to convince them to change OSes.  While
Linux does run lot's of really neat software, it's weaknesses are,
unfortunately, the kinds of software that people use the most: office apps
and the latest whiz-bang games.

2) IS managers in big organizations DO occasionally replace the existing
OS on machines - lots of machines at once, in fact.  They might even give
some consideration to the technical merits of their OS options.  Some of
the liabilities of Linux for home users - eg the relative scarcity of
games - might be assets in a business environment.

3) If computer vendors hear that lots of their business customers are
replacing Win95 with Linux within an hour of the boxes arriving at the
loading dock, they'll start offering Linux as a preinstalled option.  

4) Home users, buying new computers, will start asking about this Linux
option.  The more adventerous of them might even try it.

5) The less adventurous of them (who went ahead and bought the machine
with Windows 9whatever) and those who can't afford a new machine will see
the smiles on the faces of the people in point 4 and snag a Linux Upgrade
CD for themselves.

(Those who object to my comments in point 1 by pointing out how many
people bought and installed Win95, please note that Microsoft spent over a
year creating a buzz for their new OS and were able to promote it with a
multimillion dollar ad campaign.  Spending lots and lots of money can
solve many problems.) 

Jay

 

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