Re: [tlug] Re: Why Vista Sucks (was: linux: it's becoming ubiquitous)

["emiddleton@example.com" <emiddleton@example.com>]

Attila Kinali wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:23:40 +0900
> "Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com> wrote: 
>   
> > As Mark Shuttleworth pointed out bluntly at BALUG last week, whatever
> > else you say about Microsoft, there's one thing you can't take away
> > from them: they made software cheap for the masses.  This is not true
> > of open source, not yet, and maybe never.

Probably just a slip up and he meant they "made cheap and nasty software 
for the masses" ;)



> >  > I strongly disagree. It's the currently used bussines model
> >  > that demands a closed and well controlled distribution system
> >  > for software. If you choose a different bussines model you can
> >  > still make money even if you give away the software for free
> >  > if the product you sell is not the software itself.
> >
> > But how about all the people who are screwed because the features they
> > need are not relevant to your business model, so you won't produce
> > them, and neither does anybody else?

Customization is one of the services you may have to pay for.  The 
advantage of the open source model is that they can have features 
implement irrespective of your business model.  Customization might not 
be free, but it is a lot cheaper then reimplementing everything to add a 
couple of features.

Edward