Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
In 2006, I published my first website using Dreamweaver, the top software at that time. I was using Windows, which cost me about $105, MS Office which was a bit dearer, and Dreamweaver which cost about $115, and then a course on how to use Dreamweaver which cost about the same. So let’s just do the Maths here:
Windows XP…..$105.00 AUD MS Office……$175.00 AUD Dreamweaver 8..$115.00 AUD Using Dreamweaver 8 (course) …………..$ 110.00 AUD Total………$ 565.00 AUD
Just for the record, I started with Adobe Creative Suite at $1500. The switch to Dreamweaver was a saving, I thought!
Today, in 2016, I run 6 websites on my own and service several others. Here’s my software costs:
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS…..Free LibreOffice……….Free Bluefish………….Free Total…………….$ 0.00
So why do so many people still pay a fortune for software?
Being posted to New Zealand from Melbourne Australia, my stuff was in storage back in Melbourne. I needed to print some forms out and going to the library was not only a pain, but in a month, I’d have paid the equivalent to the purchase price of a new printer!
In a fit of insanity, I went to Harvey Normans here in Christchurch, only because he had a huge clearance sale. Typical for Harvey Norman, I ended up buying a printer at the bargain discounted price that every other retailer would have charged anyway. But, I didn’t say I was a genius!
I had grown so used to everything working in Linux now, that I didn’t bother to check, and had the regrettable misfortune to buy a Brother all-in-one printer (Model MFC J480DW). I set it up and it won’t work in Linux – no Linux drivers and it hates CUPS (the Linux generic printer software). Because I teach IT, I have to have a copy of Windows, so I am able to use it in Windows, but I can see why, in some cases, Linux just won’t cut it. However, that still doesn’t explain why so many people haven’t switched. My Epson and HP all-in-one printers all worked perfectly in Linux.
When I started my website, Mimenta.com, the stats said that 80% of all my viewers used Windows. Only 0.5% used Linux and that was in 2006.
Today in 2016, 56% of my viewers use Windows and 20% are using Linux. On the surface, that seems great progress but it tells me that there’s a vast number of poor folks out there who are in the dark and are paying big money for their ignorance.
I started asking around to see why people were still shelling out for software they could get for free. The most common response was that I must be some kind of supergeek to understand Linux. They visualised Linux as the old command-line interface. Today you can do everything in the graphics interface. You don’t need the command-line any more.
However we still have a few hurdles: • Old ideas of Linux being command-line rather than icons and graphics persist. • Some people see Linux as the tool of hackers and the dark web. • Broswer functionality – Firefox is rejected by many online games because it has an out-of-date flash player. Chromium is in the same category. • Some hardware does not communicate with Linux, however these are in the minority now.
Maybe it’s time we put together a new list of incompatible hardware (routers, printers, scanners, cameras, etc), and sent copies to those manufacturers. We have enough market share now to start pressuring some of these manufacturers. No business can afford to reject 20% of the market.
Full Circle Magazine could be the perfect rally point to collect comments, perhaps run petitions to drive these changes. It’s time Linux became the dominant operating system.