Here's a fun one, via the tech blog HardOCP. A teacher noticed her student using Linux on a laptop. Her reaction? Putting an immediate stop to it and confiscating all the discs the student had. Seems she didn't believe any software could be free (though in the reprinted letter she does admit to trying Linux in college - one wonders what she thinks Linux is, exactly). Anyway, she wrote her letter to a Linux forum threatening legal action.
There is a serious element here, though. Namely, it underscores the challenge Open Source software faces. In many cases it -- not just Linux, but also OpenOffice, Gimp, and all those others so many of us have grown to love -- is just as good, or even better, than its commercial equivalent. But we live in an ownership society, and in the minds of many something that has no cost cannot have any value.
Someday we'll live in a world where teens don't have to experiment with Linux behind the barn and where college experiences with software aren't abandoned by adults. Until then, many people are likely to miss out on some great stuff as they skip over some excellent tech products.
There is a serious element here, though. Namely, it underscores the challenge Open Source software faces. In many cases it -- not just Linux, but also OpenOffice, Gimp, and all those others so many of us have grown to love -- is just as good, or even better, than its commercial equivalent. But we live in an ownership society, and in the minds of many something that has no cost cannot have any value.
Someday we'll live in a world where teens don't have to experiment with Linux behind the barn and where college experiences with software aren't abandoned by adults. Until then, many people are likely to miss out on some great stuff as they skip over some excellent tech products.
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