why I fear open source can't win the war

[Howard Gibson]

On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 07:11:06 -0400
bob <ican-rZHaEmXdJNJWk0Htik3J/w at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> My inlaws purchased a new computer which came with XP preinstalled.  The shop 
> also configured the Sympatico dialup Internet and Outlook email.   The whole 
> system worked for a week or so.
> 
> Being the security conscious son-in-law,  I took it upon myself suggest a safe 
> computing strategy:  OFT (OO, Firefox, Thunderbird).  Armed with my copy of 
> The Open CD,  I was invited to install OFT (OO, Firefox, Thunderbird) on 
> their box.
> 
> That is when everything stopped working...


Bob,

   My friends regard me as a computer geek, and they ask me technical questions all the time.  I remind them that I have not installed or configured a Windows operating system since 3.1.  When I mess with a computer, I assume everything will work out because I have the install CD, and I can reformat the hard drive and start all over again.  Short of that, I know where the configuration files are, and I know to back them up before I mess with stuff.

   A very strong argument against Windows as far as I am concerned, is that I am not familiar with it.  I bought my mom a computer and I installed Linux on it so that it would be stable and reliable, and so that when we called me for help, I would know what to do.

   If someone asks me about Windows security, I tell them they need a firewall and virus scanner, and that they should avoid IE.  I prefer to let them install this stuff themselves, or better yet, let the store install it. 

-- 
Howard Gibson 
hgibson-MwcKTmeKVNQ at public.gmane.org
howardg-PadmjKOQAFn3fQ9qLvQP4Q at public.gmane.org 
http://home.eol.ca/~hgibson
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