For those of you who use Microsoft products on a daily basis (I'm included in that list...my job uses WinXP daily) Linux might seem silly or stupid. You might think the people that use it are just nerds or geeks or those people with IQ's tipping the scales at 180.
In today's world, that just isn't so.
Senior citizens are using Linux. Kids are using Linux. My 56 year old mother-in-law is using Linux. All of this is being done because Linux is persistent. It won't go away and it refuses to not improve.
See, Linux is founded on the idea that software should be for everyone...that you shouldn't have to pay 400 dollars (yes, that's how much Microsoft Office costs) to open up a document. Linux is founded o the idea that YOU should be in control of YOUR computer and your software.
You might be saying, "But I am in control of my computer and software. I bought it...I own it. I use it. It's mine and I control it" and you'd be 100% wrong. Why? Because, like many people, you forgot to read the EULA for your operating system. With all Microsoft Operating Systems, you don't really own your own operating system...if you think I'm wrong, check out the EULA in XP and Vista for yourself...you'll have many surprises.
Microsoft thinks that you aren't technilogically advanced enough to handle your own PC. You should leave that up the Microsoft...they'll take care of it for you. :twisted:
All kidding aside, it does open up the door here. You're not in control. You've been usurped and you don't have a thing you can do about it right? If you want to use Microsoft as your Operating System...there is nothing you can do about it.
Let me share with you things that will become all to common in the near future with Vista:
My wife switched to Linux last year. It all started with a CD that she bought at the store. She brought it home and immediately tried to rip it to disk so she could drop it onto her iAudio X5L. The bug of the problem was that Windows XP said she couldn't rip that CD because it was protected. This wasn't the first time that had happened, but since it was a band my wife really liked, it was the last time. There was an immediate formatting of the computer and installation of PCLinuxOS, my recommended new user Linux distribution. She couldn't be happier now...I made a virtual machine out of the WinXP install before we formatted so that if something doesn't work in Linux, we fire up the VM and we're able to get through it. Lately though, I haven't had to fire up the VM...More and more websites work and more and more programs are being created at a higher quality in Linux because businesses are beginning to see true value of Linux and Open Source software.
What can we learn from this example? We can learn that sooner or later there will be a tipping point as more control is forced upon the end user...whether it be for digital rights management (DRM) or other control mechanisms put into play in Microsoft Operating Systems. The idea to control has been there from the beginning and isn't going anywhere.
Linux isn't going away anytime soon. There is no central company that Microsoft can sue to put out of business with Legal fees like they did in the past. There are no central companies to buy out. If Microsoft bought Red Hat or Novell, Linux would still continue on as if nothing happened.
Some of you might be thinking "that's impossible, Microsoft wouldn't let that happen. They'd totally kill Linux by buying up all the companies that produce it". You'd be wrong in this aspect. Linux is released under a license that perpetuates the openess of code and the sharing of code. Say you and I collaborate to write a 3 line program that tells us what time it is. We release that code under the GPL (General Public License). We make a bunch of money on that code and then Company X comes in and buys our little startup out. Does this mean they can take that code we released under the GPL license and use it for themselves? You bet. Does this mean they can take that code and close it down allowing no one else to use it? Not on your life. Once something is released under the GPL it is freely available to ANYONE, ANYWHERE. It's alterable by anyone wanting to improve it or take it and make something else. It's freely shareable. However, you can't take say...a Linux distribution like PCLinuxOS mentioned above and close all the source down.
The mechanism in place (GPL) prevents anyone from closing down the parts built previously under the GPL license. In these instances, you can see how Microsoft cannot put an end to Linux...even if they wanted to do so.
Linux does not depend on a revenue stream to survive. No one is paid by Linux to develop for Linux. Therefore, Linux will never 'go out of business'. It can't die. It's not going away.
So where does that leave us? It leaves us knowing that Linux will be there much longer than anything else will be since it doesn't have to perform at X level for shareholders. It leaves us knowing that Microsoft, no matter how badly they want to, can never snuff Linux off the face of the earth.
Lastly, it leaves us with choice. Yes, choice...where you choose to take control of your PC again. Where you choose to compute on your own terms and take back the abilities you've lost previously. The choice of freedom from control.