Very interesting indeed. The only thing with the marketing approach that Owen Thomas is advocating is that it may have a limited reach for the greater global community if you consider 3rd world country growth prospects. Pitching Linux as a high end product will force any bulk purchases from these nations to go to Windows due to price. Apple OS growth is probably (real thumbsuck here) limited to America, Europe and the far east and is based on stealing market share from Windows as more affluent users/ organisations perceive the benefits of a Mac. The awareness of Apple products is great but largely driven by the success of the iPod. Do Linux have the luxury of an iPod? I think not. If I were them I would keep trying to crunch those distribution deals so that consumers are always faced with a choice of Windows and Linux and that these decisions are not affected by price. Does Linux actually have to care about 3rd World markets? Well Windows already does.

Posted by Smallz on 2006/11/10

http://laptop.org/ the quest for the $100 laptop for 3rd world countries. lovely functional design running linux!

Posted by Gavin on 2006/11/10

Yes, this is a good start. But it is still a plan at the moment and does not solve Linux's quest for the middle class in these markets. (eg. People that can afford a decent computer but don't want to pay the world for it.

Posted by Smallz on 2006/11/10

As long as Windows is shipped with the majority of new pc's, Linux can forget about eating into Microsoft's monopoly. Most people after buying a pc from a shop don't care what operating system it is running as long as they can do what they need to do on it. And if it does what it needs to do, they won't try to changing it. On the other hand is the problem of catering for the users who doesn't want to struggle to install something. Whether it be software or hardware, Linux still has a long way to go before it will be as easy to do those things as it is on Windows, and I say this out of experience after running Linux for two months at home now already. I just can't imagine my grandmother compiling a software program before she can use it. People want stuff to be easy and using Linux just isn't easy enough yet. But there is hope, cause one of the goals for the next release of Ubuntu is to start making it easier to do the general tasks of installing hardware and software.

Posted by Jean on 2006/11/10

i remember going to a computer faire a while back and seeing all these super geeky clever looking guys with linux t-shirts and i thought that this stuff must be for serious geeks, ie not for me and the rest. so maybe its still an image problem. that would be a great marketing campaign - have ordinarly looking people, grandmas and uncle fanie walking around in linux t-shirts to show how easy and accessible it is. windows is still everymans choice

Posted by Gavin on 2006/11/10

I have seen a lot of responses about this or that or the other ... but the fact of the matter is, that most people are sheep ... linux is free, you can download it anywhere, there are freedom toasters galore! you can make the switch any day you choose, Ubuntu is so easy to install, so if you run windows, YOU CHOOSE TO RUN WINDOWS! don't moan about spyware, don't moan if you need to re-install or if your pc is slooooow, don't moan if you pay too much, don't moan if BSA wacks you with a piracy law suite, just smile and know that it's all your fault, you can't point a finger to anyone else - you make your own decisions :)

Posted by Riaan on 2006/11/10

i disagree. the bulk of people do not choose to run windows. I look at my mother, she bought a machine with windows on it, so she uses it. Most people don't give a damn about the operating system they have, they just want to use it to perform fairly basic tasks. the bulk of users (Riaan, you are NOT an average user) haven't heard of linux. The other big problem with linux is it's over complicated means of installing software, updating it, and sometimes even using it. can you see the average user trying to figure out how to compile device drivers? windows is dominant because it is easy for the average man on the street to use. they don't care about security. remember, alot of people are intimidated by computers. until there is a linux distro that allows people to use it as easily as mac or windows, and does away entirely for the need to resort to a command line, it won't make headway in the household desktop market.

Posted by Andrew on 2006/11/10

SuSE is very very user friendly. My Mother 'how do you turn the pc on' uses it.

Posted by rafiq on 2006/11/10

"linux looks great but you need to be an expert to use it" "Everybody else uses Windows, I won't be able to share files with other people" "Linux is a business system. I want to my PC for media and games as well as office apps" "Linux may be great, but Windows does everything I need so why change" "If Linux is so great how come no one uses it" The above comments are typical things you will hear from above average technology savy PC users about Linux. The avereage PC user will say: "Linux, was that the guy in Pop Idol?" I don't know much about Linux either, some of the above comments, for all I know might be accurate. (Although I am pretty sure Linux was never on Pop Idol....... or if he was he definately didn't win it). The issue is one of marketing, and shifting perceptions in the market. If you had exactly the same PC from a hardware spec, but a choice of Linux or Windows, (Linux one being a little cheaper), most people will go for the windows machine, paying a little extra. Why? Because they don't know what Linux is. They know windows, they may moan about it, but they are comfortable with it. If Linux wants to make any serious threat on Windows market share it needs some serious investment made in brand awareness, and educating the market on what it can deliver.

Posted by Lachlan on 2006/11/10

Lachlan's hit the nail on the head. The logic's all screwed: to get people interested in a free product, you've got to spend a fortune to get them to even consider it. I'm pretty sure my concerns about Linux are pretty standard: I've heard it's fantastic, but I've also heard it's a bit techie. And the perceived risk of making the switch from Windows is currently too high for me to actually make the jump, irrespective of how low the real risk is. As long as PC's continue to come with Windows pre-installed, it's going to be one helluva bitch to get the world into Linux.

Posted by the salami from killarney on 2006/11/10

"They know windows, they may moan about it, but they are comfortable with it. If Linux wants to make any serious threat on Windows market share it needs some serious investment made in brand awareness, and educating the market on what it can deliver." I think most people allready knows what linux can offer them. it's a case of smoking. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you...then why do you smoke? The exciting part is coming! And the exciting part is where linux and associated open source programs just do it better than any other programs that you have to fork out cash for. look at XGL. It's free btw. Another irritation for me is the big L, yes, Licensing. I know you are ignoring it, but sooner or later it will bite you in the but! It's like those traffic fines you choose to ignore, chilling in the bliss-zone of "maybe I am one of the lucky ones, the one they forgot about." they don't forget you, you are part of lost revenue and they will ALWAYS try to recover that. My advice would be, start by using open source software. You dont have to run the operating system yet, but try programs like firefox, thunderbird, open office - stop complaining and start googling! In the mean time, sit back and watch me while I brag about how good linux feels, how amazingly stable my system is, how I never get virusses or spyware. Soon you'll want to change, becuase all programs will be able to run on linux, and the os...won't cost you a cent. vista is coming...better get that 1.5K ZAR ready for the upgrade...

Posted by some linux guy, on 2006/11/17