An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

[woodsmoke]

This article is rather ...interesting for several reasons...

a) it is advocating for "open source" while at the same time indicating why people like proprietary.
b) it brings up a SURPRISING train of thought....that open source is somehow "ugly" and gives examples of why the newest is not "ugly".
c) it mentions Ubuntu, to be expected, and then ....MINT!! And then goes on to mention KDE and Gnome!
d) it tries to put into a rather unique perspective the idea of "easier".

http://www.datamation.com/open-sourc...oftware-1.html

and interesting article that might be useable by certain denizens of the forum who own businesses.

woodsmoke

[ardvark71]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

that might be useable by certain denizens of the forum who own businesses.

Hi Woodsmoke...

Does self-employed with the intention of owning a shop someday count?

From the article...

"Earlier in this article, I explained that licensing has nothing to do with software functionality. But often, we will see users or companies choosing to buy proprietary software for no other reason than its believed to be "better" somehow. After all, the old belief that "software that's free must not be as good" still holds truth among some legacy software users."

Actually, in some ways, I do find Windows better than Linux. It is a lot less buggy and software installations are easier overall. Example: On my laptop with Windows Vista, it is absolutely no problem to install Java or any of its updates. Quite simple, actually. Go to the website and click on the button to start the download and MSI does the rest. With my system running Ubuntu 10.04, I had to first find where to find the same program, not any of the open source varieties, which took some time. It is not readily available in the repositories and if I remember correctly, I had to find and add a PPA. Then I had to use a terminal to download and install the appropriate packages only to find out that Firefox did not recognize the plug-in. Fortunately, Steve supplied me with a command that fixed this so that now it runs properly.

Which of these two installation procedures are most people (those who only have average knowledge of how to use a computer, they're not techs) going to choose?

However, on the flip side, if you have compatible hardware, Linux and the vast majority of Linux software is free (as in price) and one can easily avoid the expensive software and licensing costs that proprietary software is known for.

Just my two cents...

[woodsmoke]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

Hi
I agree , I have a full bore Sony Vaio laptop with Vista business on it, and have had absolutely zero problems with it except that Windblows keeps complaining that my 2003 office suite is not legal!

However, on the side of Windblows, I have NEVER allowed Windows Genuine Advantage to do anything or to "update" on it, so I can see why it is complaining.

I go to great lenghts....oh it takes probably .... 30 seconds... . to click on the updates and tick all of them except the lone Digital Rights Management update to update Vista.

It then has to thrash around for a while, I drink a cup of coffee, or some other libation! , while it does so and then Vista just perks along.

But..... charging over 200 bucks for a new Office suite, while saying my old, and perfectly legal, one is not legal is why I run Linux!

And BTW the Vista machine is the ONLY machine upon which the SINGLE LISCENCE of Office has been installed! >

But, to get back to the article, I thought it .....

pleasant.....

that he took the tack of "pretty".

woodsmoke

[bsniadajewski]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

Same here. Since I got this PC from MicroExpress almost five years ago with Vista and Office 2007 on it, I've never had to reinstall either of them. The only thing I did with Vista was upgrade it to 7 and it's been working well since. I had a minor problem when I screwed up the OS in the beginning, but I was able to use System Restore to fix it.

[woodsmoke]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

however, i forgot to mention that the only use i have for it is running a crossword puzzle program.

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

except that Windblows keeps complaining that my 2003 office suite is not legal! ... I have NEVER allowed Windows Genuine Advantage to do anything or to "update" on it, so I can see why it is complaining.

Did your copy of Office 2003 come with your PC, or did you obtain it separately?

[woodsmoke]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

Purchased seperately.

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Re: An article on "good vs bad" open source vs proprietary

PM coming up for ya.