Tonights update is long (train was late so I had the time to , as its a soapbox I’ve been climbing up onto for quite some time.

As I know some of you won’t read it I’ve added a smaller soapbox at the start so you don’t miss out even if you only read the first bit.
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On July 1 England goes smokefree.

Everyones got a mixed view on it, but I figure if Ireland can do it then anywhere can!

The girl sitting beside me waiting for the train just lit up. The people on the other side of her just got up and moved. They would prefer to stand for 15 min than sit in someone elses smoke. I tend to agree.

If the person was yelling at the top of their lungs security would probably remove them. If they were touching people they definatley would… Yet covering others in 2nd hand smoke has somehow lasted many years longer than it should have.

Sure its their choice to smoke, same as it would be to yell or poke random people… But likewise there’s plenty of appropriate places to yell, and I’m sure there’s places that encourage touching**. Just find somewhere appropriate…

Ok, that’s todays first soapbox…

Time for some geekyness (if your not interested you can prob stop here).

Linux. Now after my first night I was very impressed. It was so easy to get up and running it was crazy easy. However setting it up so I could use both it and windows wasn’t so nice.

Night 2 I broke it, but somehow managed to fix it without a complete reinstall… Although fixing it would only have been for the hardcore geek.

Day 3. My laptop is in my bag. Its broken. Its not saveable – total reinstall time. Not an ideal experience.

So, what’s my initial view? Is Linux ready for primetime? I think technically yes, but perception wise its got a long way to go.

The issues I’ve been having are because I’ve been trying to do advanced installs without a connection to the net… Which means I’ve been purposfully digging into the code, and unfortinuatly breaking it.

The average user would find setting it up challanging, but prob easier than setting up windows. And unlike windows, the version I’m using (UbuntU) comes preinstalled with word processing, spreadsheets, powerpoint equivalent, image software. Everything the average user needs with no setup or cost! All of it is compatable with the microsoft suite in case you were wondering.

Advanced users can play more, but its not essential.

Ready for primetime??? I don’t think so 🙁

The problem is marketing… Linux has a bad perception as only for geeks. Having used it I tend to disagree, but regardless the perception means people will give up without even trying it.

The other problem is that its just too customisable… And consequently there’s too many versions. Even the version I’m using has at least 4 common variants.

Windows* is bad enough with Home, Office and Server streams each comming in 3-4 different sub versions. Linux is even more confusing.

Both could take a lesson from apples* laptops. 2 products, Home and Pro. The advertised difference in these is simply screensize (sure there’s more differences, but they focus the attention on screen size to simplify the decision).

Effective marketing gives a choice between two products. Just two, not 3, 4 or 20, Just two. Not one either…

One choice actually leaves the customer with the choice of something or nothing. Some will choose nothing as its easiest… You loose sales.

Multipule choices overloads the customer… Then it becomes overwhelming. So it becomes too hard and they don’t buy.

Do you want a coffee and biscotti for $3?

“Hmmm, I don’t really NEED a coffee”
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Do you want a coffee and biscotti for $3
OR
Large Coffee, biscotti and Free Muffin for $4?

“I don’t really want a muffin so just the coffee+biscotti would do fine”
(Personally, I am not a muffin fan).
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Would you like a normal Coffee or a Large? With or without biscotti? A blueberry muffin, a bananna, a chocolate? A scone? A Tea? Trim milk or normal?

Enough said!
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Linux will struggle, just as microsoft is starting to. Not because Linux isn’t an amazing (and free) product, not because its not ‘ready’ for mainstream. But because its just not marketable as it is.

Don’t get me wrong, ‘features’ are a selling point to people to me, by all means offer them to specific niches… (Is Linux is stuck as niche).

** Fees may apply.