Average users don’t understand the principles behind Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). They know it’s free, but their definition of ‘free’ is the beer one, not the freedom one. To average users ‘free’ as in beer is much easier to communicate than ‘free’ as in freedom. If we want to further expand the adoption of open source and spread our free culture, we need to consider a new means to achieve our ends – professional marketing.
Archive for the ‘Usability’ Category
23C3 Roundup: Free and Open Source Softw… erm… Marketing?!
Thursday, January 4th, 20077 Things Computers Shouldn’t Bother Us With
Sunday, October 22nd, 2006Computers should make our lives easier. Now and then, they turn out to do exactly the opposite. This is a list of seven things I believe computers could do completely without bothering us. For some of them solutions already exist. But these solutions did not become standard. I think they should.
Visual Effects and Operating Systems: The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful
Thursday, September 28th, 2006Linux is catching up with Mac OS and the forthcoming Windows Vista in terms of looking great. Several videos around demonstrate how XGL and Compiz bring advanced 3D and animation effects to the Linux desktop. This is a big step forward for Linux and I’m sure this will have a positive impact on the Linux user community. But when I see comparisons between platforms, I also feel that something’s going wrong.