[Wftl-lug] Dreaming about desktop Linux: The first community TuxZine wiki article?

[Kevin]

Christian Einfeldt wrote:
> hi,
>
> This is a topic I think about.  A lot.  Desktop Linux.  The end of the 
> Microsoft monopoly.  A truly free market in desktop software.
>
> But will it ever happen? 
>
> I would really enjoy seeing if we could, as a WFTL-LUG community, 
> write an extensive and article about what it would take for Linux (or 
> GNU/Linux, for those who like to call it that) to reach parity with 
> Microsoft Windows in the desktop market.  I'm talking 50% market share. 
>
> IMHO, there will be lots of challenges to achieving Desktop Linux 
> parity.  The article that I'm proposing could be broken down as 
> follows.  The bolded items are section headings.  The one liners below 
> them are section headings.  Of course, all of these things are just 
> suggestions, and I don't want to take over the conversation.  These 
> ideas are just one possible framework to start one possible article.  
> I just wanted to get the ball rolling, to see how a community driven 
> magazine might work.
>
> By the way, we all know about Wikipedia, which is incredible, but are 
> there any similar wiki magazines already out there in the world?
>
> For the time being, I have pasted the topics below to the TuxZine wiki 
> page.
>
> Have fun!
>
> The way it is now
> The Microsoft monopoly
> Apple and the famous BMW analogy
> BMW is certainly NOT Toyota (not disruptive)
> Apple as a content company
> Firefox
> Linux and servers
>
> Why desktop Linux matters
> content: access to our own data and to the content created by our culture
> open Internet:  The fight for Internet neutrality
> Innovation:  Freedom is a pre-condition to creativity
> Quality:  monopolies result in stagnation of thought
>
> Microsoft's strengths
> The inefficiencies of highly networked markets: once a standard is 
> established, everyone places big money bets on it.  Stability sets in.
> Cash, cash, cash
> Name brand acceptance
> Microsoft owns the distribution channels
> Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
>
> Tux's strengths
> Stable
> secure
> reliable
> Given enough eyes, all bugs are shallow
> The coolness factor: Tux has cache
> Open source collaboration highly distributed, no single point of failure
> servers, servers, servers
> God (goddess, etc.) bless Apache
>
> The digital tipping point: what will it take?
> Kevin Kelley's 2 step analysis: 1) the threshold of significance; 2) 
> the tipping point (point of no return)
> The chicken and egg question
> Money, money, money: how will we eat open source?
> The institutional big guys on our side:  Google; IBM; Sun; Novell;
> The big migrators:  Extremadura; Munich; Brazil
>
> Breaking it down by niches
> Education
> Government
> IT infrastructure
> Defense departments (United States; Israel)
>
> The key role of price sensitive consumers
> Clayton Christensen: price sensitive consumers drive change
> historical context: disruption has happened before
> market leader is chased up market
> How commoditization happens
> How Microsoft is working to stop commoditization of Windows and 
> Microsof Office
>
> The content quadry: what to do about DRM
> Why DRM matters
> Big content companies demand DRM
> Consumers seem to be accepting it in SOME areas
> The 900 lb gorilla:  YouTube
> The importance of open source content production
> Conversation, not content (Doc Searls' favorite rant)
>
> Conclusion:  Freedom in cyberspace, but when?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>   
Now this, I agree with. I have been wondering the same thing in my dreams.
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