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Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet)
Vnunet interviews Michael
Robertson, founder of Linspire. "One of the myths of open source
is that, well, you just put the free software out there and then it ends up
on computers. It just doesn't work that way. The original equipment
manufacturers need someone they can call, and they need to have an economic
incentive. The source code might be freely floating around on the
internet, but that doesn't mean it's free for the end consumer."
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Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 20:31 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link] Funny, free software seems to have ended up on a lot of computers I am in contact with, without any economic incentive...
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 20:56 UTC (Tue) by rogerd (guest, #4170) [Link] There was the absence of economic DISincentive, ie, the Microsoft Tax.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 21:03 UTC (Tue) by mmarsh (subscriber, #17029) [Link] However, unless the OEM is installing a free OS on your computer before you buy it, you're still paying the MS tax. Or has it gotten much easier to get your money back?
For me (and, I imagine, many others), there's no cost-saving incentive. I'm using Linux because I *want* to use Linux, and I value the freedom and functionality of it.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 22:58 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link] >For me (and, I imagine, many others), there's no cost-saving incentive. I'm using Linux because I *want* to use Linux, and I value the freedom and functionality of it.
Exactly... this is what I meant. I'm not trying to overthrow Microsoft (much as I wouldn't mind it happening for other reasons) and I'm not trying to win market share for anybody. I'm not doing these things because I don't care about them. I'm pursuing my own interests using software that doesn't spy on me, doesn't crash, and allows me to customize it as much as I wish. This makes me happy. I give the same software to people so that they can enjoy the same benefits. This makes them happy. There is no economic incentive involved. It is not necessary that someone make a profit from something for it to be worthwhile, useful and/or commendable. (gasp of shock! heresy!)
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 15, 2004 2:34 UTC (Wed) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link] However, unless the OEM is installing a free OS on your computer before you buy it, you're still paying the MS tax.It's very easy to find desktop and server machines with no OS pre-loaded; I've never paid the M$ tax with any of my systems (over 20 now, including ones at work.) It's somewhat harder, but still possible, to buy a laptop with no OS pre-loaded. I've bought several very nice ASUS A2500H laptops with no M$ tax.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 21:03 UTC (Tue) by chill633 (guest, #16013) [Link] No it hasn't. Your definition of "a lot" is probably a hell of a lot different than Mr. Robertson's. A few dozen or hundred isn't "a lot".
Computers w/FOSS are still a negligably small share compared to those w/proprietary software.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 15, 2004 0:23 UTC (Wed) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link] Smallish, but far from negligibly small.
Perhaps you're thinking of the desktop. Desktop computers are a (truly) negligible minority of the computers in use. They just happen to be the ones that scream "Fear me, I'm a computer!" Most other products don't benefit from seeming impenetrably opaque. The fraction running (e.g.) web servers is not small at all.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 14, 2004 23:02 UTC (Tue) by iabervon (subscriber, #722) [Link] I bet you put it there yourself. He actually distinguishes in the interview between the market segment where people put software on their computers and the segment where they use the software that's just already there. Linspire's market is people who want to pay less for their computers and have them sufficiently capable out of the box. There's an entirely different set of issues there.
Linspire me: Michael Robertson talks to vnunet.com (vnunet) Posted Sep 15, 2004 7:32 UTC (Wed) by hppnq (guest, #14462) [Link] I bet you put it there yourself.Well, isn't that just how free software ended up on millions and millions of systems around the world? I wish Linspire all the best, and I understand their economic incentive, but the Open Source myth Michael Robertson is talking about does not exist anywhere except in his business plans. ;-)
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