[olug] great article about open source vs windows

[Jay Hannah]

On May 4, 2005, at 9:01 PM, <jdh at gotopeak.net> wrote:
> hey guys, i ran across this one today, thought i would share.
>
> http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/fosswindows.shtml

I'm siding against the thrust of the author on this one.

"No one needs to control my desktop interface for fear I could screw up 
something so badly it costs the overall organization."

True, because the author knows what he's doing and won't need a help 
desk to help him fix it when he screws something up. 95% of corporate 
users are not capable of such self help.

We need both paradigms: Users that know what they're doing can do 
whatever they want, because the consequences are their problem that 
they are expected to correct themselves, without help. Most users, 
however, need their desktops locked down so they can continue to work 
regardless of their attempts to get creative that could easily stop 
them cold for hours.

The guy that couldn't adjust his font size right away was a small and 
temporary price to pay so that the other thousands of users can get 
their work done every day.

This has nothing to do with "open source vs windows". Windows, Linux, 
Mac, whatever -- most corporate users environments need to be 
controlled so they don't get lost/confused/unproductive. The authors 
extrapolation from desktop control to OS/software development platform 
psychology is a bad leap.

j