<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">On Fri, 2008-01-18 at 13:24 +0000, Zeth wrote:<br>> On 18/01/2008, Chris Fox <
<a href="mailto:chris@robotninja.net">chris@robotninja.net</a>> wrote:<br>> > I disagree. "Venting" about other OSes - especially in the form of<br>> > purile M$-bashing - is probably setting back the Free software movement
<br>> > by a good 5 years in terms of mainstream recognition and non-enthusiast<br>> > adoption.<br>><br>> I agree that unfounded MS-bashing is pointless. However, I don't think<br>> that your assertion can be proved. What does it mean to "set.. back ..
<br>> by a good 5 years"? I think the problem is not perception but total<br>> obscurity. It is not that people are perceiving the free software<br>> movement as being a bunch of angry losers, the problem is that they
<br>> have no idea that we exist at all.<br></blockquote></div><br><br>In the home market, this may be true.<br><br>In the large corporate market, this is absolutely NOT true. They know us, and dislike what they perceive as "fundamentalism".
<br><br>I have many years experience both working in, and as a strategy consultant to, some of the UK's largest companies. I have one direct quote from personal experience that is worth remembering:<br><br>"Whenever I meet a Linux person, they want to have a religious conversation. I want to have a business conversation."
<br><br>- Paul Worthington, Group IT Director, Kingfisher plc (at the time he said it, owner for B&Q, Comet, Woolworths and Superdrug)<br><br><br><br>I have no wish to be part of a Microsoft-bashing forum. I left the Ubuntu-UK list because MS-bashing got out of hand.
<br><br>I _am_ interested in being part of a forum that has something positive to say, and supports the use of Linux.<br>