[dundee] [Fwd: Microsoft Inspiration Tour - Tuesday 22nd January 2008 - at Abertay !]

[Arron M Finnon]

My Apologies for ducking out of this thread as much as possible.  I
would like to say for the most part that is due to personal life getting
involved too much in my digital life, but what the hay that's what it's
suppose to.  But just trying to way up my position.  The penguin loving
rebel inside of me or certainly the one i remember from last year, would
have looked at this with joy, and maybe a cream pie or two.

I have one primal view on Microsoft and one as passionate advocate of
our little corner of computing world.  It's the Linux catch twenty-2,
you can't express freedom and then be surprised when capitally driven
machines use it to their advantage.  You know sometimes the parody of
religion is used in our struggle, this i suppose could be used.
Sometimes it does feel that your the religious zealot on the hill
casting unwelcome messages of impending doom.  Trying to convince a
audience of non-interested people that what they know is not the whole
story but a view of few.  Well no-one likes to be taken for a ride, and
definitely no-one wants to admit it either.  I have moaned at people for
using windows at it hasn't helped one bit.  For me the argument is one
if functionality, usability, reliability, liberty and maybe some more
words that end ty.  This is why i on a personal level do not agree with
publicly funded organisation such as schools, hospitals, universities,
councils, government expressly using software that inhibits the above.

To me this is where the struggle will always be in our favour, i would
much prefer to fight the argument on quality, then on monopoly.  I think
we all agree that the way our community develops software is a user
facing position.  Which to me adds benefit and not just to the overall
product or program but ethically the users can change a product to what
they think it needs.  A product evolves and thus true liberation of
decent and quality software grows.

To that i have no issue with Microsoft as a software company and i wish
every business currently, and in the future every success at an
incredible hard, and fast market place.  However i find some of the
commercial power to be gross and unfettered, and to this is what i don't
like about them.  I do not think it's the place of a software house to
be promoting software in education, i think it's the educations
institutes to promote it.  However we have been promoting freedom and
inspiration from software for a while, and frankly most that where
interested have come, new friends have been found, i think that if they
want there piece of Abertay then let them have it.  We're going no where
and let's be honest anything they can do we can do better.  They'll not
be here by the next day but we will.  My only worry is we inadvertently
drum up interest and Pr for them.  It's hard enough doing it for our
selves, so let's see if they can do their own, i doubt it.  If people
want to hand distros then please feel free i can't with an honest heart
say that i think it will be effective, i would much like to grab the
people two weeks later when their true disappointment with Microsoft is
shown, and they see what true inspiration is with the OLPC and the new
XO's coming.

So i suppose i'll do this, every ones views on this i have enjoyed and
laughed with you on.  The above is only my personal intake and is not
necessarily the views of the Linux Society, and long life to the all the
nix's we'll do it one day.  

Freedom loving finux signing off.