[wplug] OT: Consumer Reports ignores open source

[ARiley at edgarsnyder.com]

well written Scott.  I do take issue with your take on 'Free', though.  The
short version is that open source does not equal free and that the more
time we advocate not paying for things the harder it will be to convince
people that our software is worth anything later.  Why not just point out
that the open source model produces some really great products like mozilla
and others, a fact glossed over by the people at Consumer Reports?

Aaron


                                                                           
             "Scott F.                                                     
             Kiesling"                                                     
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             om at wplug.org              [wplug] OT: Consumer Reports        
                                       ignores open source                 
                                                                           
             08/18/2004 12:10                                              
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Hi all-

I just read the latest computer reviews and virus tips in Consumer
Reports. They said students "will need" MSOffice, and otherwise ignored
all that is open source. Here is what I wrote to them, others may wish to
add their voice so that maybe they will at least mention the possibility
in the future.

SFK

I just read your September 2004, which was enlightening as usual. Glad to
see the Suzuki suit was dismissed.

I was disappointed by some of your computer coverage, however, especially
in its overage of software, which missed some very good, mature
but inexpensive programs.

These are "open source" programs, which means they are free. Talk about
value for money! I use completely open-source software on my Dell
Inspiron.

There are two places specifically where I think your readers are losing
out by your not mentioning these programs. The first is in the email
software. Many free browsers (such as Opera and Mozilla) have email
programs which boast robust anti-span software. Mozilla Thunderbird, an
email client which runs on pretty much any platform, has some great
anti-spam features (and BTW it's 'sister' browser Firefox has some nice
security features as well). These are just some of the possibilities that
readers might be interested in.

The second problematic claim is on p.22, where you write that students
will "probably need" a full version of MS Word. This just fuels the
Microsoft monopoly. There are many alternatives. I use OpenOffice.org,
which has ALL of the functionality of MS Office (and some better). DO some
research and you'll see that no one need to buy Office. I am a faculty
member, and use OpenOffice.org to share documents with other faculty and
students; compatibility is not a problem.

You will likely be worried about support. This is a non-issue. Support
from commercial software, from what I hear from colleagues, is useless. On
the other hand, I find most widely used open-source programs like
OpenOffice.org, the Mozilla suite, and especially Linux to have
excellent support, even though (or maybe because) no one is getting paid
to provide it.  Support is made up of other users and often the developers
themselves. The only times I have failed to solve a problem is when it is
an actual bug in the program, and then it is usually fixed in the next
version (which I do not have to pay for!), because I told the developers
about the bug directly. Try doing that with Microsoft. You do not have to
have a fast internet link to get these -- one can order CDs on the
internet for as little as $5!

Finally, note also that there are many open-source anti-spam and
anti-virus programs, although the best solution is to simply use linux,
because viruses are not written for Linux (and when they are, an army of
coders instantaneously write patches that fix them).

You might do an entire issue on Linux and open source; you can steer your
readers to programs that work well, and Linux distributions which are easy
to use and/or allow them to try Linux without losing their windows. Red
Hat, Lindows, Knoppix, and Libranet are among those that people might try.

I believe passionately in open source. It works. And it offers your
readers some of the best value for money there is, so you should tell them
about it.

Sincerely
Scott Kiesling

Links:

www.openoffice.org
www.mozilla.org
www.opera.com

--
Scott F. Kiesling

Assistant Professor
Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh

2816 Cathedral of Learning     Phone: 1-412-624-5916
Pittsburgh, PA 15217 USA       Fax: 1-412-624-6130

kiesling at pitt.edu
http://www.pitt.edu/~kiesling/skpage.html
http://www.linguistics.pitt.edu
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