Interesting article

[Bhyrava Prasad <prasadb@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Linux Advocacy
   By Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier

   One of the things that the Open Source Community has benefited 
from is the fact that everyone loves
   an underdog. The David-and-Goliath archetype pleases 
almost everyone-the little guy that brings
   down the supposedly unstoppable powerhouse.

   Microsoft does make a great villain, and the Linux operating 
system has gotten gobs of press as the
   giant-killer. To an extent, that's a Good Thing-Linux has 
gotten much-needed attention because the
   press loves a conflict, and because Linux does give the Windows 
OS a good run for its money.
   There's no doubt about it, very little love is lost between 
the hard-core Microsoft crowd and the
   Linux community.

   The recent Windows NT-vs.-Linux showdowns have brought 
tensions between the Microsofties and the
   Linux faithful to new highs. Even more attention is 
being focused on how to "beat" Microsoft. It
   would be an unfortunate mistake to focus all of the 
attention on competing with NT in benchmark
   situations, and let consideration of the larger audience 
wane because not enough attention is
   focused on making Linux more accessible.

   Unfortunately, many people's impression of the Open Source 
community is that we are anti-Microsoft
   fanatics. There's a little truth to that-some people 
are anti-Microsoft, no doubt about it. In and
   of itself, that's OK. I'm not exactly innocent of 
telling the occasional Microsoft joke, and you
   won't find me in line to pick up a copy of Windows 2000. But, 
I'm not going to begrudge someone
   else their choice of operating system. What many 
well-meaning Linux advocates don't seem to
   understand is that when you attack Windows, you are also 
attacking Windows-users by extension.
   That's going to turn off a lot of people who would be open to 
Linux and Open Source if they were
   properly represented. The vast majority of Linux users, 
however, understand that there's room for
   more than one operating system.

   First impressions mean a lot, though, and if someone's first 
encounter with a Linux advocate is an
   anti-Bill diatribe, it may be the last encounter they care to 
have with Linux.

   As much fun at it is, Microsoft-bashing doesn't win many points 
with people who don't have anything
   against Windows. Yes, there are people who are satisfied 
with Windows, and they're not going to
   change their mind because someone unloads bile on Microsoft. 
If you want to convince someone that
   they should be using Linux, explain the benefits of Linux to 
them-if they're receptive to
   listening, that is.

   We've seen what happens to politicians when they focus only on 
the negative and try to define
   themselves only by contrasting themselves against their opponent. 
Bob Dole ran mainly on a platform
   of not being Bill Clinton, and we can see where that got him. Unless 
we want Linux to burn out, we
   need advocates who are willing to focus on building up Linux 
rather than tearing down Microsoft.

   Luckily, Linux and Open Source have plenty of positives to talk 
about. It isn't necessary to resort
   to Microsoft-bashing to explain why Linux is a great solution. 
Examined on its own merits, Linux is
   a fantastic OS. Linux isn't the only solution, however, and 
sometimes it's not even the best one.

   Let's face it-I love Linux. I use it at work, and at home. 
However, if I were buying my grandma a
   computer, I don't think that Linux would be my first choice for an 
OS. Someone who would be
   struggling to get used to an iMac is not going to have a 
pleasant experience with Linux. But if
   granny were heavily into running a Web server, it would be a 
different story. The point is that
   Linux can't be all things to all people-no operating system can.

   Now that Linux has the attention, we need to make the best of it. 
Tell people about the benefits of
   Linux, be willing to admit that it has its flaws, and be willing 
to help newcomers get adjusted.
   There are a lot of people who have heard enough about Linux to 
be interested, but really don't
   quite understand what's going on just yet. Be patient with them, 
and please refrain from flaming
   people who are obviously not sure what's going on. If you just 
can't stand to answer what you
   consider to be a stupid question, then ignore it. Don't make 
someone regret that they asked for
   help. The Linux community has a great reputation for being 
welcoming and helpful, but lately I've
   noticed that there are those who are willing to toast a hapless 
newbie at the drop of a hat. If you
   give someone the impression they've got to wear asbestos skivvies 
to ask questions, they're
   probably not going to be back.

   I don't mean to suggest that the Linux community shouldn't be 
gunning to outperform NT, or any
   other OS. A healthy competition between Linux and other OS's 
in performance can only benefit
   everyone in the end. However, the main focus should always be 
improving Linux for the sake of
   improvement-not to achieve higher scores in benchmarks.

   I would also like to suggest that anyone who spends much time 
with Linux should read Paul L.
   Rodgers' Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO. You can find the HOWTO in the 
Linux Documentation Project at
   www.linuxdoc.org or at any of the LDP's mirror sites. The 
HOWTO provides a number of ways that you
   can help spread the word about Linux in a positive way.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information on Linux in India visit http://www.linux-india.org/
The Linux India mailing list does not accept postings in HTML format.

------------------------------