June 20th, 2007
Distance makes the switch go quicker
Which is a better sign of open source progress:
- Microsoft is changing Vista, based on a Google complaint.
- A major British retail chain switches to RedHat Linux.
I think it’s the latter. Because in all our talk about desktop Linux’ market share, we’re focusing on the wrong people.
While most reporters, and most commenters, will focus on Google’s public opposition to Microsoft (remember it hosted last weekend’s Linux Collaboration Summit) I think that’s a bias on behalf of the industry we work in.
Reporters and commenters are knowledge workers. (Feel free to add your snark to the comments.)
The point is, not everyone is. In terms of our computer use, not even all knowledge workers are knowledge workers. That’s what makes the Specsavers story so interesting.
My own pharmacist switched to Linux a year ago. Now we see larger chains switching. Why can’t restaurants run Linux, since their interface consists of pre-packaged touchscreens? What about other retailers?
The further removed a worker is from the operating system, the easier it is to make them switch. Lawyers, writers and other knowledge workers live close to the operating system, constantly switching among applications and relying on the user interface. This is not true for other workers.
This is not the revolution Google is leading. It’s the one RedHat, and by extension IBM, is leading. Just something to THINK about.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 06/20/07
