On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:34:23 -0400, jim wrote:

> I have been chatting with people about my frustration with getting
> simple stuff to work "out-of-the-box" with Linux.
>
> Things like simply plugging into a network and being able to browse XP
> folders on a peer to peer XP network (that means no server and no
> authentication needed) that are not password protected. Still don't
> have an answer to that one....
>
> But, yesterday, I ran into a shining example of one reason that FOSS
> will never work for small business (which is MUST to be able to
> legitimately challenge Microsoft's monopoly).
>
> While I was testing some software in a Linux environment, I came across
> an area in which it would not work as advertised by the authors. I
> raised some polite concern (really...I was polite) about the problem in
> a user forum specific to this software, only to be told politely to
> rtfm.
>
> I re-rtfm. The problem persisted, so I raised my concerns again. Again
> I was told to rtfm. Again I re-rtfm and returned with the same
> questions that were unanswered by the manual.
>
> This time I was politely informed where I could reach the authors of the
> software. I went there and we went through the whole rtfm, re-rtfm loop
> another 2 or three times until they finally asked to see my data. I
> sent them my data files.
>
> In about an hour, they confirmed that there was a problem. Great! Now
> they'll jump right on it - because everyone wants their code to work
> like they say it will, right?
>
> Well, not really. I offered to help where I could (sacrificing a goat,
> providing beer or money) but was told that the only help needed was to
> fix the code. Unfortunately for me, I don't know C coding - so I am SOL.
>
> Small businesses (which are 90+% of all businesses) are called "small
> businesses" because they are small. This generally means no in-house
> programmers. So, small businesses are at the mercy of the coders that
> provide the software that they run on.
>
> In this instance, I am at the mercy of these coders.
>
> As nice as they are, this "I'll get to it when I can" attitude is just
> not acceptable to small businesses. They lose market share. They lose
> customers and they lose money when software doesn't work as advertised
> in tfm.
>
> This is why FOSS just doesn't work for the majority of businesses (which
> are small businesses).
>
> While I move on to look for proprietary sources to replace the broken
> open sourced software, I am again reminded that the FOSS movement still
> "just doesn't get it" where small business is concerned.
>
> If it doesn't affect your earning a living or some other important
> aspect of your life, FOSS may be just fine. But, if its important, its
> important enough to pay to have it done right and supported.
>
> jim

1) don't tell me MS is perfect.
2) MS would have already solved the problem - right?