Request for Review

[Derek Neighbors]

> "Let's accurately describe the capabilities of Linux and leave
> it at that."
> 
> I tend to contrast Linux with its primary competitor.
> Now, I need to immediately stress that this does not
> mean saying, "yeah, but Windows sucks!" Rather, it

If you are talking to businesses saying what they currently use just
sucks is never a good way to win their hearts. :)  So I agree with you. 
I think Freedom is the one place you should always be able to convince a
business.  The mere mitigation of risk (risk management) should weigh
heavily.  Not only does Microsoft not give them any assurance (by
providing the source code and the necessary freedoms to make the code
useful), but because they are a steadfast monolopy even if you have no
interest in the source, you are relient on a single source vendor for
your entire world.  Which means if they do something you dont like, you
can't well fire them, as you have no one else to turn to.

Many people say the different 'flavors' (distributions) are a weakness
of GNU/Linux because they see it as a fork.  Clearly nothing could be
further from the truth, Win 95 vs WinXP is much more a fork than SuSE vs
Debian.  The point however that the 'flavors' represent choice.  If I
have Red Hat, and Im not getting what I want from them, I can up and
move to Debian or SuSE or Mandrake etc pretty easily.  If Microsoft is
the one you are upset with moving from Win95 to WinXP doesnt get you
away from Microsoft. :)

> Moreover, clearly Microsoft does not hesitate to
> point out what they perceive to be the flaws in Linux.
> This is not to say that we should necessarily stoop
> to their level in all situations, but that in situations
> where it is beneficial to the advocacy of Linux, we
> should consider playing on an even field.

Comparisons are a natural way to sell things.  I dont think we should
discourage that.  Its generally 'attitude' that makes the difference. 
Ex: Ballmer saying GPL is unamerican is a BAD ATTITUDE and wrong
approach, as much as the slashdot script kiddie saying M$ sucks you MCSE
loser, BSD for ever!!!

> view of the world than you. Try to remember that you
> are capable of mistakes and knowledge gaps as well.
> And when you do forget - don't hesitate to apologize.

Better yet, I think the fatal flaw of a lot of evangelists in the
GNU/Linux space is their in ability to admit that GNU/Linux isnt the
BEST at everything.  Again if you use Freedom as the tenet of your
platform, you can say X might be better but it doesnt afford me freedom
and thus its inferior on that alone. :)

> "There will be cases where Linux is not the answer. Be the first to
> recognize this and offer another solution."
> 
> I would contest that as Linux advocates, we do not have
> any duty to promote that which is not Linux. When you
> go to a Ford dealership, do they say, "oh, a mid-sized
> sedan? We're kind of weak in that area. Have you tried
> Toyota?"  Of course not. Likewise, as Linux advocates,
> we are not responsible for showing the way to the
> competition. I would propose that you present a different
> image: "Linux has a solution for this problem, and I
> can help you to make it work." If they ask about Windows
> solutions, and you know that there is a superior
> solution, simply say that you are not qualified to
> express an opinion about Microsoft solutions.

Ah I should have saved my answer above for here. :)  I think one should
ADMIT that it might not be best for the solution, but its always getting
better and Freedom does matter.

> If the objective is (as the title suggests) Linux advocacy,
> then your desire to show your skill with non-Linux solutions
> is a non-issue. Forget credibility, noone believes in any
> advocate's integrity anymore. The only extent to which, as
> a Linux advocate, you should promote Windows is in those--
> extremely rare and difficult to recognize--situations where
> supporting one Windows station today will lead to two Linux
> stations tomorrow. Frankly, it's simply better to only
> advocate that which you are advocating - the dynamics of
> reverse psychology are too complicated.

Generally if I find a situation where a Windows 'program' is better and
there is no equivalent, suggest something like VMWare, Wine or Win4Lin.
:)

-Derek