Archives par mot-clé : Free Stuff

Ubuntu Planet, Ubuntu, GNU/Linux

PCs with Ubuntu should be much more expensive

3 commentaires

A few days ago a friend asked me « How come Dell PCs with Ubuntu are only 50$ less than Windows ? ». I was actually suprised by his question and I thought I would share my answer.

If I apply the closed, non-free business models around proprietary software, I really think Ubuntu PCs should be much more expensive (like U$1000 more) than any Windows comparable machine. After explaining all you would need to add to a Windows install in order to make it comparable to Gnu/Linux, we actually agreed… I was then wondering what would happen if a tiny portion of Ubuntu users would contribute a portion of the U$1000 saved towards local development and advocacy efforts. Well, « finders, keepers » also works for me.

Think about it, I am sure you can come with more than this short list but… since being an Ubuntu user at home and at work,

  1. I don’t need antivirus, firewall, cleanup, anti-spyware or other such  » security » software. This may require a bit more explanation, but what can I say. I my personal experience, I really don’t need any of this.
  2. As a result of #1, I don’t actually need to waste a dual-core’s machine power so I can be « running a virus scan and management agent in the background« . I’d rather put that to good video transcoding use 🙂
  3. As a result of #1, current sub U$500 cheap Celeron based laptops run just fine with only 512MB of RAM – they’re not  » useless » as I was told at the store
  4. I can choose and download a healthy few thousands applications (including many servers like web, voip, etc.) from one central package/repository management application. Like, say, Windows update but for all applications. Multi-lingual, and including security updates, unlike Windows Marketplace. I do happen to work in spanish and french too.
  5. I can have my systems (and all included applications) available in several languages at once.
  6. I don’t worry about manual security updates, except for software I have decided to manually download and install from other sites (a rarity, but happens)
  7. I don’t reinstall! Well, my work consists of advocacy and consulting / coaching / providing tech support so my main laptop does get reinstalled often. Home PC hasn’t had a reinstall for 3 years though.
  8. I can keep using the oldest, crapiest hardware I love, like that PCMCIA reader or the « Windows 98-only » webcam, along the newer one
  9. When I come across a missing feature / problem / documentation omission or translation problem I take the opportunity to contribute back and learn in the process
  10. I can copy all this to any amount of people around me, without restrictions or underground illegal activities – the only limit being my bandwidth, and ability to give out CDs or other media. In fact I am often asked if the software I used is legal, as I seem to have a little or big app for most any use.

So how much is that worth to you ? I was thinking I would need to talk about the freedom, the formats, the licences, patent problems, etc., I guess that’s for another afternoon when I chat again with my friend.

 
Ubuntu Planet, Conférences, GNU/Linux

Freedom takes the streets in Bogota, Colombia

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If you are in Bogota, Colombia or know anyone interested in free culture and content production living there, this may be of interest 🙂 There will be a screening TONIGHT at 6:30PM of the BBC’s Codebreakers documentary at the Mediatorta, a public cultural space provided by the city 🙂

I am really excited that the spanish subtitling was possible after I managed to obtain a release of the original english transcript under a Creative Commons BY licence. Getting the transcript was the easy part but translating it to spanish was a huge effort by a few dedicated individuals – credit goes to Gustavo Gonzalez at Kazak for his dedication to have this completed!

See: Bogota esta empapelada and this announcement for more information.

 
Conférences, Communautaire, Logiciels Libres

Prrésentation mensuelles FACIL: Sécurité des applictions en lign

Nicolas nous rappelle que jeudi prochain (21 juin) il y a une présentation organisée par FACIL au CRIM. Damien Seguy va nous sortir de notre petit nid douillet en nous parlant de La Sécurité des applications en ligne.

J’ai rencontré Damien à plusieurs reprises et je dois dire que je regrette beaucoup de ne pas pouvoir aller à sa présentation, alors ne manquez pas de lui dire bonjour de ma part si vous y allez suite à votre lecture de ce billet 😉

 
General

Chandail de performance gratuit

Depuis quelques jours et en profitant de la récente grève de la STM à Montréal, j’ai repris le vélo, cette fois pour aller au travail tous les jours. C’est bon de faire un peu d’exercice… mais si on veut être confortable, parfois c’est intéressant de bien choisir les vêtements à porter. C’est dispendieux si on ne magasine pas bien!

Ce weekend je suis allé acheter des céréales Vector que je mange parfois au déjeuner. Je n’avais même pas remarqué la promotion sur la boîte. Oui, oui, un chandail qui se vends ordinairement 50$ gratuitement! Aujourd’hui je suis allé chercher mon « chandail de performance » à la boutique Coin des Coureurs à Outremont – très confortable! Et pratique pour mes randonnées quotidiennes en vélo (St-Michel – Centre-Ville deux fois par jour, c’est gluant avec du linge qui « respire » pas). J’en avais acheté des semblables (mais manche longue) chez Old Navy pour $20 il me semble… mais à 0$ c’est dur à battre (car je les mange les céréales).

Je crois que le « deal » pour pouvoir se permettre de donner ces chandails qui se vendent $50 (faits en Chine), c’est qu’on se rende au magasin (malgré qu’on peut avoir le chandail par courrier) et connaître leurs produits. Merci à Kellogg Canada Inc., le concept est intéressant mais un peu cher pour mon budget, dommage! Surtout que je venais d’aller magasiner chez Mountain Equipment Coop. En attendant j’espère qu’un maximum de gens profitent de la promotion, peut-être qu’il y a un coureur ou une coureuse caché en vous ?