<DIV><BR><BR>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: Alan Pope <alan@popey.com><BR>Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:03 pm<BR>Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Battle of the Operating Systems<BR>To: British Ubuntu Talk <ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com><BR><BR>> On Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 05:49:56PM +0000, London School of <BR>> Puppetry wrote:<BR>> > Hi there, I was talking to friends about Linux (Ubuntu) said <BR>> it was free-<BR>> > then they all look puzzled because they have never paid for it <BR>> ...it comes<BR>> > free with a new computer.....so then what is my answer?  <BR>> Caroline> <BR>> <BR>> "Free" has two meanings. "Free of monetary cost" or "free and in <BR>> 'beer'", and "Freedom of use" or "free as in 'speech'".<BR>> <BR>> Windows is neither.<BR>> <BR>> It is not free of monetary cost, small companies pay around $100 <BR>> for their Windows license they bundle with the computer you buy, <BR>> larger companies such as Dell pay around $50 for the Windows license.<BR>> <BR>> You pay nothing for Ubuntu - it is free of monetary cost. <BR>> <BR>> The freedoms that the GPL and other licenses give you allows you <BR>> to use the software, copy the software, modify the software and <BR>> make <BR>> derivative versions of the software. You can't do any of that <BR>> with Windows.<BR>> <BR>> They also have further issues with Windows in that it controls <BR>> the way in which they can use their computer. These limitations <BR>> may <BR>> restrict what media they are able to play, and how they can <BR>> manage their media (photos, movies, music etc).<BR>> <BR>> Personally when I talk to people about Linux/Ubunu I stay clear <BR>> of the Free/Libre argument initially because it can become a <BR>> very long <BR>> complex and political discussion. It is one that needs to be <BR>> had, but you can easily get dragged into length semantic <BR>> arguments that <BR>> do not help your cause.<BR>> <BR>> Instead I often use the simple "I use Linux because it does what <BR>> I want", or "I dont use Windows because it doesn't do what I want".<BR>> <BR>> I blogged about this a while ago. <BR>> http://popey.com/Helping_Windows_Users which you may find <BR>> interesting/useful.<BR>> Cheers,<BR>> Al.<BR>> <BR>> -- <BR>> ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com<BR>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk<BR>> https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/<BR>> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I guess this is the follow up from the "Battle of the Operating System", 2 vista reviews, 1 open sauce :-p and 1 OSX.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6309425.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6309425.stm</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regards,</DIV> <DIV>    Adam.</DIV>