re changing from vista

[Jeremy Chadwick]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 12:19:34PM -0800, Jim Pazarena wrote:
> Wojciech Puchar wrote:
>>> please can you help me i am totally confused i want to change from  
>>> windows vista
>>>
>>> but i cannot understand which system to use
>>
>> maybe windows XP?
>>
>>>
>>> i am not sure if freebsd will work with my hardware and software
>>
>> simply check it.
>
> unless you think this may be a troll,
> your comments seem a great way to chase away a potential convert to FreeBSD.

<opinion>
But why are we interested in "converting" people?  That borders on
religious, which an operating system should not be.

People should use whatever OS gets the job done for them, be it Windows,
FreeBSD, Linux, OS X, Solaris, DOS, whatever.  The OP's question is
vague in a sincere way; users who want to move away from an OS often
hope there is a simple answer, when in fact there isn't.

My point is that focusing on "converting" someone, I feel, is the wrong
way to go about showing the world the operating system is worth using.
To me, it's just just another manipulative form of marketing; and I
don't know about you, but marketing doesn't sway me when it comes to
most things (*especially* computing-oriented things).  Marketing often
turns people off to things, rather than on.

I'm not saying "we don't need new users" -- I'm saying: if we took half
the energy used "converting" people and applied it to fixing bugs and
improving FreeBSD, there wouldn't be a need to "convert".  "Build it
(and secure/stabilise it) and they will come".

I guess I just see things in a different light than most.
</opinion>

-- 
| Jeremy Chadwick                                jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking                       http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator                  Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977.              PGP: 4BD6C0CB |