Rant – “I’ll take that learning curve for $200, Alex”

I’m an open software guy. I make no apologies for that. Proprietary has its time and place — I get my paycheck from proprietary — so I’m not a complete purist, eh. And I’m a reasonably competent and comfortable computer user, which certainly skews my thinking and opinions. There. End disclaimer.

I get amused at computer users, even professional computer users. We latch on to something and will find all manner of justification to hold on to it and not change. And if we do have to change, form over substance always wins. We are, after all, consumerists, and form (image) is substance, no?

Using Microsoft Office vs LibreOffice.org

Specifically, every computer user has to upgrade things from time to time. I hear all day long why users just cannot use OpenOffice (LibreOffice). It’s too hard. Things aren’t in the same place. It’s different. The file format is different. Things don’t convert right.

And then those same MS Office (MSO) users upgrade from their own version of MSO to new newest MSO. And guess what? It’s hard. Things aren’t in the same place. It’s different. The file format is different. Even my old MSO files don’t convert right.

Ah, but it has the MSO label. It must be better. And easier. . . . Only, not so much. (I know; I hear them swearing at their computers.) But we’ll happily walk through that learning curve, while kvetching loudly if anyone even mentions the possibility of using an alternative.

Of course there are valid arguments and concerns for migrating. Overall compatibility can be an issue, and there are some features that certain Excel power users and even fewer PowerPoint power users may need in their proprietary suite. But amusingly enough, those things only come after we’ve reviewed the real concerns: “hard and different.”

Windows vs Linux Desktop

The exact same scenario plays out when upgrading the OS from XP to Win7. Oh, I just couldn’t go to linux. It’s hard. It’s different. Things aren’t in the same place. Yadda Yadda. The same chorus repeats itself once the upgrade to Win7 happens. It’s hard. It’s different. Well, you get the idea.

Now for desktop there are much more valid concerns about application compatibility, but many folks aren’t even aware of those, though they should be. They’re just stuck on “hard and different.”

The Facebook Angle

Now, if we could integrate Farmville to LibreOffice or right onto the Suse desktop, then I bet it’d sell like wildfire.

Oh, the world we’ve created for ourselves…..