I remember the last time I used Linux. My brother had just install Red Hat Linux on the computer we share and I ended up spending five minutes just trying to open and save my files. I told my brother he either restores our OS to Windows or I remove and hide the computer hard drive (so we both can’t use it). It was frustrating to learn a new OS while trying to finish a report (due the next day). That was the beginning and the end for me as a Linux user. My brother and I ended up with a compromise. We partitioned our hard drive so we can run two OS – Windows for me and Linux for my brother. Seven years later, my brother and I are still using our preferred OS – his laptop runs on Ubuntu and mine is on Windows XP.
For a brief moment last week as our speaker was talking about Linux and its many advantages (“After all, Linux is more stable, secure ….”), I considered ditching Windows. But reality came crashing down within minutes. Most of the programs I use are Windows based – Photoshop, Lightroom, PC Attorney – and our speaker pointed out they have yet to come out with a good Linux equivalent. This inability to shift to a “better” product because of what you as a buyer already have/use is actually a marketing strategy called “hostage marketing.” Funny enough, the concept was originally applied to hardware. If, for example, you own an HP printer, you end up purchase HP ink even if Epson releases a more efficient ink cartridge because it would be cheaper to buy the HP ink than buy a new printer.
So for now, I’m a willing Windows hostage. But the moment all the programs I use can run on Linux or they develop good Linux-based equivalent, I’m filing for Habeas Corpus.
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