[ Linux Today reader Josh writes: ]
“LAWP: Linux Advocacy Whitepaper Project
After trying to convince a friend of mine not to upgrade to
Windows 98, and after having many a fruitful (fruity?) discussion
with the guy at work who’s studying to become an MCSE, I decided to
write a few papers on the Linux phenomenon.
I’m currently aiming to write one three-part paper.
Part one will be aimed at college students who are not CIS
majors – in otherwords, everyday computer users. It will be
applicable to any everyday computer user, but it will have a
college slant. One of the things I’m trying to accomplish with this
is to show Microsoft’s “$2k worth of software for $99” offer or
“Free NT for CIS major” offer for what it *really* is.
Part two will be aimed at PHB types and will concentrate on the
economic advantages of Linux vs. Windows. I’m going to try and find
an economics major at school to help me with this part.
Part three will be the technical part, describing things such as
scaleability (both up and down) and performance issues.
Since I’m not some big Think Tank, and I’m not a big Magazine in
the pockets of MS or RedHat, I want to be 100% accurate, up-front,
and no-holds-barred. In otherwords, this is the way things are,
this is *why* things are the way they are, and this is the data we
have to back it up. No FUD here, either Pro-MS or Anti-MS.
I need help with this project! I’d like to get this done in the
course of two to three weeks. This is what I’m looking for:
People who “aren’t geeks”: Not saying that I am one (yeah, right
🙂 ), but I’ve been using Linux since kernel 1.2.6, so it’s hard
for me to have a 100% objective viewpoint in ease-of-use,
configuration, and installation. I’m looking for everyday people
with Linux experiences to share. I’d also prefer to have someone
edit this paper who has some sort of English background but *not* a
computer background.
Professionals who use Linux in their companies: I need data to
demonstrate the economic advantages as well as the stability under
heavy loads. The less of a Linux expert you are, the better!
(Again, I’m trying to demonstrate that Linux is easy-to-use, has
reliability, and has support, even for those who have never used it
before.)
Computer professionals who use Linux: anyone who can give
examples of the power, stability, and performance of Linux.
I plan to publish this paper on the web as HTML, but I also plan
to hand out printed copies and make a PDF available so that it can
be very easily distributed in printed form. I want this to hit a
lot of college campuses, because that’s where the future is.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Please take into consideration
that I will want to use your name and company name in the report,
as this provides a much better case than “Joe Blow at XYZ
Company”.
Any questions, concerns, etc. please e-mail josh@merlot.oragroup.com!
Thanks!”