[ Thanks to Donncha
O Caoimh for this link. ]
“The Irish Linux Community was asked to host a stand at
Windows World, or e-XPO as it is now called by Mark Egan of Scope,
sponsors of the event. If you’d like to read more about the
build-up, take a look at the original Linux at Windows World
article I wrote last week….”
“Put simply, there was a whole lot of interest in Linux at the
show. There was 2 to 3 people visiting our stand the whole time,
sometimes people were actually lining up outside waiting to talk to
one of us! Visitors to the stand included people from all walks of
life. An NT admin asked me about Linux training because a relative
was earning $90,000 in the USA doing a Linux job. A priest asked
about DTP and Linux, and although Linux does have a Frame Maker
beta it’s probably best left to the Mac right now….”
“As an aside, I’d like to draw a comparision between the
Microsoft and Corel stands. From my description above I hope it was
obvious how visitor friendly and “interactive” the Corel stand was.
People could go and play with Linux on the Corel stand and get
guidance on how an application works from someone who knows the
software. The Microsoft stand couldn’t have been more different. It
was impressive, very impressive actually. They split the stand in
two and provided seating for people to watch demos of Windows 2000
on a screen comparable in size to the screen Corel had. Only
problem was, it was like being back in school. Feedback wasn’t
possible. People did attend the demos Microsoft laid on, most of
the time the seating was filled during the demos, but outside of
the demos? Empty. You might see a Microsoft guy jotting down some
notes but otherwise visitors had nothing to see. I wonder why they
wouldn’t let attendees play with Windows 2000 boxes?”