I conducted a survey at a mall near the Linspire offices to investigate people's knowledge of software options. Of 10 people asked about office suite options, 6 said 'Don't know.' None mentioned open source products.
This confirms my belief that just putting software on the net and expecting people to find it is not practical for competing with Microsoft. So I started CompareSoft, which takes the 'generic drug' approach: promote open source products as software with the 'same active ingredients' as Windows or Mac, but at a much lower price. OpenOffice.org became CompareOffice, GIMP became ComparePhoto.
By the first quarter of 2006, CompareSoft products will be in nearly 3,000 locations nationwide such as Best Buy and Circuit City. This will put pricing pressure on companies like Microsoft and Adobe to re-assess their oversized profit margins.
--MR
