Seriously. While a great many people still maintain that Linux isn't quite readyfor the desktop (myself occasionally being one of them), it has struck me thatsomething is far more important than developers' ability to code, or the GUI'sability to imitate a seamless user experience. It's great marketing. Wads ofcash certainly helps this, and ultimately, if 90% of your overinflated budget ispumped into marketing, your software is bound to succeed.

Just look at Microsoft. I know it hurts your eyes, but just look for a second.

They pump and pump and pump and pump and pump (you get the idea) money intomarketing their inferior products -- whether they be operating systems, orbloated office productivity suites, or game consoles, or anything else they wantto succeed. They convince OEM manufacturers to put little stickers on all thePCs they build that include little logos to prove that they are Windowscompatible or "built for Windows." They convince those same OEMs plus OEMs ofother peripheral devices to include words like "We recommend Windows XP" in alltheir ads. With Vista coming out -- not even out yet -- they are alreadyconvincing OEMs to include stickers that say "Vista Ready."

Do you see any "Linux 2.6.x Ready" stickers coming out anytime soon? Or "Ubuntu7 Ready"? No, and do you see any Linux distributors forcing OEMs to bundle Linuxregardless of whether the customers want it?

There's no such thing as a Linux Tax, but there is aWindowsTax. This is so called because every PC or laptop you buy in a regular storecomes prebundled with Windows, and you can't  typically buy PCs withoutWindows. Sure some hardware vendors are now bundling Linux, but those samevendors will be shunned by Microsoft. Nobody is allowed to sell Windows PCsprebundled and Linux PCs prebundled in the same store. Microsoft would havetheir guts for garters. Their monopolistic practices ensure that regular userswill never even hear of alternatives.

Here's an example of the way a regular user thinks. My missus is just about tostart a new job, and part of the requirements before she starts is her doing anonline test. No biggie, she fires up her laptop and Firefox, and is promptlytold that only Internet Explorer is supported. She goes back to their office andtells them that out of five computers (that are currently operational) in ourhouse, none have Internet Explorer (three are Macs and two are Linux). The ladytells her "but every computer comes with Internet Explorer."

Uh, no. Old Macs even used to come with it, but they would be antiquated andmost likely incompatible as well. And Linux, well, was there any point in evenmentioning that OS? Unlikely.

To the masses of users out there, Microsoft is it. There are no alternatives.Because they have no clue. Nobody has told them on TV. Nobody tells them intheir weekly magazines. Nobody has thought to put up any billboards oppositetheir favourite coffee shop. For them, the world is a Windows world. When itcomes to productivity suites, to them it's an Office world. I am absolutelyconvinced that the only software related monopoly that Microsoft does not have(and not from lack of trying) is Search. They own everything else in peoples'minds.

How can we change that?

There is no one big Linux organisation that will push it. The problem here liesin the fact that Linux is made up of different distributions, some commercial,but most are not. However, everyone has their own agenda. Especially thecommercial distros such as Red Hat and Suse. But even they aren't pushing thathard. They do their own little fair share of marketing, and while always aimedat pushing their own product (obviously), they haven't taken to seriousmarketing. Hardball. At Microsoft's level. Most of their advertising efforts arepreaching to the converted like trying to tell geeks and sysadmins why theirparticular version of Linux is better than the others. This has been sufficientto get the Linux community to where it is now, but the time has come to step itup a notch.

Someone who has a lot more time and business sense than I do needs to step up tothe plate and spearhead the next evolution of the Linux revolution. At itssimplest the community needs to generate fliers -- simple fliers, but effective:perhaps something along the lines of "STOP PAYING THE MICROSOFT TAX! CHOICE ISOUT THERE!" -- and start posting them everywhere. Noticeboards abound atschools, community halls, workplaces, libraries, Internet cafes, normal cafes,supermarkets, and anywhere people congregate or pass by. All around the world.Don't accost people on the streets and ram fliers down their throats. Just postthem everywhere. If they're simple enough to be read in two seconds while notslowing down, even better. Seed doubt in people's minds about Microsoft.

I'd like to suggest handing out CDs with Windows versions of open sourcealternative software like Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, and more, butwithout doing extensive testing, I'm not sure this will convert people to Linux.I'm concerned that this sort of move will just make people more comfortableusing Windows. Sure their OS will be crap, but IE and Outlook are the major waysthat viruses and spyware are introduced onto PCs. Eliminate those, and yousuddenly have a happier user base. If people ask if those alternative programsare available under Windows, you should tell them that they are, but they werewritten for Linux and are safer and more secure on a non-Microsoft platform.

Come on, give me a break. Surely Microsoft lie too.

Hardball. Beat them at their own game.

However, handing out Linux Live CDs with these applications on may serve abetter result. Then people can see Linux in action, how to interact with it, andhow to use those applications. Ultimately, people fear change. They don't wantto try something new because they're afraid of breaking it. If you assure themthat a Live CD won't break anything (except maybe their flowers and Ming vasesif they use it like a shuriken), you can put them at ease. A method I find workswith my father is to try and ingrain the idea of concepts into his head. Insteadof him getting flustered when he can't find the "Send/Receive" icon inThunderbird, I taught him to conceptualise what he's trying to do. Once heunderstood that he was trying to collect his mail from the server, he found hecould adapt to a button that said "Get Mail" instead. Simple for you and me, buta world of pain for Joe Schmoe.

It's the same with operating systems. All GUI systems have menus, tool bars,icons, and other junk that let you interact with your applications. Windows andLinux are the same. Remind them that they're going to have to get to grips witha new system once Microsoft release their new icons and theme patch (uh, sorry:Vista), so why not take advantage of that and change to a free operating system?I mean if they want to pay you hundreds of dollars to install it for them, fine,but that money would be better utilised on booze and women. The rest they canwaste.

But all that is what can be done by people locally, and this sort of thing isprobably going on to some degree by Linux User Groups around the world. We canall get behind it and do it, but it's still not going to be enough. Theorganisation that I mentioned that should be set up needs to get funding tostart pushing TV and radio ads, website ads, magazine ads, and billboards. Evenfliers handed out at local electronic stores or small PC businesses. I know,you've got a mate whose parents do that in their store, but I'm talkingglobally. Global subsidiaries need to be funded. The Internet has made the worlda much smaller place, and when you're not looking your girlfriend is chatting tosome hot sounding Italian guy on MSN or MySpace. If they both encounter ads intheir daily lives that make them think about their OS choice, they might starttalking about it instead of discussing their next rendezvous. So it's a win-winsituation.

People will start talking about it at their workplace. I mean regular people,not Those Damn IT Geeks^TM. Won't it be wonderfulto see people thinking for themselves for a change?

But the ultimate challenge will be tackling OEM vendors. This is where thefighting is going to get dirty. OEM vendors would welcome Linux with open armsif it wasn't for Microsoft. Microsoft has them all by the short and curlies. Ifthey don't bundle Windows and only Windows, they could lose their ability tobundle it at all. Microsoft'smonopolistic business practicesprevent OEMs from providing competitive operating systems. But if someonetackled this legally, not only would Microsoft take a big fall, but OEMs couldsell cheaper PCs, thus increasing their turnover, and in turn profits. Thiswould work because their profit margins would be exactly the same, except theywould just exclude the Microsoft Tax.

Once OEMs and stores start selling PCs with non-Microsoft operating systems,they will start doing a portion of the marketing themselves. Why wouldn't they?They can now offer cheaper PCs than Joe Retailer down the road because theyinclude this flash new system called Linux. They'll convince their users it'sjust like Windows, but with different icons. And the users will eventually startfalling for it. Uh, I mean, they'll see for themselves. They fell for Windowsdidn't they? Some of them even think it's the greatest thing in the world sincebeer was invented. I'm not kidding. They'll fall for Linux too.

We just have to educate them. It's going to take some effort and a fewboat-loads of cash, but we'll all chip in five bucks via PayPal. Plus supportfrom Red Hat, Novell, Oracle, and IBM will increase the kitty. It's a worthygoal, and it's achievable. Someone just has to jump in and do it. I can'tbecause, you know, the missus wants me to mow the lawns and stuff. But you coulddo it.

Don't all put your hands up at once.