E-Mail Interview with Jack Brown of the Inquirer
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 16:55:35 -0700 (MST)
From: "Donna."
To: Jack Brown [address omitted -d.]
Subject: RE: Windows refund--journalist interested
On Thu, 21 Jan 1999, Jack Brown wrote:
> Sure Donna, email is fine--and I'll keep my questions short so you can
> answer 'em quick. By the way, some will be repetitive; I have to pretend I
> know nothing about the story so I get complete answers from you.
Thanks. BTW, my name really is "Donna." -- I traded in the surname for a
period years and years ago.
As for the questions, I'm answering them probably at greater length than
you had in mind, because I feel that the two of us approach life with
entirely different worldviews, and I'm trying to help you understand mine.
> Quick stuff:
> Which manufacturer did you buy your machine from?
Canon. This was just before they closed down their PC operations.
> How long did it take to get your refund?
About 2-3 months.
> How much did they give you for a refund? Was it their full cost for the OS?
> (About $50?)
I don't know their cost; from what I read, it varies widely from OEM to
OEM, from year to year. They refunded $99.
> I'd like it if you could answer these questions at some length--not essays,
> just a couple of sentences:
>
> You installed Linux, right? What is it that you like better about Linux?
"Better" than what? Windows? I can't compare the two because I don't
know from Windows. I migrated to QNX back when MS/PC-DOS 2.1 was the most
current OS Microsoft had to offer -- before Windows even existed -- and
I've used Windows only sporadically on other people's machines over the
years. My brief exposures to it always made me feel cramped, like I'm in
a (pardon the pun) windowless cage.
What I can tell you is that, in a *NIX environment, I feel free. Between
QNX and Linux, I've had true multitasking on a series of 80xxx boxes since
the mid-1980s. My desktop has always been configurable to my needs; when
I add a program to my system, there are no surprises as to its
functionality with my system; I've been free to add or remove hardware
components and peripherals at my own discretion, rarely needing to reboot
in the process; I've always been free to use as much RAM as my CPU could
handle, no restrictions from my OS; with standardized information
interchange formats, I can swap out specific programs without having a
problem getting my data to fit to the new software; I can choose to share
computing resources with other systems, or lock them out, at my
discretion; I've always had uptimes of months, sometimes years, when
acquaintances talk to me of having to reboot daily, sometimes hourly;
developers really stand behind their work and support is so helpful (and
quick!) it could make your head spin; bug fixes come in faster than some
users can even report them (this one's more common with the free OS's, not
all *NIX systems); I can take a single system and have it pared-down to
specialize on a single task this morning, then make it a full-blown
desktop tonight, all without buying anything new, or even rebooting.
Power, flexibility, stability, support: who would want to give that up?
> Do you resent being forced to pay for software you didn't want to buy? Is
> that why you sort of took a stand here?
Forgive me, but my reaction to that first question is, "What kind of world
do we live in, that somebody would even think to ask such a thing?" Do
you, as a rule, thank the universe for the opportunity to have money
extracted from you for a product or service you don't want and will never
use? (Hey, if you do, you're welcome to send me money any time! )
For me, Windows is nothing more than an expensive paperweight. When I
approached the Linux community in February 1997 and asked what other
people's experiences were with getting refunds for preloads, I was
chagrined to get responses from people who told me to just mindwipe my
drive and eat the cost, like they had done. I didn't know about preloads
before I bought that notebook because I've been building almost all my own
systems since the mid-1980s, and preloads don't exist in the world of
components. When I found out about preloads in 1997, I was shocked that in
the United States I would have to pay Company A for something I didn't
want and wouldn't use just because it came yoked to something I =did= want
to buy from Company B. That's something we hear about happening in
totalitarian countries, not the land of the free and the home of the
brave.
That people would accept such a practice is, to be frank, beyond my ken.
> Do you think users get a good value for their money out of Microsoft OS
> software? Or does their monopoly power hurt OS and general software
> innovation?
Like I said, I don't know from Windows. The only significant piece of
information I have about Windows is that, whenever somebody of my
acquaintance starts waxing eloquent about some "new" program or feature
they just got from Microsoft and/or Windows, it's something I've already
had or been doing for roughly 2-5 years, either in QNX or Linux. So, it's
hard for me to understand what people keep saying about Microsoft being
"innovative".
But that's irrelevent to the issue of choice, isn't it? Users should be
free to buy the software that does what =they= want to do with their
computers, and how they want it to work. For me, in the 1980s, it was
QNX; for me, today, it's Linux. I can't speak for the value anybody else
gets out of their purchasing decisions.
> If more users do what you did, what would happen?
My hope is that we'd go back to having choices in what software we put on
our own, personal, computers. Like we used to have. Resellers could
still preload at a customer's request, if they want to offer that service;
consumers just shouldn't be forced to accept a preload put on at the OEM
level. Forcing preloads on people is like refusing to sell me a suit
unless I also pay for a pair of shoes, made by a wholly different company,
that are two sizes too small for my feet.
From what I can tell, there seem to be enough people who truly wish to run
Windows that I can't imagine Microsoft's bottom line being hurt by giving
back the money they've taken from people who never wanted their
product, never intended to buy it, and don't use it.
> Finally, bio details that may seem like prying, but which provide readers
> with a small idea of who they are hearing from:
> Full name?
Full name is "Donna." -- with a period, no surname.
> Age?
Sorry, but =that= is privileged information.
> What city do you live in?
I live in the Phoenix Metro area, Arizona, USA.
> What do you do for a living?
Lately, I'm coming out of retirement to do Linux development with my
partner, at NiEstu. BTW, if you use a title for me, call me "developer"
or "entrepreneur" ... the "Cybrarian" in my .sig is an inside joke. >wink<
Donna.
Cybrarian, NiEstu
donna.s@niestu.com
Donna.
Last modified: Thu Jan 28 01:42:51 MST 1999