WEll. .. Im not really out there in Open Source land. . . .But I am definitely concerned about the same issues. My answer is this:
Unfortunately there is a great devide right now.
Open source produces quality code, and amazing applications .. . . . But does not seem to produce very good "User Experience" yet. . . . .Which is one of the key concerns from the Corporate Software World.
On the flip side the Corporate Software World is much mroe likely to produce software that perverts and subverts your computer.
The answer I use myself? I run a Windows 2000 Pro box. I refuse to update to XP until I *Know* I can divorce it from the Microsoft Hive. I accept that, in the next 3 years I will have an unsupported OS.
I rebuild my box at least once a year. I assume that Soemthing has gotten in at that point that I don't want, and so I use this as a sort of Prophalaxys . . . And it allowes me to see something like the Sony rootkit as an annoyance, rather than a killer. I find out I have it, I bump up my yearly refresh schedule.
Finally, I am carefull. I have a CD player to play music. I use it. I have a DVD player to watch movies. I use that too. I have "Autoplay" turned off on my CD drives. . . So that if I want to rip a MP3, I don't ens up running sony's rootkit, or whatever. I NEVER check out the "Free" features included on something I bought .. . Unless I KNOW I want it. . . . And it checks out on the internet.
In other words, Im proactive about having a clean PC, and have no attachment to the current incarnation of my box. It's just a box. As long as I save my movies, or MP3's, or documents, or savegames. . . . . Who cares? Sure, it's a couple hours. . . But you get a clean, new Operating system, no annoying glitches. . . . It's a clean start.
Meanwhile, I *Hope* the open source community takes on the issue of interface design, and "User Experience" with the same Gusto that they took on Operating systems. . . . . .And I bet they will. Probably even this decade . .. . . . . .
no subject
Unfortunately there is a great devide right now.
Open source produces quality code, and amazing applications .. . . . But does not seem to produce very good "User Experience" yet. . . . .Which is one of the key concerns from the Corporate Software World.
On the flip side the Corporate Software World is much mroe likely to produce software that perverts and subverts your computer.
The answer I use myself? I run a Windows 2000 Pro box. I refuse to update to XP until I *Know* I can divorce it from the Microsoft Hive. I accept that, in the next 3 years I will have an unsupported OS.
I rebuild my box at least once a year. I assume that Soemthing has gotten in at that point that I don't want, and so I use this as a sort of Prophalaxys . . . And it allowes me to see something like the Sony rootkit as an annoyance, rather than a killer. I find out I have it, I bump up my yearly refresh schedule.
Finally, I am carefull. I have a CD player to play music. I use it. I have a DVD player to watch movies. I use that too. I have "Autoplay" turned off on my CD drives. . . So that if I want to rip a MP3, I don't ens up running sony's rootkit, or whatever. I NEVER check out the "Free" features included on something I bought .. . Unless I KNOW I want it. . . . And it checks out on the internet.
In other words, Im proactive about having a clean PC, and have no attachment to the current incarnation of my box. It's just a box. As long as I save my movies, or MP3's, or documents, or savegames. . . . . Who cares? Sure, it's a couple hours. . . But you get a clean, new Operating system, no annoying glitches. . . . It's a clean start.
Meanwhile, I *Hope* the open source community takes on the issue of interface design, and "User Experience" with the same Gusto that they took on Operating systems. . . . . .And I bet they will. Probably even this decade . .. . . . . .