[scribus] Is Linux/Scribus viable? (was New Linux User...)

[Gregory Pittman]

Frank Swygert wrote:
> There's more non-tech people out there than tech, though that will 
> change over the next 20 years. The fact is that until a lot of average 
> consumers start seeing Linux in stores it will be considered a techie 
> plaything to them, not something you can just go out and get like 
> Windows. A lot of people still think the Mac is just a high end 
> "designer" computer for geeks and "upscale" folks, not "just another 
> computer" like the ubiquitous Windows box.
> A Linux store with banks of computers/burn CDs on demnad probably 
> isn't a good idea, I was just throwing out a possible scenario. A 
> simple kiosk with commercial looking boxed software would probably be 
> the way to go, with a couple computers running demos. Heck, the boxes 
> could just be for show, burn CDs from a master computer as needed or 
> have them in envelopes ready to go, like some stores do for DVDs and 
> music CDs. Burning a few at a time and having the capability to 
> produce on demand would keep inventory down though.
There is the potential for something like you're saying, perhaps, but I 
think it would need to be centered around service/tech support. PC 
makers, including Apple, have turned computer and software business into 
that of selling commodities or appliances, so that when it's time to 
upgrade, you as likely as not throw out the old and buy a new one. There 
are those that deal with the inevitable paralysis of a 
virus/worm-infected Windows OS the same way.
Linux and Scribus aren't going to fit this mold. Scribus and other 
projects serve as a kind of correction factor to the cultivated mindset 
that says you must pay whatever Microsoft and Apple charge, and upgrade 
when they say upgrade, reinforcing the idea of the dumb user, and the 
computer and its software as a black box.
If there is any business model that might work, it would be for someone 
to develop service/tech support centers on a local level, where you 
could buy DVDs/CDs of some OS or software (not really in stock, just 
created on demand), but more importantly offer help to your customers 
for help with installation/setup/troubleshooting, in some cases maybe 
just pointing them to where help is readily available if it's just 
advice. It may be that eventually some big general retailer will figure 
out how to make this work.

Scribus's role in this is to just keep pushing forward, so that it can 
increasingly be seen as a viable alternative to ID and others, and 
companies that do DTP have a harder time justifying commercial licenses 
for proprietary software.

Greg