The Business Software Alliance - an organization with Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Adobe, etc., as its members, have launched a full-blown Piracy crackdown here in the Philippines. Internet Shop Cafe owners, one of the many business types targeted by the campaign, are in chaos right now (ako konti lang, i have ubuntu at my side). Acquiring license for even a 10-pc internet shop can cost the small players (that includes us) a significant chunk of money to comply with licensing demands. I have a lot of things to say about this issue, but i can't get them sorted out for now.
But there are things brewing in my mind - this could be the day that Linux takes a center stage in the Philippine tech scene. If only the oppurtunity is taken wisely.A call to open source supporters, evangelists and hackers -- let's do every thing that we can to take this window of oppurtunity and spread Linux and other OpenSource Projects.
For non-gaming cafe's (like what we have here), user-oriented linux distros are ripe for the taking. People just need to try and see it. Yes, thing will feel weird at first, but this is how we felt the first time we used Windows right? If you have friends that are worrying about the crackdown right now, encourage them to evaluate Linux. Ubuntus is the best distro that I could recommend. Really, how can you justify paying for the full price of Windows when Ubuntu can do the job as well? I'm just seeing a few hiccups here - Chikka. and the other apps that needs Windows that I suddenly forgot. heh.
Excuse me for now, but I have some hard drives to reformat.
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Maybe one of these days we should see if we can run Ragnarok/Gunbound/Chikka/whatever under WINE.
ReplyDeleteyay mars! go...help me. hehe
ReplyDeletechikka has a java version, and it worked great on windows/firefox.
ttest ko mamya sa ubuntu.
wala bang problema sa pag-run ng games (warcraft, ragnarok, etc.) sa linux/ubuntu?
ReplyDeleteJam, as Mars said, WINE is the answer.
ReplyDeleteRunning Warcraft on Linux has been done already and docs on how to do it can be found on the net. But i don't offer WC anyway. :D. Ragnarok, according to a website that mars pointed me to, has a GOLD rating in WINE, which means that it runs very well using WINE. I'm not sure about Gunbound though. So definitely it won't be easy, catering for the gamers. But i think it's doable.
you don't offer wc?
ReplyDeletekumuha ka na kasi ng pnga license.
surprise surprise..
ReplyDeletenot that I don't want to milk the cash cow, but I don't think that the experience that they're gonna get playing WC using the pcs i have here well be as pleasant as the one they'll have sa ibang shops na mas geared for gaming.
And the more important reason: it's hard to keep an internet-browsing, thesis/report-writing, researching customers with a bunch of sweaty high school crowd playing DOTA.
"..a bunch of sweaty high school crowd playing DOTA."
ReplyDeleteHindi, a..
okay, college din pala.
ReplyDeletehehe.