Could you switch over to being 100% open source? | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

Whether it’s down to the sagging economy or the slow but inevitable death of XP, I’m hearing from many people who are looking to jump off the Microsoft software bandwagon and pitch up with the FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) movement. But could you realistically move your home or business PCs over to open source software and make a 100% switch?

This question intrigues me, and I think that ultimately there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to it. I think that some people could, others can’t, and others could, but simply won’t.

At one end of the spectrum you have the home user who spends 90% of their PC time on the Internet. These folks could switch to FOSS in a heartbeat. Even if they do more, like write lists, maybe compile a few reports, and maybe even mess about with photos and a bit of video, switching to FOSS would be a doddle.

Could you switch over to being 100% open source?

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At the other end of the spectrum you have large corporations running highly-complex systems. For these entities, changing anything is a major issue.

Then you have everyone else.

Read full article here: Could you switch over to being 100% open source? | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

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