I haven't really jumped on the free software bandwagon as of yet. I think it's a great thing to have, but my limited knowledge of computers makes it all a little intimidating for me. I would rather spend the extra money to have software that is easy to install and that will work as soon as I put in the start-up disk. I also like the help feature that comes along with purchased software. In the free software movement, no one is responsible for any problems that might arise and there is no help centre to phone for assistance. Installing the free software can also be a challenge. For example, I have no idea what exe, etc. means, or at least I didn't until yesterday's lecture. This language means nothing to me and I would become frustrated trying to download things that I'm not sure will work properly. This can be time consuming and can also lead to messying up your hard drive. I know I've downloaded things before and then have no idea where they've gone within my computer. Yes, I am extremely deficient when it comes to computer use and knowledge! I like the philosophy behind the movement, but I'm not sure it will be totally revolutionary since a lot of computer users depend on the simplicity of purchased software. The fear of catching viruses from this software is also a deterant for me. Computer repairs are expensive and I am a poor student who would rather spend the little extra money I have on clothes, concerts, or a night on the town, than repairing my infected computer.
Some proposed solutions to make this movement accessible and appealing to a larger audeince would include easier-to-use downloading processes. I'm not suggesting tutorials because those can be lengthy and boring to read, and who has time for that these days, but something that can make this software more accessible to acquire. We're not all part of the camoflauge army, with a coke in hand and a sophisticated understanding of coding. (Thank God). And until the masses gain some greater knowledge of how to use and install this software, then this free-software social movement will not reach its potential.
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The last time I dealt with free software it was in an attempt to convert a file into a different format. I googled WMA to MP3 Converter and found a whole slew of programs that celebrated the fact that they were completely free. What a great online community we have, I thought. I downloaded one and hit install and it took about two seconds before it let me know it was finished installing. Easy enough! So then I browsed for the file I wanted to convert to mp3 and it said "conversion complete" within seconds. I was suprised because I thought it should take longer for it to work its technological magic before rendering my file, a la mode desiré. When I went to upload said file, it was not, after all converted. The program had done nothing! Well, to be exact, the only thing it did was lie about what it had not done. I downloaded a second converter program which was a little more tedious to install and then tried THAT out for size. Now, I'm not really sure what it did because when I told it to convert my WMA into an MP3, it instead converted it to a totally unusable (at least for any purpose that I could discover) into an MP4 file! Who is going to account for THAT madness?! Another problem I now have is that there are two derelict Conversion programs sitting on my desktop that I can't uninstall. I guess they don't come with that option? So you're right. Free software is great...but it's not without its glitches. There isn't anyone who's specifically accountable. But that's part of the beauty of online networks, too. You can have whole teams of geeks working on a program and updating the code to fix little bugs here and there. Through the internet they can accomplish things they could never do in an office. They don't get paid but they do it for the honor of making better programs that are available to the public. I think we owe people like Jimmy Wales a lot for what they do.
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