LinuxOSS organizations will never be able to do this 13443

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:02:28 -0500, DFS

$258 million. Seems like a lot. Now, let's stop and consider...

There are, by some estimates at least, some 400 million Windows PCs out there, with an average installed software cost - between Windows itself, a lot of them having MS Office or Corel Office or MS Works, etc, plus accounting packages, graphics, and media editing and AV apps and so on and so forth etc, etc, ad nauseum - of, we'll say, some $350-$500, let's work this out...

By saving $350 a machine, and donating it instead, the net donation would be $140,000,000,000 - about 542 times the donation given. Hmm. 542 times? That means that, by *not* buying Windows and CSS commercial software, at an expected cost of about $350, those people could each pocket about $349.35, donate $0.65, and the results would be $260,000,000.

Gee. Put $349.35 back in every person's pocket, have them donate a fiddling 65 cents a pop, and wind up with a *higher* net donation than the one you're crowing about.

Ask pretty much anyone; if you could get $349.35 in your pocket, plus a lifetime's supply of software, and all it would cost was 65 cents, wouldn't that be worth it? 'Course it would.

Sorry, I missed the point - unless it was your brilliant idea to let Bill et al gouge you, for the privilege of helping him earn billions, while giving 65 cents of your money to a good cause.