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By editorial@silicon.com, 31 July 2002 16:45

COMMENT When Microsoft first announced it was changing the way it collects software licences the industry reacted with horror. Herod received less abuse for his unpopular policy of slaughtering the first born. But why should any company let its customers decide how much they pay for their products? Clearly a business must maintain a relationship with its partners and customers but in what other industry would one supplier cause so much grief? If you can't afford it don't buy it. BMW doesn't sell cheaper cars to people who complain about its prices. It politely sends them to the bike shop down the road. But it seems that is what you, our readers, are starting to do. Now admittedly Linux is so reliable that its administrators can spend all their time posting comments to websites. But even so, the weight of comments suggests something is happening. It's happening in smaller, more flexible businesses now. It's happening in places that have time to help staff change over. But it's happening. Here's a selection of Reader Comments received over the last week: - "For the last few months I have been switching to Open Office and I haven't looked back... For years I've been annoyed at the price I have to pay for the ability to open the relatively few Word and Excel documents we receive in our drawing office." - "I haven't used Windows for 11 months and I don't miss it. I use SuSE, which comes with Open Office." - "I have just moved over to Open Office and what a surprise, the applications are really good.... Go on, give it a try. Then give Mandrake or Red Hat a go too." - "Until recently open source was usually only viable for use by technically competent people. The recent developments of plug and play, easy installation, easy use and compatible applications have made it a viable alternative for the desktop." So next time you want to complain about Microsoft's prices, remember you have the choice of giving your money to someone else.