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Easing consumers into Linux
January 23, 2006, 9:40 pm |
Easing consumers into Linux
Kalibonca is packaging free Linux educational software on disks that let
PC owners bypass the Windows operating system.
*
Steve Alexander,* Star Tribune
Last update: January 15, 2006 ? 6:31 PM
A new St. Cloud educational software company is using technological
sleight-of-hand to sell Linux programs that run on Windows PCs.
Kalibonca, a six-month-old company that relies on a collection of
freelance workers rather than full-time employees, is the latest to
repackage and sell free Linux software. Linux is a free operating system
with free applications software that is maintained and improved by
volunteers around the world. The software can be downloaded from the
Internet for no more than the promise to share any improvements that are
made to the software's source code.
Start-ups selling free Linux security software have appeared before. But
they were marketing to businesses familiar with Linux and didn't face
Kalibonca's problem: How to sell consumer Linux software in a world
dominated by the Windows operating system?
Kalibonca's answer is to offer its $29.99 Linux educational software
with a self-booting Linux system CD. When the user starts up the
computer with the Linux program in the CD drive, the Windows program on
hard drive is by-passed and Linux is loaded into the computer's memory
instead.
Kalibonca's disks provide educational programs about science,
literature, computers, history and biology, as well as some basic
productivity software such as word processing and graphics. (Users will
need a computer with two CD drives; the Linux system disk must remain in
the main CD drive while the program's second and third disks run one at
a time in the CD burner drive.)
Because anyone so inclined could download the same Linux programs for
free, Kalibonca hopes it can entice schools and libraries to pay for the
collection of programs and educational website links based on the
usefulness of the collection.
"Sure, you can download [the Linux programs] for free," said Farah
Rahman, a Kalibonca spokeswoman. "But I know of no vendor with our focus
who has put together a system remotely similar to ours. ... We have
spent the time, money and effort to bring all these things [together in]
one easy-to-use, no-brainer of a product. For teachers, parents and
individuals who all seem to have less time, this is an easy way to
access information in the categories we have chosen."
While the software offers functionality, its educational effectiveness
isn't always clear. A "star plot" program generates a three-dimensional
representation of the Earth's sun and nearby stars, but doesn't provide
any context for the information. And some of the selected Web sources
provide less information than a Google Internet search.
Rahman said the software would be useful as part of a larger classroom
lesson. "Individual kids could work at their own pace."
Kalibonca's initial marketing targets are the Minneapolis public schools
and public library. So far, the company has no retail outlet to sell to
individual consumers, Rahman said.
Steve Alexander ? 612-673-4553
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