Cross-platform to the rescue
There have been discussions all over the place about whether it would be a good or bad for the uptake of free software to make applications available for non-free platforms.
Having complained in the past about the way my daughters' are forced to use Windows software for school, notably Microsoft Office.
So, when Naomi told me today she had to download an application to do some music homework I was filled with apprehension. Turns out the chosen application was Audacity! Plus some instructions to download a precompiled lame ddl...
Well, one apt-get install audacity later she's in business. Now if only there was a distribution that supports both sound and a usb wifi stick for her laptop, she wouldn't have needed to borrow her sister's laptop.
Lesson learned: cross-platform applications make the update of a free platform possible, even if the powers-that-be still live in benighted obscurity.