Out shopping today i hit the local bookshop/software store and went browsing around in the software section. Found a copy of Windows XP pro and was amazed at the price : allmost 400 euro's ! When i picked up the home edition I saw that that was 300 euro's. A quick calculation , adding office ( 350 euro's) Nero (50 euro's) and an antivirus program (50 euro's) , made me realise that using non open source software legaly is quite an expensive hobby. When you think of the misery we encounter when using Windows / Office and other programs sometimes cause us (misdesign, flaws, buggs) its amazing that people put up with it. A: they buy the soft and put up with the shit , B) They use the soft illegaly and put up with the shit. Now the second group has no right to complain. But the first group ? I would be shitfaced if something that cost me a 1000 euro's all together would be so buggy !. Lately i've been thinking about what a Linux-geek-friend of mine said. "The best thing that could happen to open source software , is that people would REALY HAVE TO PAY for all the non – open source software they are using right now." And thats true. People use windows cause its easy. But imagine you would REALY have to pay for it . It would be worth your time (not to mention over 200 euro's in software-money) to try to use Linux, Openoffice and Tha Gimp. Cause software is so easy to copy and distribute illegaly, people stick to using things like Windows, and for example an illegal copy of Photoshop. But if you where to make them pay for it , they would switch to open source in a flash. I'm not one FOR buying all your stuff legaly, If i look at the quality of programs like XP and so on I think its an outrage to spend that amount of money on it. But I do think that IF there is a way to use an open source program instead of using a pirate version , one should do that. In the past I used adobe Photoshop. Not because I needed the advanced functions of Photoshop, no just because I needed a program to do some image editing. Now I found out THA GIMP, the open source Photoshop alternative, and its available on Windows too. Cause pirating software is to easy , people use overkill software for their basic needs (using photoshop to resize a pic) Plus they stick to what they know as long as they don't have to pay for it anyway. Who needs open source when you don"t pay for your software anyway. Its not right is it. In a way Windows IS open source, because they let you ! Otherwise they would lose their high percentage of the market like that. I for one have made my new years resolution to go "as straight as possible" . Not because I want to kiss MS's butt, NO , because I want to find out as many open source alternatives that I can find and USE them. Letting the world know you can survive on open source ! Firefox, The Gimp, Open Office, Firstclass, Jabber, etc.. you name it , you can find it . FREE !