A live alternative to Microsoft’s footrubs and free smoothies

People living in Extremadura – a region in western Spain that sounds like a high-tech running… People living in Extremadura – a region in western Spain that sounds like a high-tech running shoe or brand of condom – may be staging the world’s most polite revolution. Dissatisfied with costly technology, they chose to oust Microsoft’s Windows operating system from their computers and install a free alternative, Linux. Because of this they have become unofficial trustbusters and have put the fear of competition into Microsoft.

Approximately 1.1 million people – unhappy with Microsoft’s expensive monopoly – adopted Linux, previously the redheaded step-system of the computing world. With that, they got the freedom to choose. As a nation that can’t decide between Diet Lemon Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke, surely we can appreciate this option.

The availability of a feasible substitute will end Microsoft’s domination of the market. Extremadura will force Microsoft to better serve its customers in order to compete. Windows might have to provide such amenities as foot rubs or free banana smoothies.

Previously, Microsoft refused to acknowledge attempts at competition, because Linux and other such programs require a moderate degree of technical know-how such as being able to find an on/off switch.

Microsoft now wants Extremaduran business back. Letting their game faces drop, company representatives – after meeting with Spanish officials – now preach peaceful coexistence. According to a Nov. 3 article in The Washington Post, the officials have agreed politely to this so long as that peace “means a world that’s … 90 percent Linux, 10 percent Microsoft.”

Clearly, the region’s project has the multinational, multibillion-dollar company shaking in its Bruno Maglis.

For instance, an Extremaduran company built a comprehensive operating system using Linux for a paltry $180,000 – roughly the cost of Bill Gates’ Magic-The Gathering card collection. This system acts as an umbrella program for the computer, from which all other programs function. To make this package comprehensive, the company provided necessary programs such as a Linux-based word processor and spreadsheet. And there are nifty icons with historical figures and birds.

Plus, the Extremaduran government is giving it away. People can get disks with this operating system at schools, community centers or as newspaper inserts. It’s like that scene from “Newsies” where they throw free newspapers into Times Square, except without the singing 12-year-olds. And in Spain.

In contrast, a copy of Microsoft Windows XP Professional costs around $300. And since most programs are Windows-based, users cannot opt for something cheaper.

Microsoft is a technical monolith that forces people to endure its quirks, including Windows ME, the Hindenberg of operating systems. Competition will make Microsoft reconsider its attitudes. Even more than the trustbusting order issued by a U.S. federal court forcing Microsoft to split, these grass-roots efforts show Microsoft that people will not tolerate exorbitant prices or bird-less icons.

Alternatively, Linux began as a graduate school project and gave rise to a somewhat cult-like following. Considered a second-string system because of technical glitches and its heretofore incompatibility with Microsoft, Extremadura’s project will thrust this technological wallflower into the spotlight. Spain, played by Joshua Jackson, is finally taking Linux to the prom.

Moreover, Extremaduran officials want the world to follow their model of equal access and have provided the means in the form of a Web site: www.linex.org. Users have downloaded more than 55,000 copies of the system – which substituted the “u” in Linux with an “e” for Extremadura.

Obviously, using Linux comes with drawbacks. Fewer people know the system and it does not include some of Window’s multimedia functions. If pretty colors and jungle noises are worth $300, then users should stick to Windows. Of course crayons and grunting provide the same amenities.

Software provided freely and maintained cheaply sounds idealistic, comparable to the Spanish government promoting puppies and handholding. But if Microsoft is to recognize and remedy the error of its ways, it needs motivation at the bottom line. Either we deflate Bill Gates’ girlfriend or we download Linux. The choice is ours.

Sydney Bergman finds that singing “Beast of Burden” soothes the savage Windows ME. She can be reached at sbergman@pittnews.com.