Meet Steve
Every office has one. Every IT department knows one. And if we’re being honest, most of us have BEEN one.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Steve.
Steve is an IT guy. At least that’s what his business card says. He’s got the Microsoft certification, the company polo shirt, the clipboard, and enough pens in his pocket to supply a small school district. Steve loves technology. Well, actually, Steve loves buying technology. He’s never met a subscription he didn’t like, a cloud migration he couldn’t justify, or a perfectly good computer he couldn’t declare obsolete. And if Microsoft says it’s time to upgrade, by golly, Steve is upgrading!
Steve has a solution for everything. Unfortunately, it’s usually the same solution. Move it to the cloud. Buy another license. Schedule a meeting. And if that doesn’t work? Call support.
Steve believes the cloud is the future. Everything belongs in the cloud. Your files, your pictures, your music, your documents, your backups, and probably your grandmother’s biscuit recipe. Why keep something on a computer you own when you can pay somebody else every month to store it for you? Steve calls that progress.
Steve believes software should come with a monthly payment. After all, why buy something once when you can pay for it forever? Steve calls that a business model. He also believes a computer that’s five years old is practically an antique. Never mind that it works perfectly well. Never mind that a $30 SSD and a free operating system could give it another five years of life. The manufacturer says it’s obsolete, and that’s good enough for Steve. He calls that the lifecycle.
The Outlaw calls it a load of GRUB!
Need to write a letter? Microsoft 365. Need to store a file? OneDrive. Need to talk to somebody? Teams. Need to organize a project? SharePoint. Need to automate something? Power Automate. Need to figure out why none of that is working? Schedule a Teams meeting. Steve will be there with his clipboard and probably a PowerPoint presentation explaining why everything is working exactly as designed.
Now, don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these products. Some of them work quite well. The problem comes when we stop asking whether they’re the best tools for the job and start assuming they’re the ONLY tools for the job. And that’s where Steve and the Outlaw part company.
Mention Linux around Steve and watch what happens. His eyes get big. His coffee gets cold. He starts mumbling something about command lines, compatibility, and enterprise support. “Nobody uses Linux!” Steve says. Meanwhile, Linux is running servers, websites, supercomputers, and more devices than Steve could count on his fingers and toes. But Steve doesn’t want to hear that. He’s too busy trying to figure out why Windows 11 won’t install on a perfectly good computer.
The Outlaw? He’s already installed Ubuntu, added a dozen applications, and put the machine back to work.
Hey Steve, watch this!
But here’s the thing about Steve. Steve isn’t stupid. Steve isn’t evil. And Steve isn’t necessarily a bad IT guy. Steve is comfortable. He’s learned a particular way of doing things, and he’s been told for years that it’s the right way. The vendors tell him. The salespeople tell him. The consultants tell him. And Steve believes them. Why wouldn’t he? He’s been doing it that way for twenty years.
But somewhere along the way, Steve stopped asking a very important question. WHY?
Why do we need another subscription? Why do we have to replace a computer that still works? Why does everything have to live in somebody else’s cloud? Why can’t we own our software? Why can’t we control our own data? Why can’t we try something different?
Those are the questions Steve doesn’t always ask. But they’re the questions the Open Source Outlaw asks EVERY SINGLE DAY.
And here’s a little secret. I used to be Steve.
Yep. You heard that right. There was a time when I believed the answer to every technology problem came in a box with a Microsoft logo on it. I bought the licenses. I installed the software. I followed the recommendations. And I didn’t question nearly enough of it.
But somewhere along the way, I started looking at things differently. I discovered Linux. I discovered open-source software. I discovered that old computers weren’t necessarily obsolete. I discovered that I didn’t have to rent every piece of software I used. And most importantly, I discovered that technology should work for ME, not the other way around.
That’s a longer story, and I’ve already told it in an article called I Used to Be Steve. Trust me, it’s worth a read.
So why is Steve here? Because Steve is going to be hanging around the Open Source Outlaw. A LOT.
Whenever a company decides to charge a subscription for something that used to be free, Steve will probably have an explanation. Whenever Microsoft announces another reason your computer isn’t good enough, Steve will be standing there with his clipboard. Whenever somebody tells you that you absolutely MUST move everything to the cloud, Steve will be nodding enthusiastically.
And whenever the Outlaw finds a better, cheaper, simpler way to do something?
SIT DOWN, STEVE!
Because we’re about to show you something.
Now, this website isn’t about hating Microsoft, Apple, Google, or anybody else. It’s about choices. It’s about ownership. It’s about making technology useful instead of unnecessarily complicated. It’s about understanding that the most expensive solution isn’t always the best solution. And it’s about remembering that just because somebody in a suit tells you something is the future doesn’t mean you have to hand over your wallet.
Steve may never completely understand that. But we’re going to keep trying. Because somewhere underneath that Microsoft lanyard and that clipboard is a guy who might just discover there’s another way.
And when he does?
We’ll have an Ubuntu USB drive waiting for him.
Welcome to Open Source Outlaw, Steve. Pull up a chair.
Just don’t touch my servers.
DON’T BE A STEVE.
Think for yourself. Own your technology. Question everything.
And when somebody tells you it can’t be done…
HEY STEVE, WATCH THIS!
Check out the Outlaw’s recent post: I Used To Be Steve
YOU BET YOUR SWEET GRUB!