On Sat, 2 Feb 2002, Michael Costolo wrote: > I've read so many articles on what linux needs in order to "dethrone" > Microsoft. They all basically say the same thing and it seems that more > and more developers are listening, but I don't know why.
You have to understand something: In the past 100 years or so, journalism has become a commercial enterprise. It has marketing, interest studies -- and profit goals. A major -- if not the primary -- motivator is getting the maximum number of consumers (i.e., readers/viewers). And people are attracted to conflict like flies to honey. The "National Enquirer" knows this very well. Thus, there is a motivation to highlight conflict -- or even manufacture it. In short, stories about people calmly and happily improving software don't sell. If, on the other hand, a group of developers is "competing" with Microsoft, that conflict *does* sell. So they get the press. If there is a lack of developers doing that, opinion pieces explaining why developers should be doing it are run instead. The end result is, based on the popular press, you would think that there is a great conflict going on, and we are fighting tooth and nail. Fortunately, that is not the case. The bulk of developers continue to develop what is actually needed or wanted. In some, even many, cases, there is an element of conflict, but it is not the primary one. Witness the supposed "conflict" between GNOME and KDE. The bulk of the developers working on those projects are quite willing to share information, and in fact communicate on a regular basis. Many are even friends. Sure, they may have their opinions on this or that, but they are quite willing to coexist. But it is the disagreements, the fights, and the name-calling that gets the attention. (The above portrait of the press is, of course, unfair. Like all blanket statements, it is false.) > What I don't understand is why linux developers seem to appear to be > trying to "catch up" with Microsoft (coming from a non-developer). There is another phenomenon at work here as well. For those projects whose explicit goal is interoperability with Microsoft products (e.g., Wine, Samba), there is a very real game of catch-up going on. That, unfortunately, is an inherent part of any attempt at compatibility with a hostile system. Furthermore, due to the current prevalence of Microsoft's products, these projects are often some of the most used projects, and thus get the most attention. > My words to linux developers would be to continue to do the creative and > innovative things that have brought us to where we are today. Fortunately, I do not see any danger of that stopping. :-) -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
