Oracle sells pretty well on Linux :-), yeah - it's a server app, but you only specified commercial software.
Other areas where it's doing pretty well include movies and graphics (CAD and 3d modelling software like Alias Wavefront in particular). I think World of Goo did pretty well on Linux too (certainly it's one of the more fun games I have bought recently). We'll see how things change when Google gets Chrome OS out (hell - it's already changing quite a lot with Android). Personally I would also love to see Adobe take the same line that Oracle did - why not sell their entire suite as a package that includes their own version of Linux as a base. They could easily add in their own fonts, color syncing technologies, etc. into it, and then offer Creative Suite 5L (no operating system required). As James points out, a lot of pragmatic Linux developers do buy software to run, they just have to do so under emulation or virtualization - both of which, because it's Linux, run fantastically well and are absolutely bulletproof. It's also worth noting that the Netflix app for the iPad is, like all of their other player applications, free to use. This speaks to the idea that the selling of software as a model is seems to be going away - software is increasingly an extension to a service and that is what we are talking about here. Not many would expect (sadly) Netflix or Apple to actually make software for Linux. The point (as it has been since the thread started) is that if content is DRMd, then the open source community cannot even make their own. Obviously it doesn't suit Apple's goals to make this content available for Linux because if they did, some people might figure out that the nice laptop they can buy for half the price (or indeed the one they already have) runs faster with Linux and can do everything they need. I would say that is a pretty occams razor simplest solution. I fear this is descending into a tit-for-tat now so I am going to stop at this point. I will say that you will never convince me that actively preventing content from reaching a platform through DRM, if the cost to you is otherwise zero (or close to - how much would it take for Microsoft to put the DRM for silverlight out to the Moonlight project for example?), is anything but a play for control. It also will not work indefinitely (Linux people do tend to find a way if the itch is bad enough - just look at what happened to DVD protection). On May 17, 12:45 pm, Chris Adamson <[email protected]> wrote: > But with Linux so popular, and its users truly willing to pay for > stuff, what commercial product has ever been a major success on the > platform? Are there games with Linux versions that have done well? > Productivity apps? Heck, if Adobe is such a friend of Linux, and the > platform is so popular with web developers, why isn't CS5 available in > a Linux version? > > Occam's Razor says that poor business prospects on the platform, not > an active conspiracy, is why you don't see Linux clients for DRM- > constrained products like Netflix movies, Kindle books, etc. > > -Chris > > On May 17, 3:36 pm, Casper Bang <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > I'm going to say one more really mean thing that will piss everyone > > > off: when you have a community that has repeatedly made it clear that > > > it is not willing to pay for stuff, and whose intellectual leadership > > > rails against the concept of intellectual property itself, it probably > > > cuts into the business prospects of trying to sell media to this > > > audience. > > > Once again you're painting with very broad strokes here. The Linux > > culture is quite a bit more diverse than the high-priest mono-culture > > you are suggesting. I count myself lucky to be living in a country > > where media standards are not dictated simply by the de-factory > > proprietary format, and I have no issue whatsoever paying for > > software. There are more moderate views than those pushed by Richard > > Stallman i.e. try to see what Novell and Miguel de Icaza are doing. > > Linux dominates servers, is about to dominate the smartphone marked... > > I think it's a grave mistake to disregard desktop Linux on those > > merits. > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "The Java Posse" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. 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