Very good points, Douglas!
Because the operating system market in particular is unstable - it collapses onto one provider. There are several factors driving this:
[3 good ones removed]
- The reluctance of people to throw away their previous training efforts to use something different which still only has the same functionality and therefore doesn't give them anything more. There's no incentive. It's a first come first served.
Are you talking about the software house or the end-user?
The software house's decision is based entirely on market size, which puts Linux (and Firefox) in its current chicken-and-egg situation.
Price is the main motivator for the end user.
So this is the "reality", like it or not. You can choose to support Microsoft, or you can choose to support Linux.
Nice to say, but that doesn't help an employee charged by his boss to implement XYZ when the Linux choice simply doesn't exist. The Microsoft one always exists.
I agree. It won't happen until the boss says "we have to provide this under Linux".
To break the unstable cycle, Linux needs applications. The commercial software world is not (yet) interested in providing them. So to support Linux, we all need to support OSS applications
Yes. But we also need to support those commercial applications which are available! As you say, Linux needs applications to become established.
True. We need to support all Linux apps.
Snubbing commercial vendors is working in Microsoft's favour.
I can't quite agree. By using Firefox and the GIMP on Windows or Linux I'm certainly not supporting Microsoft.
Microsoft and Apple bundle a wide range of basic applications - browser, video editor, music ripper/player, etc. Linux needs to provide these for free (as in beer) as well if it is to compete.
Commercial vendors are needed to deliver the top-end stuff - Final Cut Pro, commercial-grade accounting apps, engineering apps. Don't criticise Linux users for being afraid to stump up - not many home Windows or Apple users pay for top-end stuff like this either.
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