Hi Andy! Long time no see ;-) On 2/19/06, Andy Sy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If we were transported back to 1995, then today's Linux would > give Windows _serious_ competition on the desktop. But it's 2006 and > the Linux desktop is still doing what it has been doing since: playing > catch up with Windows. With the introduction of working voice and > handwriting recognition on Windows Tablet PC Ed. the gap is in > danger of becoming a chasm.
Just some time ago Jeff Bailey blogged about this.[0] I pretty much feel the same; I have my fears about what the future holds for me and my involvment on FOSS itself, but I realize that recognizing the problem is the first step towards a solution, and I hope that, little by little, the Linux desktop will progress, even as the chasm gapes wider. FWIW, we already have Novell's Xgl and Compiz rocking the desktop scene recently[1], and Ubuntu Dapper is set to have packages up for testing in the latest development release.[2] [0] http://www.raspberryginger.com/jbailey/weblog/index//foryourgood-2006-02-18-10-45.html [1] http://www.novell.com/linux/xglrelease/ [2] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2006-February/000079.html > Those who say that people should not be developing or porting > OSS to Windows, keep your political agendas to yourself. Good > software is good software wherever it runs. Open source software > is open source regardless of the platform that hosts it. True enough; I've been around the curve a few times now, and I am now fully convinced that the best way to attract people to use FOSS is to bring FOSS on their current platforms, not the other way around. I bet many of the people at the recently-concluded Bicol Open Source Forum[3] did some `getting your feet wet' sessions with OpenOffice on Windows before deciding to jump to Ubuntu or Bayanihan. At any rate, it would be stupid to `just dump Windows'; I think it is mighty fine to consider MS offerings now not just as a mere `bastion of the proprietary software model', but rather as an adversary truly worthy of healthy competition. Cheers, Zakame -- Zak B. Elep || http://zakame.spunge.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] || [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1486 7957 454D E529 E4F1 F75E 5787 B1FD FA53 851D
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