Tim Jones wrote:
- When asked what kind of applications they are seeking (whether
presented with a predefined list or simply asked to give their own
thoughts with no prompting)... most users seem highly interested in
consumer-level applications.
Could this be because the vast majority of your listeners are
consumer-level users instead of corporate-level Linux users? When I
look at our customer lists, I see major corporations, universities, and
government groups purchasing far more than games and game support for
Linux.
That's actually pretty hard to say. In the surveys we've done of our
listener-base, it certainly is predominantly consumer oriented. About
15% are developers (by trade) and about 20% work in IT (but are not
developers... typically system admins and the like). The rest is a
hodge-podge of different groups.
The Linux-centric work I've done has typically been with big companies
and universities myself as well. Though I've not yet done anything
serious in the consumer space... so I don't know what the result of that
would be other than from what i can glean.
3) There has been no single good case of a proprietary application
sold for Linux.
We've been selling BRU for Linux successfully since 1994 (0.99pl12). It
is proprietary in that it's not open source and I've even gotten Eric
Raymond to agree that a backup application is one of the few non-open
source projects that are proper to remain closed and proprietary (along
with very specific vertical tools). The basic call on this was if the
user needed expect stability and to have someone to point the finger at
and expect a problem to be fixed, the tool should be closed source. If
you're using a free web browser and it doesn't work, you're not in any
potential trouble. However, a backup application MUST restore data and
blaming the inability to restore on the fact that tar or cpio is open
source will not excuse you in the case of lost records. A backup user
needs someone to go to for a real world solution to a problem. If an
open source product doesn't work as expected, who do you call? If BRU
doesn't work as expected, we're always there to resolve any issues.
Sorry, I should have been more clear there. There has been no single
good case of a proprietary consumer-centric application sold for Linux.
Backup, while key and something that average users should care about,
is typically not something that makes Joe-user's eyes sparkle.
There are applications that sell well on Linux, certainly. Some in
niche markets. Others targeted at IT. There just hasn't been the big
move towards commercial, consumer oriented applications yet. But it's
coming.
-Bryan
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