Hi Bryan, > This is a topic that is of considerable interest to me. I > co-host one of the more popular Linux-centric podcasts > (www.linuxactionshow.com) and we've discussed this (and asked > for feedback from listeners) on a few occasions. The result > has been, essentially, this (I'm dumbing this down and > simplifying just for clarities sake):
Very interesting! > - Over 50% of our listeners already pay for software under Linux. > Games, gaming helper apps (cedega) and virtualization top this list. > - Roughly 10% of our listeners donate to an open source > project on a yearly basis. (Nearly 80% say they would, but > haven't yet.) > - About 20% of our listeners say they would never even > consider purchasing software. > - Of the people who have not purchased software for Linux, > but are not against it, price was never (not even a teensy > bit) the issue for not making a purchase. Their reason for > not buying is simply that there's not many apps for sales... > and none of those apps are of interest to them. > - 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. Any idea what the distribution make up is of your listeners? Linspire is shipping on a lot of cheap consumer boxes and they've made it a fairly comfortable experience from someone coming from another platform. > On the REALbasic specific front, I personally have talked to > people who have purchased REALbasic for Windows... > specifically because REALbasic for Linux existed. I also > know of people who have purchased RB Pro for Linux. So it's > certainly having at least some impact. I'm not in a position > to say if it's a big impact... but certainly something. The Windows <->Linux market is more significant than factoring the Mac in. Linux isnt nearly the debate it once was in the IT/Server market. Very interesting to be able to at least toy with the idea of breaking away from a lot of expensive Windows infrascture, even on a small scale. Best regards, Lynn Fredricks President Paradigma Software, Inc Joining Worlds of Information Deploy True Client-Server Database Solutions Royalty Free with Valentina Developer Network http://www.paradigmasoft.com _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
