Programers gone Stupid!!

[perkunas]

I recently came across a new program that did some high end video editing;
so whats special about that?. Well there are hundreds of them in the windows world. All of them cost $, but this was open source easy to use and free.
"Within hours of its release they had a windows version."
The biggest problem with Linux is its low user base, now why would anyone who uses windows want to switch to Linux.? They can use the commercial stuff and now free stuff, and they wont have to reformat their hard drive. If they did they loose all the commercial options, they don't work with wine. We are shooting our self in the foot here. Maybe the programmer thought he could make some money down the road. I dont know; but with so many already out there, I just don't see it.

[techieMoe]

I recently came across a new program that did some high end video editing;
so whats special about that?. Well there are hundreds of them in the windows world. All of them cost $, but this was open source easy to use and free.
"Within hours of its release they had a windows version."
The biggest problem with Linux is its low user base, now why would anyone who uses windows want to switch to Linux.? They can use the commercial stuff and now free stuff, and they wont have to reformat their hard drive. If they did they loose all the commercial options, they don't work with wine. We are shooting our self in the foot here. Maybe the programmer thought he could make some money down the road. I dont know; but with so many already out there, I just don't see it.

Did the author of the project specifically say he wanted this to be a Linux-only project? It's really up to him/her whether he/she releases the code for multiple platforms, and if they release their code in the GPL there's nothing stopping anyone else from porting it to Windows. If it's a good enough program it gets ported to several OSes, one of which has an enormous installed user base (Windows), which is sort of a win/win for the author.

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to switch to Linux over MS Windows. One "killer app" isn't going to win over the masses, and due to the philosophy of open-source there's very little chance any great software written for Linux will remain Linux-only for long.

Some folks get won over to Linux because of open-source projects that were ported to Windows. Consider Firefox, GIMP, OpenOffice, and Pidgin just to name a few. People in the millions (perhaps tens of millions) use the OSS projects every day in non-OSS environments. Some of those people decide later on to use an operating system built on the same principle. Some do not. I don't see this as a detriment to Linux, personally.

[hazel]

The biggest problem with Linux is its low user base, now why would anyone who uses windows want to switch to Linux.? They can use the commercial stuff and now free stuff, and they wont have to reformat their hard drive. If they did they loose all the commercial options, they don't work with wine.

No-one switches to Linux because of the apps. People switch to Linux because the operating system - the whole context in which you use the apps - is better. No freezes or blue screen of death. No worms or viruses. No need to buy antivirus or separate firewall and keep updating it. Faster booting and running, especially on older hardware. Oodles of choice in software and desktops (so who needs the commercial stuff?). The knowledge that you aren't Microsoft's prisoner any more. and won't have to buy a new computer every time there's a new release.
Enough said.

[Bemk]

No-one switches to Linux because of the apps. People switch to Linux because the operating system - the whole context in which you use the apps - is better. No freezes or blue screen of death. No worms or viruses. No need to buy antivirus or separate firewall and keep updating it. Faster booting and running, especially on older hardware. Oodles of choice in software and desktops (so who needs the commercial stuff?). The knowledge that you aren't Microsoft's prisoner any more. and won't have to buy a new computer every time there's a new release.
Enough said.

Nicely said Hazel.

The thing that won me over to Linux, was the ammount of control I had over my system, all of a sudden. In the beginning it was a bit stunning, but fortunately for me Ubuntu is one of the systems that was, and still is, idiot friendly, and could help me getting started in Linux.

The thing keeping me with Linux right now, is the fact that it is free, both as in beer, as in speech. It adds up with my principles, and even though I am starting to move away from Ubuntu now, I still like it.

I have to say Win7 is a nice system, and the only reason I'm keeping it is because it was pre-installed on this system. I'm not willing to spend 250 euros on an operating system, while I can get the same quality, and maybe even better support (like here) for free.

The thing I recommend to potentially new users (such as my grandfather, who is quite interested in Linux) is to try and make the switch gradually, by first switching to OO, then move over to FF and start using GIMP. Once that's done they can start running distro's like OpenSUSE, Fedora, Ubuntu or CentOS (just what suits them best). Then they're on their own. They can still ask me questions, but I will still recomend reading some manuals.

So the apps ported to multiple OSes actually help the users moving from platform to platform, by providing familiar features in an environment they're not used to.

I've seen it happen, and while I just jumped right into it (which was quite an experience) I recommend doing this the easy way.

[Cabhan]

You've actually made one of the most common misconceptions about Linux. Windows is all about making money for Microsoft and supporting a company. Linux is about making the best operating system that we can for those who want to use it.

More Linux users is great because it builds our community and brings more people to understand copyleft and open-source software, but we don't actually really care if people want to use Linux. We simply make the best OS we can, and people will change when they realize its advantages.

If you come to Linux with such an understanding, you realize that the same applies to applications. If I write an application for Linux, it frequently is because I believe it is an application that provides a needed ability or does something very well. Therefore, why would I want to restrict who can use it? Why not release it for everyone to use?

These are just my thoughts, but it's important to realize that open-source software and Linux are really not about converting people or making profit, but much more about creating a community and set of software that is the best it can be.

[Bemk]

Cabhan makes quite a point here, by looking at the question from a different perspective.

Building a community is great indeed, but having your software available on any platform is something handy as wel.

I consider myself linux user, though, this very moment I am working under Windows 7. I am running FF though, simply because it's my favourite browser, and I am running GIMP, simply because I know it.

Microsoft Office is nice, but it's expensive, and doesn't run on Linux platforms. That's why it won't become my primary choice. The simple fact that I can't run it on any platform I want.

I am still looking for a distro to put next to my Windows install on my new Laptop. I think I'm going to move away from Ubuntu, but I'm not sure.