Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3232 mails)

["Peter Van Lone" <petervl@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/eric_raymond_linux_compromise/

I just have a feeling that he is right, on this.

I've had the same experience, of trying to get my kid to switch to
linux. He was open to it, but ... when we struggled, first, to get a
nic driver for his dell machine, and then getting his ipod to work was
dicey and a huge compromise, and then I -Tunes was not really working
well under wine ....

Now, he is going mac -- (also at my suggestion, after he shied away
from linux -- anything to get away from the mess that is mS).

I had a feeling of foreboding when I heard Novell announce that no
proprietary software would be shipped. It seems as though it is a lack
of focus on the customer ... and perception is the rule. Instead,
should we not be making licensing agreements, and being sure that
linux stays can stay competitive in the media player/codec (and yes,
DRM ... yuck) markets?

Isn't the reality that there are probably always going to be
proprietary software/hardware solutions? It seems to me linux has to
be able to play in the world as it is, while also trying to change
that world.

Or ... is it ok that linux stays niche?

Peter