Tim Duggan wrote:

-----Original Message----- From: David Porter [SMTP:jcm@bigskytel.com] Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 7:20 PM

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* Paul W. Abrahams :

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Third, there are some programs and other facilities that just have no equivalent in Linux and probably never will. My best examples are TurboTax and AOL, but there are others.

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I wonder why you say never? That is a very strong statement. What motivation does AOL have to avoid Linux if it becomes much more successful over time?

AOL is under a long term contract with MS to deliver IE with the AOL package. This effectively locks Linux out until MS decides to make IE available for Linux. One way around this is for AOL to include the source which would allow users to compile on their platform of choice or distribute it in Java bytecode. Of course include the (now optional and perhaps useless) IE executable to fulfill the contractual agreement. ;-)

I guess I had heard that, but had forgotten about it. I've thought it would be in AOL's purely selfish business interest to produce a Linux version. I've gotten the impression that at one time AOL had the ambition of being Ms. Average User's primary computer interface, and that Steve Case has no love for Microsoft. A seamless Linux-based interface would seem to fit the bill perfectly; you turn on your computer and up comes AOL, with Linux sitting quietly in the basement doing its work well, as usual (and not crashing). Paul Abrahams -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/