I can't stand it - I have to put in my 2 cents worth about this. <soapbox> I read the article listed, below, and I can't understand what you all are so upset about. The CEO of SuSE is pretty much on the mark with his comments, and I don't see how they are negative at all. The comments accurately describe the current situation with desktop OS'es in many ways, especially Linux. One thing that I keep running into with people of any kind is that most of them assume that other people think like they do. I know you might be shocked if I tell you that they don't think like you do. And that means that most people don't give a damn about what OS they are running. What most people *do* care about (and they share this with you) is getting their job done, whatever that may be. Those computer people like us are concerned with stability of an OS, networkability, flexibility, *control*, etc. But the majority of people out there are more concerned with working collaboratively on documents for business, reading email effectively, getting contracts out, conducting business. A computer is a tool that is in the background, and they use it because they have to get a job done. When I install Linux, I have to know an awful lot about my system - details that most people don't even know exist. That information is required just to get a successful networkable installation up and running. Beyond that, the interoperability of applications for the Linux platform with other platforms is just not there. I have tried WordPerfect, Star Office, Applix, you name it. I can't get my work done with those tools when other people expect me to work with a Word 98/2000 document that uses advanced Word formatting tools because it is a *business* document. Hell, I can't even cut and paste from one document to Netscape Navigator without jacking around "the system". The reality is that MS applications have a load of market share, and if my Linux applications can't do everything that an MS app can, then I can't use it. Period. There is no evil in this, there is no shadow government causing this to happen, there is no conspiracy theory out there for this. It is just the way that it is, and the SuSE CEO did a good job descsribing it. What I *would* worry about are those people who are not aware of this reality, and go out with "enthusiasm" to try and create a business. Good luck. You need a lot more than enthusiasm to dominate a market, or even to carve out substantial market share. Those who understand that can do well by it. Those that don't are doomed to failure and bitterness at some shadowy evil empire that doesn't really exist. </soapbox>
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/03/02/no.linux.desktop.idg/index.html
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