On Tuesday 06 April 2004 7:21 pm, Curtis Rey wrote: [snip]
IF Linux wasn't doing so well why would Sun and M$ make nice? Perhaps because they are both baffled and threatened by FOSS/Linux. Sun wants Solaris on big iron because it means Big $$$ - it ain't gonna happen... Period. M$ wants to rule the world and could always bully or kill off the competition. Grass roots movements such as FOSS isn't viral - it's foundational - and hence the rub. You can't overtake and control standards by implementing "quasi" standards - as is the case with M$ if no one decides to use the products they are folded into. Kinda blows out the whole lock in angle out. And therefore, end-users and corporates alike won't have to worry about inter-op and functionality - Open standards means everyone can play and the malcontents lose their niche and in M$' case their dominance.
All true, HOWEVER, until Linux is AS EASY to install on ANY PC, supporting ALL hardware as it should, and there is a NATIVE Tax prepare application along with a MUCH better Gimp (12 and 16-bit support), etc., Linux WON'T make it to the desktop as we'd like it to - period! Why do major corporations use MickySoft Office? Because OO doesn't have the same fuctionality. YES, OO is great - I use it and promote it, but it DOESN'T have anywhere near the fuctionality of the latest Office. Then there's nonsense stuff like all apps., other than Gimp, can't use ALL paper formats and functions of a number of printers. The Epson Stylus Photo 2200, 5000, and 9600 are examples......NO roll paper support and no boarderless support except in Gimp. Whatever is defined in CUPS MUST be available to all apps. under KDE and Gnome. No one wants Linux to replace MickySoft on the desktop more than I do, but it simply ISN'T going to happen anytime soon because presently there's too much that isn't "right." Fred -- "Steve Ballmer is no more designed for the art of persuasion than the Abrams tank is for delivering meals on wheels."