Re: What DO you lose with Linux ???
> Linux is young yet; just now becoming known to the masses. Up till not
Most of Gnu Linux is actually very old; it is the commercialisation that
is new. Most of Gnu/Linux is just a rework of very long established
Unix tools.
> it has been more of a hobby for most people, it seems, than a concerted
> effort to be a Windows killer. So I wouldn't expect all the great apps
In my view, trying to be a Windows killer, rather than itself, will
be suicide for Linux. A few commercial suppliers will make a fast profit,
but in the end, the people who have contributed to it will abandon it
as it becomes commercialised, and the existing commercial software
suppliers will start finding ways to undermine it, beyond the fear of
free software.
Incidentally accounting software was mentioned as a weak area. The problem
with accounting software is that the people who understand the application
are those most dependant on the profit motive and least likely to create
freeware. (You may find that public service organisations produce free
software, but that will normally be vertical market stuff for large
oganizations, not horizontal market for small ones.)
Being a hobby is beneficial, as it means that people are not facing
commercial pressures to compromise quality for development cost and
to compromise function for saleability.
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