As for software, I've bought alot of Loki games for Linux and some RedHat distros. I believe commercial Linux ventures have difficulty surviving because there still isn't enough mainstream volume. In regards to a lost battle, I believe the battle is very far from lost. It is just a long uphill battle. In fact, it appears to me that MS continues to develop a worse an worse public image. In the long run, the Open-Source development model will prevail. Linux will still be here in 2020....and the games will be even better...;-) ----- Original Message ----- From: Lynn David Newton To: Cc: Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2001 9:10 AM Subject: Re: Would you pay for commercial software for Linux? > > Jiva> To settle a dispute with someone: Would you pay > Jiva> for commercial software for Linux? > > Yes. > > Jiva> Ie: Say, games, > > No. > > Jiva> productivity applications, etc? > > Depends. > > Jiva> If so, why does it seem that most linux > Jiva> commercial software ventures fail? > > Could be because it's not the *right* software. There > are certain commercial packages that run *only* on > Windows and Mac systems that simply don't exist on > Linux. In the case of MS software, this is intentional, > not an oversight. > > Just to cite one example -- I for one would love to > have the Macromedia Web development packages like > Dreamweaver. > > I'd also love to set up a complete music studio on my > Linux machine. I'm a former professional musician, and > would love to have a Linux-based 8-track recording > studio with complete functionality. Never mind that I > also own a Mac clone and could set it up there, but > have never gotten around to it. My Linux box is newer, > faster, has better hardware, and is my system of > choice. > > Never mind that there are so-called clones or > functional equivalents of big name packages available. > Those are not what I want. What I want is Dreamweaver, > period. (And a variety of other commercial packages.) I > for one would never buy a "clone" substitute. (I tried > a couple of so-called substitute packages, and they > sucked. StarOffice sucks, too. So does MS Office, but > sometimes when you need it, you need *that*, so I have > it on my Mac.) > > Furthermore, there is very little chance that most of > the "good" applications will ever be available on > Linux. > > I say this partly because I'm a 58-year-old laid-off > casualty of the high-tech crash desperate for a job, > and familiarity with a lot of things that I don't know > about because I've never used them is looked for in job > postings. I never bothered to learn them, because I > never needed to know them in my previous job with > Motorola Computer Group, where I used only Linux. > > I say it even though I've been exclusively a Unix guy > (Linux the last three years or so) since 1983, and have > *never* used a Microsoft system as my base of > operations. > > And I say this even though whenever I whack at text, in > any sense of the word, I have used nothing but versions > of Emacs since 1987 (XEmacs since it first started), > and do Web development directly in HTML or Perl CGI > whenever I possibly can. (And LaTeX for text > preparation. Etc.) > > Job recruiters don't care. All they see is that I don't > know the application skills they are looking for, and > that I don't even really know Windows very well. (I > claim to know it. I've used NT and W2K a bit. How hard > can it be? Give me a week and I'll be an expert.) > > It's almost enough to make a guy switch to using a > Windows system. Clearly, MS has won the desktop war. > Linux never had a chance in that arena. The only > persons using Linux as a desktop are those idealists > among us who have become jaded on Unix and have not yet > given up the lost battle. (Like me.) > > -- > Lynn David Newton > Phoenix, AZ > http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~lnewton > ________________________________________________ > See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail doesn't post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail. > > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss