Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 12:06:35 05/26/02
Go up one level in this thread
On May 26, 2002 at 14:33:28, Allen Lake wrote:
>On May 26, 2002 at 11:34:28, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>I started to read your message and quickly got sick of your patronizing tone.
>>
>>Desire to help? The only thing I have seen is your desire to nail your point of
>>view with the biggest hammer.
>>
>>Maybe it's just a communication problem. I don't think you are a bad person, and
>>you seem to know what you are talking about. But we definitely had a bad start.
>>Maybe I'm partly responsible.
>
>If you thought I was patronizing or heavy-handed toward you, then I apologize
>for the misunderstanding. It certainly was not my intent.
I think one thing that can be learned from this is that people develop a
passionate relationship with the OS they use.
In my opinion it makes it more unlikely that somebody used to an OS will switch
to another one, even with strong incentive.
For example I have a strong incentive to switch to Linux because I can't stand
anymore the Microsoft dominance and above all the way they use it.
But it's difficult for me to switch. I have plenty of tools under Windows and
DOS, and I have either to port them or to abandon them and find other ones in
order to start being productive under Linux.
That's a *LOT* of work (I estimate it could take me several weeks, maybe months,
to get back to the same productivity level) and I am a very busy guy.
Maybe I'm also now too old to be able to adapt to something else (though I
strongly hope that it is not the case because adaptability is a key quality in
IT and I'm only 37).
Also, if I succeed in switching to Linux I'll have managed to cut myself from
the thousands of people using Windows.
There is also the rampant question of the licence model under Linux. I read that
developping an application with the KDE tools means that the developper will
have to pay for the QT licence. More generally I do not even know when I am
using some libraries if it is legal to use them to sell commercial applications.
By saying that it is difficult for me to switch to Linux, I'm actually just
emphasing my own shortcomings. However I believe that many people will have
exactly the same problems. That's not related to the quality of the OS itself,
but it will have a strong influence on its acceptance.
So I believe that the people behind the developpement of Linux should really
care a lot about Windows users wanting to make the switch. That would be a
really good thing for everybody. But I do not see this attitude. By reading the
various sites dedicated to Linux (those often ending in .org) I never see the
little paragraph that is badly needed: "special note for former Windows
users...".
I have seen really good moves in the right direction lately, however. For
example WINE is becoming better and better (even though they are still far away
from reaching the mythical version 1.0). It is now possible with WINE and the
help of a product from CodeWeaver to run Microsoft Office under Linux (only
choice until a good native office package is produced for Linux).
Lindows.com is trying to integrate these tools so Linux really looks like a free
Windows.
All of this is still under construction, but goes in the right direction.
Christophe
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