Author: Allen Lake
Date: 14:54:32 05/26/02
Go up one level in this thread
On May 26, 2002 at 15:06:35, Christophe Theron wrote: >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. I agree with you 100 percent on these two points. The learning curve for most operating systems is much too steep for the beginning user. Given how much time and effort it takes for the beginner to get comfortable with what they need and want to do with their computer, it is unreasonable to expect that they would want to go through the same thing with another OS. It's the job of IT professionals, like you and me, to make that change as painless as possible. Unfortunately, the economics of the IT business obstruct us at every turn. To make money, we have to lock our users into using our stuff and _only_ our stuff. And, no matter how much we know about what our users want from our products, there's never enough time nor money for us to build all of those things into our products. So, the users struggle along with what they have until we get the time and money to make things better for them. If we're lucky, our product will be popular enough that a user community springs up around it and the new users can get the information they need from the long-time users (the "network effect"). If not -- heaven help the new users. Then we need to spend a lot more time and money for technical support, which takes those resources from our development effort. And the cycle continues, over and over and over.... >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. Don't you just hate it when your heart tells you one thing and your head tells you exactly the opposite. But, you are handling things the smart way -- stick with the stuff that helps you get your work done and keep looking for something that can help you get where your heart leads you. By the way, did you write those Windows and DOS tools yourself, or are they bits and pieces that you've picked up from other people over the years? >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). If you're too old at 37, I must be positively ancient at 44 ;) >Also, if I succeed in switching to Linux I'll have managed to cut myself from >the thousands of people using Windows. I wish that weren't true, but I'd be dishonest if I said it wasn't true. Right now, it would be economic suicide to leave the Windows platform completely. The best I'd expect to do would be to try to make my code as cross-platform as I could, so that I could start making a Linux/Unix version of my product, while maintaining and improving the Windows version. Even then, if I found a way to do all of my development work in a cross-platform way, I'd still have to compile and test my product on Windows, so I wouldn't really be switching 100 percent. If I use the "1 month development = 2 months testing" rule of thumb, I'd only be 60 percent switched ( 1 month development on Linux + 2 months testing on Linux + 2 months testing on Windows = 5 months with only 3 months spent on Linux). The more time I spend testing, the closer to 50 percent that my ratio moves. Twice as much test work, with a big question mark concerning the financial returns from a new platform -- sounds scary to me. I'd be as hesitant as you are before I'd bet my business on it. >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. A very valid concern, and you are wise to stay out of the commercial fray until some of these things have been sorted out. I know you remember the early PC software days and the arguments over whether programming libraries should be royalty-free or not. The commercial Linux arena seems to be at that stage now -- what libraries can you use with commercial products and which ones you can't. As more companies get into commercial Linux, the issues will sort themselves out. Go slow and be safe -- a wise choice indeed. >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. Once again, I agree with you 100 percent. And I know you've seen a lot of progress since the first time you tried Linux. There's still a long way to go, but at least there is progress. >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've discovered that there is a huge difference between the Internet Linux community and the commercial Linux community. The Internet Linux community has a disproportionate share of loud and obnoxious zealots who think everything has to work one way -- their way. The commercial Linux companies -- e.g. RedHat, SuSE, TurboLinux, etc. -- are thinking more along the lines that you are. Right now, those companies are pushing hard into the server market because they already have products that fit that market. Those products have been in the works for the past five years or so. Their push into the desktop market is in the planning and development stage right now, and I'm seeing more and more focus on easier migration strategies. Five years from now, I hope you and I will be looking back on this discussion and laughing about how hard we thought it was going to be and how easy it actually was. >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. Once again, a commercial company (CodeWeavers) adds the missing pieces. I think that the US dot-com stock market implosion set Linux migration efforts back at least a couple of years, if not longer. Companies like CodeWeavers are finding it very difficult to get financing for their businesses. Some of these companies have good people with the right ideas, but how do they pay for development and testing? Maybe the pace will pick up again when the US tech economy starts recovering. Seven years ago, I had to install Linux from a box full of floppies and never could get an X Windows GUI running on my machine. Four years ago, I could use a CD to install Linux, but it took me two days (and a lot of manual file editing) to get a 256 color X Windows GUI running on my newer machine. Four months ago, a co-worker of mine and I spent half a week getting a couple of dozen Linux servers (with 24-bit color X Windows) up and running in my company's test lab, without editing a single text file and using a network-based install. It's definitely going in the right direction! Not as fast as you and I would like, but definitely the right direction.
This page took 0.01 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.