Killer apps/"selling" points of FC and GNU/Linux

Kyrre Ness Sjobak kyrre at solution-forge.net
Tue Nov 16 20:53:52 UTC 2004


tir, 16.11.2004 kl. 20.56 skrev Sean Middleditch:
> On Tue, 2004-11-16 at 20:20 +0100, Kyrre Ness Sjobak wrote:
> > man, 15.11.2004 kl. 21.23 skrev Alan Cox:
> > > On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 09:08:08PM +0100, Kyrre Ness Sjobak wrote:
> > > > Mainly curious, but - why should people drop Windows (which they know,
> > > > most of their programs often only runns there etc) and swich to Linux?
> > > 
> > > IMHO If you don't know why it would help someone don't try and make them change
> > > 
> > 
> > Mainly i have had them switch on technical/ideological reasons. But the
> > "ordinary guy" - why should he/she switch?
> 
> He shouldn't.  There's no compelling reason that the average guy cares
> about.  Even if Linux was 100% perfectly easy to use and had tons of
> great apps, there *still* wouldn't be a compelling reason to switch for
> the average guy.  And they shouldn't have to.  Your Operating System is
> just a means to an end.
> 
> Linux has several advantages over Windows:
> - Better development platform (average guy doesn't care)
> - More secure (average guy don't understand or care about viruses,
> security is often a hindrance in their opinion)
> - Little to no cost (average guy gets his OS with his computer, doesn't
> care)
> - Freedom (meaningless even to most developers, where the computer is a
> tool and not a political statement, average guy doesn't care)
> - Many technological improvements (average guy doesn't care)
> 
> Linux has several disadvantages over Windows:
> - Different (many average guys don't want change)
> - Can't run the latest games the day they come out (every average guy I
> know cares about this one)
> - Can't run the silly browser-ActiveX controls on this week's popular
> joke/game web site (average guys may care about these)
> - Can't run the silly low-quality near-pointless Windows app that his
> Aunt gave him (even if the Linux/OSS equivalent is far superior, the
> average guy does not want to have to find and install said app, he just
> wants to stick in the CD his aunt gave him and have it work)
> - Usability still sucks eggs (absolutely biggest gripe of all time -
> third-party application and driver installation, which over here in
> reality-land, happens very often, especially in the case of mainstream
> commercial games)
> 
> End verdict?  Average guy has absolutely no reason to switch to Linux,
> and has good reason to switch *off* of Linux.  Which is *exactly* what
> I've seen happen with every single home Linux installation I've known
> about except for mine.  In the end, they switch to Windows.  They even
> go and pay $200 for a copy out of their pocket, thus disproving the myth
> that Linux' low-cost is all that important to home users.
> 
> Here's a cool idea.  Don't do something unless you have a reason.  You
> are doing one of the dumbest mistakes in the book - you have a solution
> (switch to Linux) and you're looking for a problem (reason to switch).
> DON'T DO THAT!
> 
> Find a problem *first*, and then look for a solution.  Even most of the
> problems you'll find on Windows can be best fixed with a solution other
> than replacing the entire operating system and all applications with
> Linux and OSS alternatives.

But then Novel, RedHat, part of the comunity etc. - i.e. firms and
people involved - should give them that reason. We should produce those
"cool" things everybody just got to have - and the solution is Linux!

Mac has understood this. Now "everybody" wants a mac.

first thing i can come up with (maybe not so usefull, but really cool)
that *might* be a killer app is Sun's looking glas 3D desktop.

http://wwws.sun.com/software/looking_glass/

Kyrre




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