On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 09:47:44 +0100, Keith Willshaw wrote:

"phil hunt" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:23:52 +0100, Keith Willshaw
wrote:

Erm no

We are a multinational who write MANY software packages.
But feel free to browse the web for commercial software developed
for Linux and compare that developed for Windows.

There's a lot less for Linux. But Linux's market share is growing
anyway. Why? Because commercial software is getting less important,
and open source software more important.

Oh come on , what percentage of PC users even own a C++
compiler let lone know how to use it ?

Firstly you don't need to have (I don't use the word "own" because
if its a proprietary C++ compiler, you never own it in any
meaningful way) a C++ compiler to use open sourcve software, since
for many packages they are either asvailable with the distribution
on CDROM/DVDROM, or can be downloaded in compiled form.

For example, I am composing this message on an open-source text
editor which is running as part of an open-source nntp reader; I
didn't have to compile either program.

Secondly, when someone (e.g. a network administrator) does have to
compile, it's usually no more complicated than:

../configure
make
make install

These commands are easy to learn, and the same for the vast majority
of open source packages written in C/C++. For packages written in
scripting languages (Perl, Python), or web applications (PHP), no
compilation is necessary. For Java packages, distribution is
typically using Java's JAR format: you just put the .jar file in the
relevant directory.

I contend that for many tasks
-- examples being browsing the web, reading email and Usenet, doing
word processing, Linux-based systems do the job perfectly well,

But they lack the market share

For now.

The world's most populous country is going for Linux in a big way.
How much market share will open-soruce apps have in 2010?

Indeed. I'm not saying Linux will conquer the desktop tomorrow.
It'll make headway on servers first, and in middle-income countries
(those that are rich enough to have lots of computers, but poor
enough that the cost of MS Windows and Office is problematic). It'll
also make headway in cultures where localisation is a problem and MS
don't have adequate solutions with local fonts, translations etc.

Microsoft have at least as good a selection of foreign fonts
and character sets as any implementation of Unix I've seen

Perhaps. Though there is at least one language I'm aware of (Farsi)
for which the quality of MS character sets is poor enough to
incentivize people to create Linux/X11 character sets for. I'm sure
there are other languages/charsets for which this is true.

And it's not jsut the characters, it's the words. If you speak a
less-well-known language, then MS won't supply a version of Windows
or Office using commands, emnu items etc in your language. And
there's nothing you can do about it -- in the Microsoft would, you
get what Billy**** says you can have, and if you dson't like it,
tough.

In the Linux world, it's different. If the KDE or GNOME front ends
don't have support for your preferred language, you can just write
them yourself.

Then it'll make big headway in the office in western countries.
Microsoft is likely to hold onto the games market longer than
anywhere else.

Actually thats where third party software is most succesful

Yes, running on the Microsoft OS. That's really the only area that
Linux is inferior right now. On the PC I'm using to write this, I
use Linux for everything except playing games, when I switch over to
Win98.

If I knew I'd be investing in it not talking about it, that said
governments have a poor track record in forecasting IT
developments.

But it's easier to predict the future if you make it.

Its even easier to go bust ignoring what your customers
demand,

I don't see govmts going bust, that's not really a consideration for
them.

we can sell em Unix versions tomorrow, we
still support it for existing customers and they are on the
price book but I dont expect to sell any.

So what sort of products are we talking about here?

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