"phil hunt" wrote in message
. ..
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


All of which negates the point of open source which is to
be able to make changes. Frankly all Joe Blow wants
is to be able to pop his CD in the drive and hit
the OK Button when its asks if he wants to install it.

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.


Java is however horribly resource intense and its garbage
collecting strategy is quirky to say the least


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?


That depends on whether or not they software writers ever get
paid for their work, that market is notorious for piracy.

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.


True to a large degree for Windows but certainly not so for Office

With MS Office you can write add-ins that replace
all the menus with your own in your own language, make
your own buttons with bitmaps and add new functions.

The object model is fully documented and you can even
hook into the events and methods and write your own handlers.
Been there, done that.

If you dont want to use a compiler you can do it with
VBA, done that too. We use Excel as a front end to a
whole group of analysis programs just because its
so easy to interface and the object model is so well
defined.

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.


Take a look at COM Add-ins for Office some time

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.


Governments arent the main customers for software.
We sell in France , Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
the USA, UK etc etc,few if any of the licenses we sell
are to national governments. A few are to nationalised
indusries like EdF but thats a minority and they are
switching from Unix to Win2K


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?


Process Simulation, Equipment Design , Supply Chain
Management, Conceptual Design, Collaborative Engineering
etc etc

http://www.aspentech.com/

Keith