Re: [dylug] Re: Tried Firefox ?

Debajit wrote: 
"Hey... Gud... that made for some *absolutely* amazing reading :) "

Yes it does. The article makes for some compelling reading. It is an eyeopener and makes amit's point of view much clearer and "unsettles" you. The argument is convincing and makes you think that porting open source apps on Windows is blasphemy. But ... 

>"I'm looking forward to Vivek's reply :) As far as I see it, >at least for the moment, I see *no* reason why a happy >contented Windows Firefox user would *ever* even see a need >to ditch his happy home terrain for something new, unknown >and unseen like Linux ;)"

Ok , lets put things into a different perspective. I state this at the risk of sounding stupid and ignorant , but here it goes : Lets consider a hypothetical situation where open source apps are not being ported to Windows ( Lets call it the GWorld ( Gud's World , thats how he would like things to be :-) no offence meant )) 

Now in the GWorld there are 2 types of users (inspiration from the article itself) -

A. The average home desktop user ( nice , innocent ppl ) . As i see it , she doesnt give a damn about Linux / Open Source . She is contended with the OS which came loaded with the Comp. So with no open source apps being ported to windows , she is not aware if there is something called Open source and quietly continues his / her computing existence with windows ( thinking that yes its unstable , but what the hell somehow works ). So Firefox , KDE , Gnome all stay with linux and not lettin ppl know that they exist. I say this from my experience, esp. when i goto a place like delhi where asking for Linux CDs is like speaking in a different language. I think this were the people being targeted by NYT ad. 

B. The Corporate/Govt/IT user who really counts in terms of revenues. Now in the GWorld , Since no apps are being ported to Windows , these people would switch over to Linux coz it offers robust and powerful apps like Firefox and ThunderBird. But honestly i dont see that happening on the desktop market. The only reason why companies / Govts switch over to Linux is because of the *cutting cost* (sorry debs , i lift your trademark astrix style but since this is an open source forum , i hope its copylefted :-) advantage , not because it offers great apps. The reason why linux does so well on the server market is because its a very stable OS ( this is critical with servers ) . But on the desktop market , the only reason why linux should spread is coz of the pricing , until ofcourse open office org starts to give a real threat to the MS Office suite here (i might be wrong here). 

The Cost Advantage allready exists , then why are people not switching over to Linux. Maybe because of the relearning required ( no wonder the QWERTY keyboard still persists ). So porting these apps to Windows might just make that easier. For businesses to make a switch directly to linux is a drastic step to take ( just because the human mind is skeptical , try convincing your neighbourhood cyber cafe guy to switch over to Linux (even firefox) and you would know ). 

Maybe the above viewpoint is wrong , and the article is right , but just feel that porting apps on windows is a good step , to spread the awareness atleast. 

vivek 

" GODISNOWHERE" can be read as GOD IS NO WHERE or GOD IS NOW HERE. Like everything in life , d way you see things always depends on how you look at them."  -- sms from amit gupta 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 



---------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links


   To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dygroup/
  
   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
  
   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 




Get Firefox!
		
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Send a seasonal email greeting and help others. Do good.