Is this about free software?

Is this about free software?

Posted Dec 21, 2006 4:14 UTC (Thu) by Erich_J_Ritzmann (subscriber, #39670)
In reply to: Is this about free software? by djabsolut
Parent article: "BadVista.org": FSF launches campaign against Microsoft Vista

The prevalence of a product in the marketplace is more about the user experience than about
something as abstract as technical superiority. The latter, while interesting, is not all important.

Interestingly, Linux outshines Windows in many respects. In some ways OS X outshines Linux --
out of the box graphics are leagues better than what I've seen on Linux or Windows, for example.
Most OS X software you get with it is well-designed, with excellent attention to how users will
interact with it. It's an excellent environment when you just want to get things done and not
have to assemble the car before driving to the grocery store.

But, more to your point ... wasn't Beta a single company product protected with many patents
and royalty payments high? Whereas VHS was a standard which a plethora of companies bought
into because it was a more open standard? I simplify slightly to make a point. Linux seems more
like VHS in the early days in many ways. Beta had an early market lead but then was
overwhelmed by the VHS flood.

Windows has an early lead. However, as it becomes harder to copy, i.e. the company refers to
this as pirating, more people will look for alternatives. Most of the world's population does not
yet use a computer. That is about to change over the next ten years. The key to Linux' success
will in part be determined by early adoption in the developing world. Its price and the ability to
readily localize it for languages which Microsoft will ignore, will be key to its uptake. The other
important point to get -- we need to get the UI consistent and designed from the perspective of
the user -- currently there is too little of that in Linux.

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