[Gllug] Open Source lobbying meeting - UKUUG London Thurs 19th

John Hearns john.hearns at streamline-computing.com
Sun Oct 15 10:29:58 UTC 2006


Richard Turner wrote:

> 
> 
> Sorry - I clearly wasn't being explicit enough - Linux and FOSS are not
> mainstream in the context we were discussing. Most people don't care
> what OSs the space shuttles, PVRs, mobile phones, etc. use but they do
> care what's running on their PCs because that's where the steeper
> learning curve is, and the greater variety of software.
> 
Point taken.
I'll also follow Chris Hunter's point about applications.
It is applications which drives OS choice. Just look at Vivicalc on the 
Apple II for example. Most people will not have gone down to Comp USA or 
wherever and drooled over the 6502 processor and graphics specs - they 
bought it because that's what you needed to run this new Vivicalc.

Same today - I was recommending my brother to buy a Mac. "But does it 
run Office".
People don't choose Windows PCs - they choose PCs to deal with the 
Office documents which other people send them. (Yes, I know Open Office 
exists).
And as I've said before on GLLUG - where is the killer app for desktop 
Linux then?

As Chris says, it might be the upgrade cycle for Vista, rather than a 
killer app.

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