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From: hocy@clarkson.resnet.cornell.edu (Chris Ho)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX)
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Date: 17 Apr 1996 14:59:10 GMT
Organization: Clarkson
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References: <NELSON.96Apr15010553@ns.crynwr.com> <4l2fl2$7hk@sidhe.memra.com> <NELSON.96Apr17101252@ns.crynwr.com>
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Russell Nelson (nelson@ns.crynwr.com) wrote:
: You don't understand. Microsoft controls its markets by pushing out
: all competition. They have to -- their products cannot compete on
: their own. Linux has to compete on its benefits -- that it is free,
: comes with source and is reliable. No other mass-market operating
: system can claim this. The *BSD* people have abandoned the desktop.
: Fine, let them have a hobby operating system. We're going to go for
: the big bucks.
:
Aye, aim for the big bucks, but linux isn't really marketed. Around here,
everybody takes a look at my linux system and goes, "Hey, wow, great, what's
that?" Obviously, it's also in the publicity linux gets. Rarely is there any
publicity that informs the common computer user about Linux. What hardware
manuals actually say "Yes, it works for linux?" How many times has linux
appeared in major publications, to vendors and end users? And when there
are publications, linux articles are usually shoved in the back.
One solution is to start selling "Linux Boxes," sort of like how Gateway
sells all their machines with 95 pre-installed. I read in a lot of groups
about newbies trying to figure out what hardware works, and how to set up
certain things. Well, at Max Group Philly Corp., we're thinking about
doing exactly that - selling fully configured systems with linux and lots
of linux software. But as we decide what hardware to put in, we are also
trying to decide what software to put in. Simple things like configuring
X (well, not so simple) and throwing some neat background with an fvwm
GoodStuff bar aside, we still run across the problem of "exactly what
software would most users want to use to do etc etc etc" One option?
ignore that - sell to the hard-core linux users. But how is the demand
for systems in that group? Not as good as we like.
I think that most people are right when they say that there is not a big
enough application base for linux. The apps out there right now are not
meant for the average college student writing a paper, or for the average
office worker to keep a database of customers. The apps that DO exist are
hard to find, and generally so unpopular such that there's nobody to go
to for help. Until widely used apps for spreadsheets/databases/word
processors arrive for Linux, we're stuck. After all, no company can
really distribute systems these days without something in it already that
people can use. (It's also a good way to get them all to use a single
program, much like Microsoft is doing with office...)
Just my 2 cents.
--------------------------------Chris Ho--------------------------------------
I am Pentium the Borg. Arithmetic is irrelevent. Division is futile.
Prepare to be approximated.