[TriLUG] Where is Linux today?

[William Sutton]

Me, again :-}

Another factor to consider is that an awful lot of business software 
really is Windows-only.  Someone mentioned QuickBooks, and there are 
plenty of industry-specific software packages out there that really are 
Windows-only.  In my present line of work (litigation support), I can 
mention Concordance and Summation (both the heavy hitters in the lit 
support business) as examples.  My wife worked for a taxi company and 
their call management software (CabMate) was Windows-only.  From an 
inertia POV, Windows is likely to remain dominant for small businesses and 
executives until someone comes up with a good way of integrating the 
Windows-based software into Linux in a way that reliably and easily works.

That said, the average person seems to be tending towards smaller and more 
mobile devices.  The incidence of Palms, Blackberries, and iPhones points 
to this.  Internet-based PIM software (Google Apps, for example) and the 
desire to remain connected with one's data on the go are important 
factors.

What I think is needed is a small utility device that acts as a 
phone/music player/GPS/remote client to access your data.  It doesn't have 
to be smart enough or powerful enough to run your applications, just to 
render the interfaces to those applications.  Back in the day when I 
worked at Nando with Steven Hilton, our discussions would center (somewhat 
jokingly) on the idea of a device that would stream your music to you, 
handle your phone calls for you, and display HUD GPS and other data on 
your sunglasses for you :-)  Such a device could easily run a 
stripped-down Linux and connect you to more powerful servers that host 
your information.

Just my $0.04

William Sutton


On Thu, 19 Jun 2008, Brian McCullough wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 10:24:31AM -0400, Douglas A. Whitfield wrote:
>>
>> My friend has probably never used OOo or Linux.  He's a little over the top,
>> but with OOo doing .docx, more people could use OOo and I think "Word" (as
>> many people call Office) is a stumbling block for many people moving to
>> Linux.  I know the issue isn't whether people will move to Linux, but
>> whether they should, but this speaks to that point too.  If people aren't
>> happy with MS Office and OOo can now do .docx, what *shouldn't* they move to
>> Linux?
>
> Because it isn't called "Word!"  I have run into this one in the past,
> from supposedly intelligent business people.  They have bought into the
> "Microsoft is God" mantra, and can't hear anything else.
>
>
> Brian
>
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