[Gambas-user] To push desktop Linux, radical shift may be required (article)

[Nelson Ferraz]

Interesting article at OnLamp.com, questions why Linux haven't made big 
inroads among ordinary computer users:

"The first theory is that Linux's advantages will eventually overcome 
corporate and government conservatism. (...)

A second possibility is that Linux may not catch on at all for Mr. and 
Ms. Average Schmo, at least not for the foreseeable future. (...)

But we should also consider a third theory. Nat Friedman of Ximian (now 
Novell) explained at the Desktop Linux conference that the highest 
barrier to Linux adoption is the cost of rewriting applications. This 
was the conclusion of a consulting firm brought in by the city of Munich 
to determine whether it should replace Windows with Linux. The 
consulting firm warned that application migration costs would override 
the savings in licensing fees, and Microsoft came in with a stunningly 
low counter-offer. Munich decided to move to Linux anyway, for strategic 
reasons. But it's a hard decision to make.

Friedman and the Munich consulting firm were not the only ones to point 
this out. Back in September, the well-known consulting firm Gartner 
reportedly told companies that it would cost them money to move to 
Linux--precisely because they'd have to rewrite their applications. For 
desktop users, "migration costs will be very high because all Windows 
applications must be replaced or rewritten."

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/wlg/3971

That's why Gambas will be so important for Free/Open Source Software: it 
will make it easier to port VB applications to GNU/Linux.

-- 
[]s

Nelson

________________________________________________________________
Nelson Ferraz

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