I have to agree completely that there are SERIOUS holes that need to be
filled. A short list of things that I miss every day (a suitable
equivalent would be ok):
egrep
sed
afterstep
xv (not too big, not too small)
tgif
.
.
.
Oh, "lose with _linux_"... my bad.
I'm just making the point that there are things you _gain_ with linux,
too. If you're going to miss music composition more than you like a
good Window manager, that's fine, but there _are_ good programs for
linux that aren't available on windows platforms. We can't forget that.
Other things we can't forget:
Since users won't "use" until apps exist and apps won't be written until
there are lots of users, a slow ascent is as good as it gets. There is
going to be incrimental improvement in # of users AND # number of apps.
Period.
The linux community is no more RESPONSIBLE for creating applications
than Microsoft is. Does Microsoft make music composition software?
My point is: Sometimes it feels like we are getting a bit defensive. We
don't need to "defend" linux. There's nothing (major) wrong with it. If
we want to _promote_ it, great. But there's no need to defend it.
I no longer sweat it if people look into linux and don't see the apps
they want. Lots of people who did that 6 months ago are ecstatic linux
users today. I'll get worried when linux stops moving forward. Till'
then, I'm enjoying the ride.
-Michael
Michael Stenner Office Phone: 919-660-2513
Duke University, Dept. of Physics [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Box 90305, Durham N.C. 27708-0305
