> Linux is young yet; just now becoming known to the masses. Up till not
Most of Gnu Linux is actually very old; it is the commercialisation that is new. Most of Gnu/Linux is just a rework of very long established Unix tools. > it has been more of a hobby for most people, it seems, than a concerted > effort to be a Windows killer. So I wouldn't expect all the great apps In my view, trying to be a Windows killer, rather than itself, will be suicide for Linux. A few commercial suppliers will make a fast profit, but in the end, the people who have contributed to it will abandon it as it becomes commercialised, and the existing commercial software suppliers will start finding ways to undermine it, beyond the fear of free software. Incidentally accounting software was mentioned as a weak area. The problem with accounting software is that the people who understand the application are those most dependant on the profit motive and least likely to create freeware. (You may find that public service organisations produce free software, but that will normally be vertical market stuff for large oganizations, not horizontal market for small ones.) Being a hobby is beneficial, as it means that people are not facing commercial pressures to compromise quality for development cost and to compromise function for saleability.