At 12:38 PM 14/07/2005, Chris Reeves wrote:
cohesiveness is almost non-existant. IE, Adobe can call Microsoft and say "Hey, here's what we are going to do.." and they know that the answers MS gives them represent a stable coding base, and their team can be assigned individual roles.
Actually, a friend of mine worked for Nortel, and they finally scrapped Windows development because MS couldn't give them accurate answers as to how the software worked or would work in the future.
Your other points are no doubt true, but I'm not sure that MS (or any other large company) is any more cohesive than any large group of people.
I think the problem with Linux right now is perceived ease of use. As Ben points out, once ease of use is resolved, that may well end service sales, so that hardly works out.
The same friend from Norton feels that software development is doomed. You have two options, he feels: 1)release buggy, incomplete software to force people onto the upgrade treadmill to keep revenue coming in (but this costs you a fortune in support) or 2)release functional software, which means no support costs, but no residual income from upgrades.
T
