Re: Major interview

[Charles Jacobus <charles.jacobus@home.com>]

The majority of university educated computer people grew up using DEC
computers and Unix software. That didn't make the world turn to Unix,
did it? The Microsoft success I believe was in making it easy to write
or find user applications for everyman. Remember Gates' first product
was MITS Basic, the first disk operating system & language all in one.
I think Linux has to find the everyman applications to become
widespread. The vast majority of users don't want to sift thru network
lockouts, installations, etc. They want word processing, spell checkers,
spreadsheets, payroll, email, stock analysis, address books. StarOffice
is a winner perhaps among Linux neophites, I expect. Whether grammar
school kids using Linux applications will grow Linux penetration remains
to be seen. I think it's necessary to present Linux every chance
possible because that's what Microsoft is doing (and Apple did). Don't
want to fall farther behind, do we?


> Does anyone have any thoughts on the fact that education is often one of the
> first battlegrounds for os and hardware manufacturers.
> The idea may be that these companies want to see young people growing within
> their framework so that when they enter the world of work businesses must
> provide the systems that they're used to using.