"Once a particular Linux distribution has achieved the market penetration required to hook people... you WILL see a change. Believe me... the folks who are writing "Free" software, are just as greedy as Bill Gates."

I don't think so. Read the GPL.
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

Once market penetration is reached The truly killer apps will NOT be GPL.

Get a grip... come to your senses, and stop being so Naive...

"Once market penetration is reached The truly killer apps will NOT be GPL."

I'll assume you're not talking about server side, things like apache, mysql, perl, php, bind, etc, etc, the things that run the internet. So which 'truly killer apps' are you talking about?

"Get a grip... come to your senses, and stop being so Naive..."

Or are you just trolling?

Cmon now... you all SERIOUSLY dont REALLY believe that the Software available on Linux Platforms will ALWAYS be free now do you?

If so.... there is a really cool Bridge Id like to sell you... It connects Manhattan and Brooklyn... Once I sell it to you you can make Millions by charging whatever toll you want... Ha, ha, ha....man...


Always remember what I said, "NEVER underestimate human greed. Especially American Greed"

I do believe that GNU will stay free.

Im not saying that there will be NO free software however, slowly but surely greed WILL kick in...

Case and point... ORIGINALLY... Linux was completely free... everyone just downloaded it , installed it... and away they went... some still do it this way.

But... then came Redhat... and other distributions... and ORIGINALLY Redhat was free.... it isnt anymore! Once the Redhat folks figured out that they could sell it instead of giving it away... they did just that.

The ONLY difference between Windows and Linux from a marketing standpoint is that Linux is not proprietary so many different companies can make a buck off of it instead of just one. Thats the ONLY difference.

Currently there is alot of freeware for linux...and everything seems rosey.. However, Linux suffers from the same issues that windows does... this is... Todays applications are becoming more and more complex. Sure one or 2 good programmers can still kick out some killer apps, but when you get to the really feature rich apps it takes large teams alot of time to get it right. Even if you offshore your development team to some Thrid world country like India, where programmers cost 5 bucks an hour... you still have to pay them something...

People give away software because they are unable to sell it. Not because they wouldnt like to.

You never used windows but you used it for word?

Most of the gamers don't care what OS they run as long as the game runs. So that said, unless a bunch of really good games are only available in Linux they're going to stay with Windows.

This is like the problem with Fuel-Cell cars. There's only about 2 or 3 "gas stations" for it and most people polled said they liked the idea of Fuel-Cell cars but said they would switch if there were more available stations. But the people building the stations said they'll only build more if more people are buying the cars (supply and demand; why build a gas station for the 0 people who will use it?).

You paid for a Linux sound driver?

Unless you have a strange sound card that no one uses, the kernel will most likely have a module for the sound card you are using. And this is obviously free, considering that the kernel is free.

i enjoy gaming but hate windows (this is anything but a useful mindset)

i run linux and windows on 1 computer and am forced to game in linux because there is something about my homebuilt computer that windows just doesn't like. i can't get much of anything to install much less run smooth. so it looks like m$'s incooprative os may soon be leaving the picture completely for me

P.S. I LOVE LINUX

I would most definately use only Linux, but my computer is in "public" use. My mother & my little brother complain and whine until I do a dualboot. I have not tried to install any games to linux but who needs them anyway Irssi is the only game you should need.

There is always the danger that some people try in the future to do what SCO is doing. That's why there is so much pressure to make software patentable.

Maybe OSDL should provide a patenting service for open source projects, to protect them from "opportunist" patent holders in the future.

My family can't see the difference. Just that when they boot windows, I get them on the phone within 10 minutes. It doesn't seem to crash badly anymore but there is always something weird happening.

if winex and other programs like it to run windows executables in the way of games worked more smoothly. i could give up windows very quickly even if i had a computer that did work well with windows.

but take the games out of the picture and i'll take linux as a primary os anyday.

Actually the open source thing is a little scary to tell you the truth... Heres why...

The Open Source paradigm relies strictly on the "Good Will" of the developer to provide support, bug fixes and upgrades. Im not sure I like that. Id much rather have someone who needs to make a buck off of the product behind the wheel because those folks would be more likely to do whats right for the users so that they can keep those dollars rolling in.

In short (to quote a movie)... Greed is good.... Greed works.... greed in all of its forms....greed for life, greed for love, greed for knowledge. Greed cuts through, clarifies, and captures the essence of the American spirit.

Greed is what makes the world go around. Wait until the day that Linux is as ubiquitous as Windows, you will see greed creep in.