
Permalink for comment 297508
RE[3]: Simple answer
by archiesteel on Thu 24th Jan 2008 04:49 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Simple answer"
Member since:

You're getting it wrong. Making applications cross-platform isn't a means to bring more people to Linux, but rather to lessen the impact of applications on OS choice, i.e. it makes it less of a hassle for people to use the same application across platforms. In other words, it's not going to convince people to switch, but it won't impede their decision either.

You're basing your argument on the premise that making exclusive applications would bring people over to another OS, but there's no indication that this would happen. In fact, most Linux applications are *not* available on Windows, and yet this doesn't seem to have convinced people to switch - despite the fact that there are *excellent* Linux apps.

Your suggestion would only make life harder for people who use the same apps over many platforms (a trend which ultimately makes the platform irrelevant) without giving *any* guarantees that it would make more people switch. Personally, I'll side with convenience (and more open-source software on *all* OSes) rather than some dubious strategy based on exclusivity.

Reply Parent Score: 6