Edward,
I'm a "freebie-sucker" because my income doesn't allow me to purchase software for which I find acceptable freeware alternatives? Jeez, first you call me a cheapskate, and now this...
Hey, even i'm freebie sucker when it comes to software which goes over price tag of 2000$ onwards, and yes there are commercial softwares which costs this high (either via subscription or box purchase). Point is about people who are knocking down on commercial software asking to release it for free, that's just freebie-sucking in my opinion.
I'm lazy because I can't afford the latest whiz-bang constantly slung at me by game magazine advertisements?
Let's face this, that point in the list is too subjective and so is my reply to that point and in turn yours as well to my reply. People upgrade hardware for new games if they afford it and if not they keep it up for long time, edward.
What does the structure of a filesystem and disk mount points have to do with the amount of your available free time?If you're talking about setting up system parameters and application preferences that you're unfamiliar with, fine, yes, that's going to take some time.Windows requires babysitting as well, most people are just much more familiar with the environment and the process, which translates to "faster".
No, i was talking about learning curve to visualizing folders in same or multiple drives. This is issue for those who are new to computers, and in turn it affects their time of using any OS. We work it out on UNIX/Linux because we take our time for learning the system, that's not the case with casual users who are learning computers while keeping track of time. Data sorting on multiple drives is easy for newbies, as per my Observation.
Dude, you've thrown this gauntlet down before and I've thrown it right back at you but you obviously didn't catch it.There are MANY legitimate reasons why NOT to write games for Linux, but it HAS NOW BEEN PROVEN that profit (or lack thereof) is NOT one of them.
I took that point by keeping myself in shoes as game developer and gamer. You know we talk a lot about speed mostly when we play graphics intensive games. And surely people are less likely to play games unless those games are packed under marketing catch like - STEAM or other online gaming repository. Profit is always the first point of small game dev company or even large because it costs money to pay for graphics and programming. Linux users who don't afford to purchase 50$ commercial softwares will lift any game which is priced at the same ? It's just my observation from what i see in gaming zones and cafes in my city.
Windows users were sharing MP3s and cracked software before Linux even had a decent desktop.
Your insinuation is illogical at best and malicious at worst.
File sharing cult become popular on linux platform first before it was adopted by large windows userbase. So it's not illogical, GNUTella and many other packages were first made for linux then windows if i'm not wrong. Intention wasn't deceptive on linux platform though because everything was free there but that was not the case with windows because it infected other domains like music, files and books.
I'm sure you are, especially if you're a half-decent system administrator, which I'm assuming is true.
Personally, I've never felt more in control of a computer than the day I fully grasped the implications of running Linux instead of Windows.
I've to agree if you're pointing me towards server administration with linux (AFA web hosting and script management is concerned i prefer linux as well) but for desktop usability and learning curve is important as well and there windows comes in for me.
However, I cannot stand by the perception that developing for Linux with commercial intent is inherently a losing proposition because "Linux users will not pay for software".
I can understand your view on this but if you study consumer behavior then your opinion will definitely change. Take a look at this, we have to get X work done and for that we're going to take help of OS. Say X is work of sending some file via browser and any modern OS will do the job. In such case consumer will select minimum resistance path, which is linux in this case. This operating system is free and beating commercial OS on every possible way. Now take case of games or any other app which are paid or made by small team of dev or business. What are the chances that will tempt consumers to buy app or game ? Trust me, very low. We have to study shopper's psychology more in order to get the guesstimate of sales. It's not because consumers are cheap or freebie-suckers all the time, but it's because of GNU/FSF modified consumer behavior in large scale and changed the way market works. Even small business who wants to develop some productive software will think twice before charging upfront, current market only allows subscription or service model for them to survive. Unless you're desperate to get things done on computer as casual user, you'll not pay for things on software world for example, you'll not buy media player anymore because it's free on every platform(which earlier was paid software during 1999-2002 time) but you'll pay for managed scripting, outsourced task and server management even if the platform is free, you'll pay for service. What about games ? Unless price is low or free, people will hardly buy games for linux. During initial phase of desktop market of linux, they'll buy games if they're desperate to play games, else they'll not at all. Piracy/cracking will also remain on linux or unix as well, there is nothing that remains protected for long time anyway. Now put yourself into shoes of developer who wants to make money to bring food on table, which platform gives you more profitable option ? One thing i learned from social observation is that if you keep on helping others by writing free software without any strings, they'll only pay attention as long as source is active and once you become inactive as source for their free info/stuff, they move to another one without even thinking who you are or what you did for them(that's life afterall), so why starve in life? Either work on donation model or start charging some bucks upfront. I'm in favor of charging for software or in some cases releasing it for free if possible no matter what's the platform. But i'm not in favor of conversion/preaching lists like the one we see here from that link where attempt was to badmouth other OS just to get more users without showing them bigger picture of profit and GTD.
In fact, why not do as others have and just try developing a commercial software project that is cross-platform; something that fills a need for Linux users as well as Windows and Mac.
For small biz/individual developer, it's very hard to select library that is cross-platform and gets things going quickly. QT is free but there is licensing issue. Java/Mono(for now) are not good options for commercial apps over long term is what i think, which many of you may disagree.
Forgive my typos/clutter, feeling damn sleepy now.
