By Graeme Wearden, 21 April 2004 09:00
NEWS Open-source technology will force software vendors to create better products, but will not be its downfall, according to a Novell executive.
Matt Asay, Novell's director of Linux business office, said on Tuesday at the Linux User and Developer Expo 2004 in London that Linux threatened the proprietary software industry with innovation, rather than extinction, and accused companies such as Microsoft of failing to come up with exciting new applications.
"When was the last time that Microsoft Office got significantly better? It's been pretty much the same product for a while now," Asay said.
"As things stand, creativity has gone, and that's one reason that Linux on the desktop makes sense. It'll be good for Microsoft, too. They won't like it, but it will force them to innovate," he added.
In recent months, Novell has been on the offensive against Microsoft's desktop stronghold, with a heavy emphasis on the Linux operating system. It has also been doing battle with Linux nemesis SCO Group.
Asay compared people who say that open source is bad for the software industry to captains of the entertainment industry who opposed new technologies, such as the cassette tape and the VCR - both of which generated billions of dollars in new revenue for their companies.
One of the key questions being addressed at the conference is the extent to which Linux can dominate the desktop PC market. At least one speaker felt that Microsoft had a few things to teach the open-source community.
According to Linux distributor SuSE Linux, now a division of Novell, one key factor in boosting the adoption rate of open-source software is to eliminate obvious differences with Windows and to emulate Microsoft's operating system where appropriate.
"Microsoft has more money to spend on usability than I do on research and development," said Christian Schlaeger, vice president of research and development at SuSE Linux.
"Some things are wrong, and we fix those, but there are some things they have done well."
Schlaeger told the conference that SuSE is aiming for a "flat learning curve" for users who migrate to Linux from other operating systems.
Graeme Wearden writs for ZDNet UK
Comments
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1. Gary Smith
Not quite sure how "emulate Windows where possible" ties with forcing Microsoft to innovate. If I wanted something that looked and felt like Windows then I would run Windows. I don't, which is why I run Linux.
I thought Novell had finally got their act together. Apparently I was wrong.
2. anonymous
"Microsoft" and "innovation" in the same sentence? I find it very hard to believe, as they usually leave the innovation to someone else, then just buy them when they want to see that "innovation" become part of their line-up (or find a way to incorporate that "innovation" into their product, then bundle it with their OS so the truely innovative company goes bottom-up since it's hard to sell a product that Microsoft includes "at no additional cost".
3. Andy Robb
Because, who would buy stale products from MS when they can get products that work the same for free? This makes Linux desktop less frightening to MS ex-customers and forces MS to buy more startups (the nearest they get to innovation) to differentiate themselves.
4. Jenny Berger
I think that's the key here -- products that work the same. As a Windows and Red Hat user I can tell you that neither OS matches the other in terms of end-user experience. Likewise for the apps that run on them. For example, the GIMP does a lot of the same stuff as Photoshop, but they do NOT work the same way for the end-user. The same applies to Gnu Cash and Quicken, X-Chat and mIRC, among a host of others. They all do the same stuff in terms of functionality, but they do not behave the same way.
The fact is, most people who use computers are used to Windows. I seriously doubt that the OSS community can sufficiently emulate Microsoft's UI/UE efforts, given their ideological differences, and I wonder why they would want to -- in a few years, Longhorn will be out with a completely new UI/UE effort. Even if Linux does manage a real emulation of the current MS interface, by the time that happens the rest of the world will be 5 years into Longhorn and a new interface dynamic. And there Linux will be, stuck 20 years behind the curve. Again.
As for stale products, I would bet the vast majority of people who buy MS products don't really care about "freshness." Freshness doesn't help them get their work done and it doesn't let them get on with their lives. Features, usability, documentation, and support do. OSS has the features/functions, but they need some serious work in the usability, support and documentation departments. You want more OSS on the desktop? Then, start listening to users who aren't tech-savvy programmers. If you don't want to do that, then accept the fact that OSS isn't for everyone and will be lucky to take 10% of MS market share in its lifetime.