[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Linux article -- corporate desktop adoption will slowly changethe consumer

[Steve Baker]

terry wrote:

> 
> Now that's a tall order.  ;)

It's a tall order if you expect OpenSource solutions to all of those needs.

What has to happen is that users of all of these packages go to their
respective manufacturers and demand Linux versions.   In many cases,
porting them would be a snap - and perhaps an opportunity to get their
users to buy another copy.

I see some signs of this happening in some industries.  Packages like Maya
and LightWave have Linux versions because the movie industry pushed that
to happen.

It seems to me that manufacturers of machine tools would stand to benefit
greatly from running Linux on their machines - and that in turn ought to
push software like AutoCAD to cross-platform solutions.   I thought AutoCAD
already ran on some other UNIX systems (I vaguely recall seeing IRIX and
Solaris versions in the dim and distant past) - so it might not actually
be that hard to port.

But unless end-users apply pressure, the path of least resistance for
these guys is still Windows.

The good news about CAD is that interoperability is a big thing for
them - so there are a lot of public/Open file formats out there that
packages can import/export.

---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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