Linux Magazine: What Linux Needs -- Four Big Fallacies

"First Big Fallacy: Linux Needs to Look and Act Like Windows
This mistaken maxim has its roots in the business world, where bosses think that if it's not Windows it must not work very well. People hear this and think that the key to growing Linux on the desktop is a unified graphical environment, with a single set of API's for components and toolkits. This was true during the painful early birth of desktop computing, but it's not anymore. ..."

"The Second Big Fallacy: Having Multiple Toolkits and Environments Breaks Compatibility Across Distributions
Having different toolkits doesn't break compatibility across different distributions so long as those distributions can support those toolkits. Currently, that's not a big problem with Qt and GTK+. Heck, it's not even a problem with Motif anymore. ..."

"The Third Big Fallacy: Microsoft is a Genius at Catering to the Developer Community
Microsoft is a genius at convincing developers they need what Microsoft has, but the company doesn't cater to anyone but itself. As a developer, I can get more done with cscope, gdb, a few well placed printfs, and hand written makefiles than most people get done with integrated, graphical development environments. ..."

"The Fourth Big Fallacy: Linux Drivers Require Kernel Rebuilds
Device drivers intended for end user installation require kernel recompiles for Linux because driver authors tend to like living on the bleeding edge of kernel development. Youth loves a challenge. Experience says "just make it work." The problem here isn't that Microsoft Windows doesn't require kernel rebuilds -- it's that Linux driver authors do. ..."

Complete Story

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• Linux Magazine: What Linux Needs to Become More Than Just a Player in the Multimedia World(Jun 23, 2000)
• ZDNet: Berst Alert: How Linux Will Succeed: Forget About Windows(Jun 20, 2000)
• LinuxWorld: Celebrating 'Linux Myths'(Oct 08, 1999)
• InfoWorld: Linux wish list(Aug 09, 1999)
• LinuxWorld: Nicholas Petreley -- Realize the true potential of Linux(Apr 23, 1999)