Open source software. The gateway drug to Linux.

[ Thanks to Locutus for this link. ]

"Some of the best open source software (OSS) around is multiple platform. You can run the exact same software with the same look and feel (I can understand the look part but how do you feel a program? Do a Vulcan mind meld with it?) no matter what operating system you use. Originally, many of these programs were Linux only and were ported to other operating systems due to demand.

"It has been said that having these programs, which were developed on Linux and designed by Linux users, on different platforms is detrimental to Linux because it takes focus away from Linux. That when people use these programs on different operating systems, it leaves them with no incentive to try or use Linux. There is also a counter argument here that if the programs were not ported to different operating systems then people would not know about these programs and they would not become popular. As an example, would Firefox be as popular today if it were confined to a single operating system?"

Complete Story

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