“With its nifty Nautilus file manager, Eazel might make
Linux safe for the desktop.“
“I have seen the future of free software, and it looks pretty
darn cool. Last week, I met with Mike Boich, CEO of Eazel, who gave
me a look at Nautilus, Eazel’s souped-up file manager for
Linux-based systems. And unlike most software product demos, which
usually consist of equal parts stupefaction and irrelevance, the
Nautilus run-through actually delivered. Nautilus looks like a lot
of fun. More to the point, it looks like it will work.”
“Eazel has received much attention from the free-software,
open-source community, mostly because of the rich lineage of its
core employees, nearly all of whom boast illustrious Apple
Macintosh backgrounds. When you have Andy Hertzfeld, one of the
chief designers of the original Macintosh software setup, on your
team, you have instant credibility (even if his last hugely hyped
start-up, General Magic, was a failure).”
“Eazel’s ultimate goal is to make Linux safe for the desktop, to
bridge the not inconsiderable gap between the arcane power of
Unix-like operating systems and the ease of use of the Mac or
Windows interface. The goal has long been a Holy Grail for
Unix/Linux advocates, but despite years of clamor, it has always
remained just out of reach. Sure, Linux-based systems have made
lots of market noise in the “server” space, but skeptics are easy
to find when Linux’s prospects for making a dent in the consumer
desktop world are considered.”