NewsForge: Does Linux Really Need a “Killer App” to Succeed?

“In the late 1990s, we thought Linux needed a ‘killer app’ that
would make general PC users view Linux as a necessity the same way
they first viewed Windows as a necessity due to Microsoft Office.
However, a new direction in open source adoption seems to be
emerging that might require a re-think and a change in our
perspective.

“Many popular open source programs like the GIMP,
OpenOffice.org, MPlayer, and VideoLAN now natively support Windows
instead of only supporting Linux. With the old way of thinking,
having these great applications only available on the Linux
platform would be the way to draw users to Linux. Now, thinking
seems to have shifted…”

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