[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]
“You may have heard of a package called WINE (or the recursive
acronym Wine Is Not an Emulator). This package, written under the
GPL, runs under Linux and allows the user to run applications
originally written for Windows. In theory, this will allow users to
easily migrate (upgrade?) from their Windows box to a Linux box
instead. Guess what folks, it isn’t going to happen.”
“The only people that will ever lightly run WINE, even when it
is complete, is the minority geeky type of person – who wants to
run Linux on the desktop now – and needs access to Windows stuff.
When (if) Linux takes off in a big way on the desktop, and gets,
say 40% market share in a few years, then why should software
houses start writing stuff for Linux even then, when they can carry
on writing for Windows like they always have and let WINE do is
magic for the Linux platform. The result – Less Linux native
applications – Therefore, less reasons to use Linux in the first
place.”
“What is needed is an application for Windows that allows
users to run Linux Apps. (Call it LINE, maybe). This will open
up a range of previously unheard of software, such as ‘The Gimp’
and allow them to use it without rebooting, reinstalling or any of
that fuss, while keeping there compatibility with their beloved
Office Suite.”