Should We Listen to Walt Mossberg?

“Walter Mossberg, an influential tech columnist who writes
primarily for the Wall Street Journal, wrote a piece the other day
in which he said that Linux still wasn’t ready for mainstream
users. Linux enthusiasts like myself see a piece like this from
such a high-profile columnist as a tremendous setback for our work.
For me, Mossberg is the equivalent of Robert Parker in the world of
wine. Since I live in a wine producing region, I hear a lot of
complaints about Parker. Many people think he has too much control
over what wine makers do. They say that is criteria for wine has
involved into the only criteria that counts and a rating from his
famous wine newsletter can make or break a wine. The vintners that
I talk to often bemoan the fact that he has come to have so much
influence over the wine-making industry. That say that his palate
has become the standard for wine and the industry has become
impoverished because of this. So, when Mossberg says, as he did the
other day, that Linux is not ready for the average ‘mainstream’
user, it’s a lot like Robert Parker giving the thumbs down to your
favorite Bordeaux…”

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