NewsForge: A Business Case For Profiting from GNOME

“Is there a business model for a GNOME-based Linux desktop
software ecosystem? Such a project could transform the entire
desktop operating system scene before Microsoft’s Longhorn version
of Windows comes out. But can Linux developers be nimble enough
when it comes to money?

“The other day, I began ripping some CDs with Grip, a CD player
and ripper for the GNOME desktop. Grip has a remarkable
interface–three nested layers of tabs! I also tried Sound Juicer,
a newer application with a simpler interface. I began to wonder if
GNOME (and free software in general) was gravitating toward better
usability and fewer ‘pro’ apps, and if that meant maybe it was time
to make a distinction between free and commercial software by
writing simple apps for free and specialized apps for commercial
gain…”

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