Re: Viability of Linux companies

[Saurabh Garg <saurabhgarg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is turning out to be very interesting. This is one point to ponder upon. 
While we keep saying that MS maintaines standards of its own, do other 
Operating Systems have any standards. It was mentioned that Linux *aims* to 
be POSIX compliant, but sheds this need, if better ways and means exist. 
Thus, in a sense, Linux is also a standard in itself.
	But then, how does the end-user of the OS relate to this ? To him an OS is 
his way of doing things, standards notwithstanding. If tomorrow, say a newer 
and better POSIX compliant OS comes up, the Linux freak aint gonna shed his 
love away for the sake of compliancy.
	Same applies to browsers too. I dont think people like to stick with 
software that lets them do minimal things. Lets admit it, Netscape is a loser 
on the browser front. It had everything to make it big in the browser war, 
but fumbled badly. Had it been half as much popular as IE, it wouldnt have 
gone open-source. Most people like IE, not for its standards compliancy, but 
for its speed, reliability and extra features, that are not limited to the 
core engine itself. 
	OSS is, I feel, a genre of "Please all" software. They try to please 
everyone right from the street dweller to the big tycoon. Closed Source on 
the other hand, rely more on popularity than the 'feel good' factor. This is 
what makes them viable. They design for the masses. In turn win profits. 
	One thing that makes Linux companies (read ventures) less profitable is the 
fact that they rely on a single source "Linus" for their prospects. They dont 
have much liberty in that area. Some of them arent even worth being called 
companies. You just cant make profits by burning all kinds of different CDs 
as distros. You need genuine distinctive outcome. RedHat did that and is the 
market/industry leader IMHO. Same applies to Caldera, SuSE etc. 
	Thus, standards compliance doesnt make much of a difference for a products 
profitability and popularity;its the technology that matters.

Just a careless collection of my views. 

Regards,
saurabh Garg

--
Linux, the choice of the GNU generation.