Linux deployment . . .

[Richard Gaskin]

Richmond Mathewson wrote:
> How many users of this list think that RunRev are wasting their time,
> effort and limited
> resources continuing development of a Linux version ?

Count me among them.

> How many people who favour continued Linux development think it might be
> sensible
> of RunRev to concentrate their efforts on one 'family' of Linux distros
> (e.g. Debian derivatives) ?

To me it seems sensible to allocate resources proportionate to the 
distro audience.  Accordingly, Ubuntu would be the primary target since 
it's the clear #1 for consumers, with others coming along for the ride 
as resources and compatibility permit.

It's a shame that after so many years there still isn't a single 
standard for deploying apps (with icon and file associations, 
installation, etc.) for all desktop distros.  Kinda silly, really, and 
further evidence that the most significant thing holding back Linux 
adoption today is that its core base are too skilled in it to prioritize 
affordances for newcomers.

But in spite of its unnecessarily fragmented nature, Linux is growing at 
a rate that merits attention, thanks in no small part to the Ubuntu and 
Gnome teams' focus on the consumer experience.  I've been on the Gnome 
usability discussion list for the last few years, and have been as 
impressed by their detailed work as I have with the outcomes I see in 
Ubuntu with every new version.

The governments of Brazil, India, Berlin and many others have 
standardized on Linux, as has the US Army, reported to be the single 
largest install by number of desktops.  And then there are the countless 
universities around the world which are adopting Linux, and so much of 
the developing world for which a free OS is creating opportunities that 
were unthinkable in the old world where each desktop always carried a 
$100 OS tax.

There are now options. Linux's price is unbeatable, Ubuntu's 
implementation very easy to install and use, and running the Ubuntu 
Netbook Remix Edition on a sub-$300 netbook opens up a lot of computing 
options for people who had previously been locked out of participating 
in the Internet revolution.  Many vast new markets are coming online.

When we look at where Linux is being used I see enormous opportunities 
for specialized apps, even commercial ones, of the vertical sort Rev is 
ideally suited for.

And some software can be made with grants.  A lot of shops do well on 
grant money alone.  My first paid gig as a developer was funded by a 
grant from the US Dept. of Energy, many weeks of work that let me buy a 
new car while delivering prototypes of new imaging techniques for 
subsurface exploration, a win-win all around. I'm currently pursuing 
grants for a new app, and am awaiting response on another grant-funded 
Rev project.  With one of the apps I manage we have a competitor whose 
product was initially funded, from initial design through v1.0, by a 
grant from the US Navy, who have since moved on to become a sustainable 
commercial entity.

Lest we forget, where would we be without publicly-funded software?  OS 
X is BSD at its core, created at publicly-funded UC Berkeley.  And the 
first web browser, Mosaic, which spawned Navigator and ultimately 
Mozilla's Firefox, began life at the publicly-funded NCSA.

While I find many things in "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" to be a bit 
optimistic in some regards, there are in fact a great many opportunities 
in software that runs on free OSes, both commercial and non-commercial.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv