Comment (Non-Sun) OpenWindows: A Waste Of Time? (Score 1) 409
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At first, I liked the idea of this non-Sun OpenWindows, but if you think about it, it's probably simply a waste of their time. Of course, I am referring to the non-Sun OpenWindows in this post.
I can see the benefits of WINE. Then you could run a few Windows games on your Linux box, without having to put up with memory-hogging commercial (more importantly, Microsoft) bloatware. There is a large base of potential WINE users. But, who would want to use OpenWindows?
There is exactly one distinct market for OpenWindows: Windows lusers (oops, I mean users) who are sick of the Microsoft bloatware and upgrade cycle, but are not intelligent enought to see through the FUD, so they are "afraid" to use GNU/Linux.
Other than that, you really have to ask, who needs to use it? All you can run are Windows apps! So, instead of using proprietary Windows, you get to use an alternative! And, of course, there is no way that any alternative can completely reproduce M$'s brain-dead API, so it (due to gaps in the API) doesn't work as well as the Windows you got (free) with your computer!
I could see uses for this, if only WINE didn't exist. But, it does, which is good. Anyway, why use a Windows clone? When you can use WINE software, running under GNU/Linux, that lets you run Windows apps under GNU/Linux! IMHO, the OpenWindows team should collaborate with the WINE team, rather than using up valuable hacking time writing an OS with no future.
To summarize, normal users will want to stay with the M$ bloatware (M$ Windows 9x/2000/NT), for "stability, security, and compatibility" (the compatibility may be a valid point; how can you make something "more compatible" than the product you're trying to clone?). GNU/Linux users, on the other hand, will use WINE software, so they don't have to exit Linux and boot another OS. Therefore, there is basically no future for this product. Plus, the name "OpenWindows" is already taken by Sun Microsystems, although that product is only Windows 3.x compatible.
This isn't a flame. Good luck to the OpenWindows team, but I really hope they consider collaborating with the WINE project team, so they can spend their valuable time working towards a more valid goal: making M$ Windows apps run under GNU/Linux.
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