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RE[4]: Linux
by Laurence on Mon 8th Feb 2010 17:31 UTC in reply to "RE[3]: Linux"
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All I saw was this:

* File manager
* CD burner
* Web browser
* E-mail client
* IM client

Different names and functions, but it’s all the same stuff. Where’s the real innovation? Where’s the stuff that Windows and Windows software cannot do? Where’s the paradigm shift?

I appreciate what you're saying, but I think you've missed the point of my post.

I'm comparing like for like. If I described functions Linux can do that Windows couldn't (or visa versa) then it wouldn't be a very good example of software copying software.

Sure there's real innovation in Windows, OS X and Linux, (though personally I'd argue that we're on a plateau in terms of software innovation*) but I'm talking about everyday bog standard applications that real people use and use regularly.
Sadly, for the most part and in terms of standard applications, the scope for real innovation (and I mean original ideas rather than evolutionary ideas like taking the toolbar and making it prettier - as per the ribbon bar) is limited as GUIs are 2 decades old and usability dictates a certain degree of layout.
Thus, in todays computing, it's usually the details that makes or breaks a least, that's been my observations

* that said the problem with innovation is it always seems so obvious in retrospect yet impossible to think up at the time.

So to summarise (because this post has be a bit of a mess with a number of random thoughts):
* You've missed the point of my post.
* The reason I chose generic applications is because I'm discussing software copying software - thus it would be pointless to compare a Windows application against a Linux application that doesn't perform the same functions.

Edited 2010-02-08 17:33 UTC

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