People in the Open World
I dont know if Linux is going to have it easy. I was just watching the .Net Show and the kind of things that are being integrated into Longhorn are show stoppers. If we dont implement them now, Linux will be playing catch up, if and when longhorn gets released. The only way to get Linux to gain market share is to keep on developing, but it is harder now because Linux developers have to develop from scratch just like Microsoft is for Longhorn. Linux (Suse, Redhat, etc..) are almost equal in terms of capabilities with Windows XP. My impression is that from scratch development usually happens in companies like Suse and Redhat who so far have been focusing on installation software development, or enterprise level development. Somebody needs to start coming up with alternatives to WinFS, Avalon, Indigo and so forth. But how does that happen if file systems like reiserfs are made by third party developers? There has to be a lot of communication and arguing between the distribution vendor and the software developer. And there goals may not always be the same, creating problems for the distribution vendor.
I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying its going to be hard. Its not the same game anymore. Linux vendors are not playing catch up any more.
