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5 Reasons Every Linux and Mac Fanboy Should Care About WINE
And no I’m not talking about the alcoholic drink.
When I first heard of Linux (I think it might have been RedHat Linux) I got the impression that it was this great new operating system that would run your Windows software. Finally, a Windows killer!
When I found out the truth, I was very disappointed. Unlike some Fanboys, I have to live in the real world. I build websites as part of my job and that requires testing. Unfortunately the only real testing that matter is IE on Windows. The other browsers are much easier to support and work with but most people use IE so it’s just a fact of life. Then I heard about WINE yesterday and got Windows software working on my Mac without buying or installing Windows. Why in the hell isn’t this thing getting more publicity?!!! That’s what promoted me to post this article. Support it if you can and spread the word. You’ll find the 5 reasons below:
1. Smash the anchor
Most people that like Linux or the Mac want to switch from Microsoft. But because they have to live in the real world like me, they usually have one or two applications they have to use at work that just won’t function without windows, so they stay due to their software anchor.
2. Get IE 6 on Linux or Mac
Okay I’m admittedly biased because I need this piece of crap for my work. But this is the one piece of software that has kept me from getting rid of Windows on my second machine. The only one! How sad is that for Linux? As proof, you’ll find a screen shot of IE 6 running on my OSX Mac below. I used Crossover Mac to do it for the time being. I’m now planning to convert the Windows machine to a Ubuntu box. Score one for the good guys thanks to WINE.
3. People will finally switch
You can argue about Linux being better than Windows until you’re blue in the face. People won’t switch if they can’t take their favourite games and apps with them. I don’t care if the Linux software is better or faster or whatever. People are still going to see it as trading their pork chop for a tofu burger. Don’t make them choose. Let them switch and then worry about the software. Isn’t the real goal to get people off of Windows first? I’d much rather argue with someone why Office is worse that OpenOffice instead of you should switch to Linux blah blah blah. That argument is dead as soon as people say they can’t abandon Windows because of work software. So give people what they want and what they need first and they will make the decision to switch because it’s just plain cheaper and better on Linux.
4. Business will switch
We all know that business is driven by the all mighty dollar. Codeweavers is one company that is helping business port their software over. If more people were behind WINE and ported even more software, the decision to switch to Linux would be a no-brainer. But you can’t expect a company to switch operating systems when it would mean changing their software and retraining. It’s just too costly.
5. Now is the time
Apple has Intel processors, there is no better time to help get people off of Microsoft. I for one am tired of arguing about what operating system is better or Gnome verses KDE and so on. It’s like two gnats fighting on an elephant’s ass. No matter how much Mac people and Linux people argue, whenever Microsoft farts, we have to care. Let’s drive some support to WINE and get the ball rolling.
How you can help
Spread the word or get involved. Tell people about this article, WINE, Codeweavers, Darwine or Fink.
I stumbled upon WINE by chance. If it took me time to find it, imagine the regular user that doesn’t surf technology blogs or computer news. We need to get the word out to more than just the tech community. Talk about it. Link to it. Volunteer or send WINE some cash.
Posted by nick on Jul 24 2007 under Software |
5 Comments » |
July 25th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
You heard about Wine yesterday and are already in a position to tell others what to think of it?
Your conclusions miss one point…
If Wine was “perfect”, there would be no need for Linux. OS/2 suffered exactly the same fate; because OS/2 would run Windows applications as well as native apps, it made developers’ lives very easy: There’s no need to develop OS/2 applications at all, just write for Windows, and OS/2 users will be able to run the Windows app.
The result: nobody wrote OS/2 applications, and as a result, nobody bought OS/2.
However, there’s always time for a quick plug for ies4linux: http://www.tatanka.com.br/
Limited use like this is convenient; full emulation of Windows would defeat the point, and reduce the significance of GNU/Linux
July 25th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Why do I care if people switch to Linux? What’s with the conversion campaign? The reality is, most people don’t give a shit what Linux is (nor do they know). You have to be technically inclined to install an operating system, and you have to have some interest outside of ease of use. If you do, then you’ll find Linux yourself. Linux is in sort of a paradigm, because most people that know what Linux is are usually smart enough to maintain Windows software, and the people that would most benefit from Linux’s security and stability don’t know/care. Who are we marketing this to? Why don’t we just concentrate on building the best damn operating system we can, instead of assimilating these new users that don’t even exist?
WINE is not a substitute for anything. It’s a hack, and very few apps run perfectly on it. WINE isn’t even a solution to run IE, because it can have very subtle rendering differences that a web designer like yourself would need to pay attention to. And you have to be joking if you think businesses are going to use WINE.
All the energy that went into WINE could have gone to something useful, like a replacement for TurboTax, or Microsoft Exchange (the latter is what’s really holding Linux back in the business department).
July 25th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
That should be paradox* 😀
October 31st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I agree Brandon. Linux has a long way to go. I actually prefer the mac myself. It’s not quite the perfect operating system but it beats the hell out of all the rest that I’ve worked with both professionally and personally.
December 30th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Enough with the fanboys! The fact is no operating system is a match for Windows without the software support Windows has. Want to replace Windows? Build software support equal to or better then what Windows has. I use Windows because I like the interface and how it functions(I have never had a bsod or crash) I do know they happen oddly enough with the same frequency as kernel panics. As I said if any OS matched the software support of Windows I would give them a try and if I liked how they layed things out I would switch.