"The T-Mobile G1 Google smartphone, designed by Google and made by HTC, remains firmly in the shadow of the iPhone-for now. The phone, which goes on sale next week in the US and next month in Britain, was released too early. The HTC hardware and Android OS that powers it lack the polish and depth of even the iPhone 1.0 in most respects. It's not a bad phone, but the software and hardware needed more time in the oven to bring them to a golden brown crispness." Full review at Arstechnica.
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Member since:2005-11-21
If that's the case, why do people bother using Firefox or Open Office? "
Free and Not tied to Microsoft immediately comes to the front. Once used, they show their depth. Firefox and OpenOffice.org are heavily invested by former Netscape/AOL/IBM/Novell/RedHat/, now Google, etc., and SUN is intimately tied with OpenOffice.org.
So far I'm not seeing a start to finish Open Source example that comes from some dude's garage and now setting the world on fire.
Member since:2005-11-15
That's my point.
On the server side completely different story. Open Source on the server is not to be disputed and can easily hold its own.
But on the desktop I just don't see it.
OpenOffice? Sorry, let's try this again. I write Excel and spreadsheet applications (.NET integration) day in and day out, that are used to perform mathematical calculations. Whenever I look at Calc I just roll my eyes and think, when will these people become serious.
Firefox? You know I actually used to like it. But ever since very recently Firefox is breaking things. I can't view youtube video's anymore. Websites don't work properly, etc. Yes I still use Firefox, but I use more often than not IE again. Actually this disappoints me a bit because I actually like Firefox.
I am actually for an OpenSource "tax". Yes free is good and the spirit is good, but people do need to eat...
Member since:2008-06-12
It's true there are a lot of open source apps out whose existence very much hinges on the fact that most commercial software doesn't run on Linux.
But "setting the world on fire" is hardly the metric for success. Actually a lot of the software which has done that is pretty shitty (iTunes, case in point).
Anyway, here are some real ("from some dudes garage", or at least thats where they started) open source apps that are, in my experience, as strong as any commercial alternatives:
VLC, MPlayer, Gaim (now Pidgin, and also Adium), Audacity, Amarok.
Not to mention classic Unix apps like Emacs and Vi(m).
Member since:2005-07-06
Firefox I'll grant you as one of the few desktop apps where Open Source holds its own. OpenOffice's only strong points is that it's free and not tied to a proprietary format. I've never seen anyone seriously try to argue that Open Office is a superior product to Office 2007. At best you can say it's good enough for many people (including me).
Member since:
2007-11-24
If that's the case, why do people bother using Firefox or Open Office?