John Dvorak (PC Magazine) asks what can cause a Linux tipping point and writes:
I had been trying to figure out what might create a consumer rush to Linux, but for some reason, I had not considered the obvious: the development of the must-have critical application. This means an end-user killer application that runs on Linux only.
A few Linux mavens think a single-platform killer app is not important, but they are simply wrong. The success of the Apple II, for example, was directly tied to the development of VisiCalc for that machine. Lotus 1-2-3 was directly responsible for the success of the IBM PC. Look at all the failed platforms of the past. NorthStar, for example, a small maker in the 1970’s, had both a superior operating system and a BASIC language that was far better than Microsoft BASIC. But there was no killer app for the platform, and it eventually died.
So, what can be the killer app that runs only on Linux? Digital Dashboard? Info Aggregator? A Microcontent Client? Chandler (a PIM)?
Linux+T
