The power of the open source ecosystem
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| What have I learned from my Apple experience? I learned the power
| of integration. It's clear that there is very, very little "code
| duplication" in OS X. For example, the text editor you get in pretty
| much every Apple program (Apple Mail, TextEditor, and pretty much
| everything else with an editor in it) is clearly always the same
| one. This could be considered an implementation detail, but I can
| tell you that users notice it, because everything is so consistent.
|
| The same thing can be said about applications: there is "one" of
| everything (one addressbook, one program to manage your photos, and
| so on). Linux, on the other hand, is all about choice: there are
| many, many ways to do anything. The divide between KDE and Gnome
| is a prime example. It is true that the open source ecosystem
| tends to ensure that the best supported and most used applications
| tend to emerge. However, in Linux if you want to browse the
| Internet you can pick between Konqueror, Firefox, and so on. To
| write your email, you can use Kmail, Thunderbird, Evolution. All
| of them have their strengths, and ll of them are fantastic.
|
| [...]
|
| Having experienced both worlds, I can honestly say that I much
| prefer the open source way. Choice isn't just important: it's
| crucial. Trusting the natural open source ecosystem ensures that
| only the best applications emerge and thrive. However, I also
| believe that giving users a "simplified way" of doing things is
| essential - and that's exactly what (K)Ubuntu is doing.
| It's a longer and bumpier road, but it brings better results -
| and it's a much funner ride.
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http://www.tuxmagazine.com/node/1000245
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