Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> __/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Wednesday 14 February 2007 17:26 \__
>
>> On Feb 14, 10:59 am, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>> LightZone for Linux delivers commercial quality photo conversion for free
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | Like many companies, Light Crafts releases its flagship application --
>>> | the RAW photo converter LightZone -- for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
>>> | But although the Windows and OS X versions of LightZone cost hundreds
>>> | of dollars, the Linux version is absolutely free. It is a lucky
>>> | break, too, because LightZone is a powerful tool that bests many
>>> | of its expensive competitors on both quality and ease of use.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://applications.linux.com/applications/07/02/07/1930237.shtml?tid=39
>>>
>>> Not only is the extensive operating system free; the same goes for
>>> additonal applications and support.
>>
>> It is interesting how many different commercial applications are now
>> available for Linux in some form of "Community Edition". Many of
>> these applications follow the Linux business model. Get the full
>> system out to end-users, bypassing all of the red tape and procurement
>> barriers, then, if the company decides that they want to have a fully
>> supported wide-scale deployment, the service and support are available
>> for the larger group that will need it more.
>>
>> I can get Eclipse for free, even get a boatload of plug-ins which do
>> the things that used to require monolithic applications, and get a
>> very nice solution. ON the other hand, if I have a critical project,
>> tight deadlines, and really need some technical support, I can get
>> Rational Software Architect, Rational Application Developer, and
>> WebSphere server. If I need a small development database for trying
>> things out, I can get DB2 Community edition for free, but when I'm on
>> a tight schedule and need production scale, I can upgrade to DB2.
>>
>> The great thing about starting with Linux as the initial platform,
>> whether as a stand-alone, VNC connected, or VMWare appliance, is that
>> I can quickly and easily scale up to as big as I want to go, including
>> Sun Sunfire, HP Superdome, or IBM Regatta. Or if I really want to
>> scale up - BlueGeneL!!!
>>
>> Put simply, Linux let's me go from 1/5th of a Thinkpad, up to
>> BlueGeneL without having to rewrite code, without having to redesign
>> applications, and without having to give up support as I scale up.
>>
>> If I start by doing an application in a Windows-only API, that's about
>> as far as it goes. Sure, I could scale up to Windows 2003, on what -
>> a 4 processor Pentium machine? Maybe a couple of Intel Core 2 Xeons?
>> Maybe and AMD X2-64?
>>
>> Even that scalability is limited by DLL conflicts, thread contention,
>> and resource constraints.
>
> Later on I saw a message from an insider (indirect reply to a remark I made).
> It indicated that the Linux version is free because it's _easy to maintain_
> (among other factors).
Volkswagon cars are "easy to maintian" but they are not free since
people are willing to pay for them.
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