Re: gnome win32

[mdorman-gnome-list debian org]

raster@redhat.com writes:
> on it... havintg gnome apps on win32 doesnt add any incentive to
> windows users to move from their comfortable perches - bluescreens
> aside they dont in the main care - they live with it instead of the
> administration nightmare a unix Os is for most of them (the vast
> majority dont even know what a user is and cant grasp root/user
> permission differences - a major barrier). - they dont want gnome apps
> - they just want to write letters to grandma, browse the web, read
> mail, and play games - gnome will not improve or change that one iota.

Raster, I won't try and convince you that a win32 port isn't a waste
of time, but I will say that your characterisation of the situation is
uninformed.  There's lots of people for whom abandoning M$ OSs simply
isn't a viable option---ever tried to find Lexis or Westlaw for
Linux?---but having _good_ _free_ applications such as the Gnome
project is developing would be priceless.

Take my situation: I've got 230 NT machines deployed on users desktops
here at the UM School of Law.  Although I and my recent-Linux-convert
cronies are perpetually looking for places we can use Linux instead of
NT (for instance, web browsing stations locked into a diskless Linux
boot, or maybe VNC sessions to a Linux box), most of our users
wouldn't or couldn't take us up on them---it would be hard to explain
to our students that they can't get financial aid because the
application required by the US government to make finaid requests
hasn't been ported to Linux yet.

So scrapping NT simply isn't an option---heck, I can't even get rid of
it at home because there's no digital audio apps for Linux worth
mentioning.

Now if Gnome existed for NT, I could use gnomecal for our calendaring
needs, instead of having to spend every five minutes fighting off the
people who want Exchange for calendaring---which I simply could not
abide.  As it is, it's damn tempting to try and negotiation an
ultra-cheap license for an X server for NT so we can do it that
way---but I don't know of any X server vendors who are into cheap
licensing.

So there is a real need.  There are people who are forced to use (and
even worse, _support_) NT who would use gnome applications every day
if given the opportunity.

Sure, I could get another job where I don't have to deal with NT, but
that would be a straw-man argument---much of my job is rewarding, and
administering our Debian servers, and doing nifty web-development
projects (not to mention the fact that I can do a certain amount of my
work as a Debian developer here, since it's directly supporting our
servers, etc.) is downright entertaining.

But having gnome on win32 would certainly make my life easier.

Mike.