Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: AMS Notices: Open Source Mathematical Software

[Doug Stewart]

M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> William Stein wrote:
> > Well I'm trying to directly compete with heavily financed commercial
> > systems.  I think you are wrong that one cannot win.  Linux, Firefox,
> > OpenOffice, etc., are all examples of direct competition with heavily
> > financed commercial systems, where they have all won, at least
> > where "win" means establish a large solid user base and be a viable
> > alternative to MS Windows, MS Internet Explorer, and MS Office.
>
> Well ... if you mean "*Red Hat* Linux has won a significant market 
> share in servers", I agree. However, I don't think as a user that 
> either Firefox or OpenOffice are of sufficient quality or maturity to 
> be used on a Windows desktop, and I don't consider what they have 
> accomplished to be a "win". They just aren't viable alternatives for 
> anything but casual home use. I use them on Linux because they are 
> there, but they aren't on my Windows desktop at work and probably 
> never will be.
I disagree with you on the statement
" I don't think as a user that either Firefox or OpenOffice are of 
sufficient quality or maturity to be used on a Windows desktop"

I won't use anything else!
Doug Stewart