| Why we need Windows apps ported on Linux |
by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (Jan. 27, 2006)
Novell has had one of those amazingly simple ideas that make you ask: "Why didn't I think of that?" The Linux vendor is using its Cool Solutions community-relations website to conduct an online public survey to determine which Windows-only applications people want to run on their Linux systems.
Yes, this kind of survey has been done before, but to the best of my knowledge, no major Linux vendor has ever done it. It's one thing when Linux Lovers of Outer Mongolia puts together a survey; it's another thing entirely when a billion-dollar software company does it.
And, better still, Novell will be approaching ISVs (independent software vendors) with this information in hand saying, "See, here's your customers, now, how about doing some porting?"
With some luck, we may finally, finally, get some more Windows-specific desktop software ported to Linux. It's no longer much of a problem on the Linux server side of life.
Unless someone must have a Microsoft program on their server, I really can't think of any serious server-side program that either doesn't already run on Linux or has a major competitor that's already beaten it to the Linux server market.
It's another story on the desktop. Even Corel, which used to have WordPerfect on Linux and a Linux of its own (which is the foundation of the Xandros distribution), isn't interested anymore.
We need something to get the ISVs moving.
In addition, we need those "must have" applications running natively on Linux.
Yes, you can run Windows applications on Linux with programs like Wine, or its commercial big-brother Crossover Office. Or, you can run Windows and Linux together with Win4Lin.
I do it myself all the time. All of my Linux desktops have either Crossover or Win4Lin on them.
Heck, I've been using Microsoft operating system emulators and virtual machines for Unix for longer than Linux has been around. I wrote my first review of DOS on Unix systems using Interactive Systems' VP/ix and Locus' Merge, for Computer Shopper back in 1990.
Today, I use them because there are some Windows-based programs that I haven't been able to get rid of. These are Quicken for my finances, Internet Explorer for a vexing CMS (content management system) that won't work with Firefox, and Dreamweaver for my more advanced Web design work.
Yes, I could use Moneydance, which runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS, but I use a lot of Quicken-specific functionality to download information from numerous online accounts. For me, Quicken is a must.
As for Internet Explorer, trust me, if I could kill that CMS, I would, but I can't, so I'm stuck with it for now. Finally, while Nvu is a great little open-source Web-authoring tool, it's not up to dealing with some of my more convoluted Web designs.
So, since I use CrossOver or Win4Lin, why do I want these must-have programs to run natively on Linux? Because, simply running Windows applications on Linux doesn't help the Linux desktop in the long run.
Also, the whole idea of running Windows on Linux has two fundamental flaws. The first is that no one can keep up with Microsoft's changes to its operating system and APIs. No virtual machine, no emulator, can run the latest Windows and its applications as well as Microsoft's native system running on a standalone machine.
So, for the vast majority of people, knowing that some, but not all, Windows applications can run perfectly fine on a Linux box isn't going to bring them over. They'll stick with Windows.
Another problem is that by spending all this time and energy in trying to play catch-up with Microsoft on its own playing field, there's less resources available to invest in native open source Linux applications. Every minute spent copycatting Microsoft's operating system and APIs is a minute that could have been spent on Linux application development.
No, we need what Novell is doing. We need a major software vendor to go to the other vendors and say, "See, there is a market here. You can make money here." Then, and only then, will we see AutoCAD, Quicken or iTunes running on Linux.
You can find out more about Novell's suvey of most-wanted desktop Linux applications, here.
 About the author: Ziff Davis Internet senior editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has been using and writing about technology and business since the late '80s and thinks he may just have learned something about them along the
way.
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