🚀 go-pugleaf

On 23 Oct 1998, Peter da Silva wrote:

> In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.981023091630.11793E-100000@howard>,
> Patrick  <patrick@howard.genetics.utah.edu> wrote:
> >Certainly.  How much SPARC-based, or Alpha-based, etc, software can you 
> >get, well, ANYWHERE?
> 
> Plenty. The only software I run that I don't have source for is Netscape,
> Photoshop, and Microsoft Orifice. Netscape runs on anything, I'm pondering
[...]

All well and good but...  How about TaxEdge?  TaxCut?  How about games 
(Unreal, Diablo, Half-life).  

I use linux (and OS/2 with a SMIDGE of Win98 strictly for games).  I use 
many source-available linux apps.  What isn't there is a lot of 
user-friendly apps and I have yet to see a HINT of a tax preparation 
program.  Games?  Non-existent beyond old Doom and QuakeI or II.  Big 
whup.  

You may well get by without games but guess what the SINGLE biggest 
money-making software group is...games.  No games, no mass market 
appeal.  The games that do exist don't count because they are pathetic 
1980's-style low-grade, low production quality freeware.  xboing?  
xgalaga?  Pa-leeze.  

When Sierra, Interplay, id Software, MegaPlay, etc, start making games 
native for margin hardware architectures like the Alpha, Sparcs, etc, 
THEN they become realistic (in everything but price) for the general 
user.  When Kiplinger makes a native version of TaxCut for the Alpha, 
same thing.  Until that day, those architectures will remain in the 
margins and used for VERY specialized functions.

patrick