In some respects I tend to agree with the article that the Open Source community would be better served if they could all work together and focus on their goal of bringing a usable, stable OS to the marketplace that is as easy to implement and use as Windows and has the backing of the software support. While a lot of why points 4 and 5 are happening may be justified, and while it may also be true that what is happening is not down to everyone in the Open Source community, it is equally true that a measure of self restraint may be a good way to go in terms of converting people to Linux from Windows.
I don't need convincing. I have Linux ready for use. What I do need is for some software support and some added functionality to the Linux distros out there. Sure, the solution from many Linux developers might be "Go out and buy a DVD player" to play commercial DVD's and "Why are you watching DVD's on your Laptop?" but the point of having a laptop is that I can do everything from the one machine and not have loads of different electrical devices just to do something that an all in one unit like a laptop can do.
As I also said, software support is badly needed for certain apps. Sure, StarOffice and OpenOffice.org exists, but I'm a Graphics Artist and an animator, and I need the use of some commercially available tools like Lightwave and Adobe's Premiere and Photoshop. Lightwave is a must and cannot be replaced with a Linux Only alternative that works completely different. Adobe Premiere can be dropped if Linux has an equivalent that I can use, as can Photoshop. The point is, there are some Windows users out there that have specific needs, and not al of us can run to the expense of a mac. At the same time, not all of us want to change from Windows because we're frightened of jumping from a known (although very poor) platform into an unknown environment in unknown territory.
I would love to ditch Windows for good. I cannot do so until I have the tools necessary for my work on Linux. This is likely an argument for most of the population using computers today, and the Open Source community can ill afford to be elitist about this when the majority of computer users have no technical knowledge whatsoever.
Users want something easy to use. Developers want something powerful to develop on, and will not develop for a platform where there is potentially little room for revenue. The Open Source community is full of passion to develop Linux into the finest OS anyone has seen in a long time (I hope it gains the standing in my eyes that I once held for Amiga Workbench all those years ago) but everything needs to be handled carefully or we are threatened with losing a large majority of users that are still deciding on whether to make the switch.
