BLUG Future Topis (Was: [lug] How did the Install/Info Fest

[Michael J. Hammel]

Thus spoke Glenn Ashton
> However, for Linux to move into the mainstream and onto desktops,
> particularly in the context of college and universities, gaming is one
> area where Linux is going to have to put up or shut up to win acceptance.

The argument here isn't whether desktop/games or productivity is more
important.  It's that *both* are needed for future Linux growth.  There is
lots of room to grow in both directions.  And, therefore, discussions are
needed for both.

> I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that PC gaming represents a bigger market
> than all of the IDE software sold to private individuals.  Once people see

And productivity tools probably out sell games in the corporate market.
The arguments go both ways.  Again, it's not one or the other - we need to
talk about, and help focus on, both.

> Of course, there is room for everything in the open source world.  We have
> had presentations on various productivity kinds of tools, and will I
> imagine in the future as well.  My suggestion was simply that games are a
> gateway for people into a wider world, and that if we want Linux to be
> widely adopted, and even loved, that overlooking this aspect in favor of
> sheer pragmatism would be shortsighted.

Games help show "flash", and "flash" sells.  It's why some GUI tools sell
big even though they don't work worth @#$%^ (WP8, with marketing flash and
poor performance, comes to mind).  I've had this conversation with lots of
people in the the old-school Linux community who hate this fact, but it's
true.  And it's why we can't ignore games as a community.  But it doesn't
mean we can focus so much on flash that we forget that the tools also have
to deliver - they have to be useful and let users be productive.  It's a two
edged sword.

Anyway, just 2 cents (ok, more like 38 cents).
-- 
Michael J. Hammel           |
The Graphics Muse           |       Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
mjhammel at graphics-muse.org  |
http://www.graphics-muse.com