Why don't you vote for Linux versions?

[Ms_Angel_D]

I've seen it countless times people asking for others to vote for linux versions of a particular software, and it always follows the same template:


OP: Please Vote for a Linux Version of (Insert Software here)
Responder: Why should I vote I don't Use it?
Responder: You should take a look at X it's made for linux and already working?
Responder: No thanks I'll stick with Y it works for me.

The point is that it is IMHO counter productive not to vote for such things, because if you wish for Linux/Ubuntu to grow we need to have more Software supporting it. Whether you use the product or not, doesn't make sense to see it working for Linux/Ubuntu? I personally will always vote when asked as I would love to see support for Linux/Ubuntu grow in all area's.

So I mean really why don't you vote/give feedback/ or request such things when asked?

[koenn]

vote where ? in random useless polls on forums ?

[Ms_Angel_D]

vote where ? in random useless polls on forums ?

No some people will post a link to another website or somewhere where users can give feedback or request that the software be ported.

[optimusmedia]

Also having workd for companies that deveop software before, I know thier employes and management search the web and these forums. But it is by far more productive to contact the co. directly by phone and email or through thier preferred means.

[aysiu]

I have mixed feelings on the subject.

On the one hand, I believe Linux users should recognize that the porting of even proprietary software to Linux will ultimately be beneficial to the community, even if there are many in the community who do not already want those products ported for personal use.

On the other hand, I don't think it makes sense for the Linux community to say they all want some commercial software ported and then, when it gets ported, not buy or use the product.

The best course of action is this:

If you have an actual personal need for product X or software Y to be ported to Linux, vote for it or vie for it in whatever way you think is appropriate.

If you don't have an actual personal need for it, then just ignore whatever voting or vying method is made available to you instead of poo-pooing the idea.

[Giant Speck]

To be completely honest, I am not going to vote for support for a program I don't use.

Just because I started using Linux does not mean I signed a contract to join an open source revolutionary group. I use Linux for me, and me only.

[Ms_Angel_D]

To be completely honest, I am not going to vote for support for a program I don't use.

Just because I started using Linux does not mean I signed a contract to join an open source revolutionary group. I use Linux for me, and me only.

Don't be silly it's not about a revolution...lol ;)

But one would reason that the more software which is natively supporting Linux/Ubuntu then hardware (and drivers) would soon follow. I Only use ubuntu for a home desktop, but I would love to see more software/hardware support it. I would love to not have to have windows to play a certain game. So I'm thinking that the more software which support's it the more people start to say hey maybe we should jump on the Linux thing and start developing for it.

[sub2007]

I've seen it countless times people asking for others to vote for linux versions of a particular software, and it always follows the same template:



The point is that it is IMHO counter productive not to vote for such things, because if you wish for Linux/Ubuntu to grow we need to have more Software supporting it. Whether you use the product or not, doesn't make sense to see it working for Linux/Ubuntu? I personally will always vote when asked as I would love to see support for Linux/Ubuntu grow in all area's.

So I mean really why don't you vote/give feedback/ or request such things when asked?

I don't because the way I see it, GNU/Linux users as a community make up less than 5% of the desktop OS population and that is a very generous overestimate probably. We don't have enough people to use the software to make software companies be able to justify going through the difficulty of porting their software.

We basically know that even if we did ask the companies:

1. they won't listen to us because we don't have enough usage
2. it's not a huge hardship because whilst they may not always be perfect, we do have programs on Linux that do the job that program X does anyway.
3. if you don't use the particular program, it's not worth your time to try and convince software manufacturers to port a program that we won't even use.

It's a catch 22: having better commercial software will probably increase Linux's usage a bit but on the other hand until we actually get more users, manufacturers won't consider dedicating (and paying) a team to develop for Linux. Not unless it's worth their while - they are business in the end.

[klange]

In most cases, I do, but there are a few exceptions, like MS Office and DreamWeaver. Would I like to see a Linux version of 3ds Max or Photoshop? Very much so yes. But I never want to see DreamWeaver on Linux, period.