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Re: Cygwin participation threshold



Christopher Faylor wrote:
> 
> True, but that is not the point.  I believe this whold thread started
> because I lamented the lack of people contributing directly to cygwin
> development.  The many contributors to the linux kernel do not do so
> because it is possible to develop proprietary code for linux.
> 
> I don't consider companies who create proprietary kernel modules as
> contributing to linux development in any way.  Possibly they help indirectly
> by getting the word out about linux but that is a secondary and, IMO, very
> minor benefit.

Windows is too complicated.  It usually takes a sharp individual a long
time (four years?) to become really proficient in Windows.  And that
proficiency usually last a very short time (two years).  All of their
knowledge would have been gained through the continued (and expensive)
subscription to MSDN.  They usually don't feel compelled to contribute
to anything.

It's the culture.  Groups of Windows developers would sit around bashing
Unix.  An ActiveX DLL is the highest ideal that they can attain. 
Putting the "copy file" animation into every program is their idea of
fun.  Their world evolved around OLE, COM, ActiveX, DirectX, ODBC, DAO,
RDO, ADO, DCOM, MVM.

They would ask: "what's the point of Cygwin?"  And you answer "so that
Cygnus can host GNU tools on NT for embedded programming."  They open up
their MSDN case, thumb through the couple dozen or so CDs inside and
find WindowsCE.  "We have Visual Basic and Windows CE.  And Microsoft
told me that's all I need for embedded programming," they would say.  "I
don't care what you think of me, but as far as I'm concerned, Microsoft
invented the PC in 1980.  They invented GUI and the Mouse in 1989.  They
invented TCP/IP in 1992. And they invented the Internet in 1995."

There's a huge mass of them out there is a fact of life.  The only way
to turn their heads around and even look at something non-Microsofty is
to show them a huge amount of money.  "What's there in it for me?" is
their motto, or they wouldn't have become Windows programmers.

If you don't believe me, look at (or just imagine) the latest CNN/USA
Today poll.

--
Weiqi Gao
weiqigao@a.crl.com

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