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Counter-examples abound. Can you name even one open source app that has displaced a mature, user-facing desktop app with a non-trivial UI, other than a web brow

Counter-examples abound. Can you name even one open source app that has displaced a mature, user-facing desktop app with a non-trivial UI, other than a web browser? Open source only seems to win in domains in which it makes sense for companies to share work in order to compete at a higher tier of functionality.

6ren 15y ago
You skipped the bit about differentiation: if, for example, photoshop didn't keep improving, do you think the gimp would never catch up? I think you could find lots of examples where today's open source version is better than an x-years-old proprietary product. The only way it realistically can realistically happen if is the commercial product is not being improved (i.e. differentiated) any more. Your example is one of these - standardization is related to commodification. I suspect also that user-facing apps are easier to keep improving, because the user is right there, and always has more needs that could be served (e.g. text editors will evolve til they can read mail; those that can't will be replaced by those that can). Non-user facing apps tend to be defined by their environment, rather than by users - although, any component that creates a benefit that the user wants more of will keep being improved (from Clayton Christensen). e.g. databases, CPUs.
sandGorgon 15y ago
VLC
jeffmk 15y ago
It has by no means "displaced" its proprietary equivalent, but Inkscape is one of the most user-friendly open source apps I've ever used. I find it far more intuitive than Illustrator. An incredible amount of power and complexity is presented in a way that makes it quite intuitive and a joy to use. It's also easily extensible if you're a programmer.
hboon 15y ago
Does OS X apps like iTerm and CyberDuck count? But I agree with you and think that in the long run, open source is a big winner in infrastructure software, and generally just that.
kragen 15y ago
You probably don't remember this, but Emacs did that in the 1980s. And then of course there's Android, but I guess you might not consider it a "desktop app". And then there's Wikipedia, which has completely displaced Encarta. I don't think it makes sense to make generalizations about where "open source seems to win". Things are changing too fast; the circumstances that made it possible for Mozilla to beat IE in the mid-2000s no longer exist, for example.
anthony_barker 15y ago
putty R's integration with free data sets is crazy. For quick analysis it is great. For development Numpy/SciPy/Matplotlib/PyCUDA is more suitable.

6ren 15y ago

You skipped the bit about differentiation: if, for example, photoshop didn't keep improving, do you think the gimp would never catch up? I think you could find lots of examples where today's open source version is better than an x-years-old proprietary product. The only way it realistically can realistically happen if is the commercial product is not being improved (i.e. differentiated) any more. Your example is one of these - standardization is related to commodification. I suspect also that user-facing apps are easier to keep improving, because the user is right there, and always has more needs that could be served (e.g. text editors will evolve til they can read mail; those that can't will be replaced by those that can). Non-user facing apps tend to be defined by their environment, rather than by users - although, any component that creates a benefit that the user wants more of will keep being improved (from Clayton Christensen). e.g. databases, CPUs.

sandGorgon 15y ago

VLC

jeffmk 15y ago

It has by no means "displaced" its proprietary equivalent, but Inkscape is one of the most user-friendly open source apps I've ever used. I find it far more intuitive than Illustrator. An incredible amount of power and complexity is presented in a way that makes it quite intuitive and a joy to use. It's also easily extensible if you're a programmer.

hboon 15y ago

Does OS X apps like iTerm and CyberDuck count? But I agree with you and think that in the long run, open source is a big winner in infrastructure software, and generally just that.

kragen 15y ago

You probably don't remember this, but Emacs did that in the 1980s. And then of course there's Android, but I guess you might not consider it a "desktop app". And then there's Wikipedia, which has completely displaced Encarta. I don't think it makes sense to make generalizations about where "open source seems to win". Things are changing too fast; the circumstances that made it possible for Mozilla to beat IE in the mid-2000s no longer exist, for example.

anthony_barker 15y ago

putty R's integration with free data sets is crazy. For quick analysis it is great. For development Numpy/SciPy/Matplotlib/PyCUDA is more suitable.