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Did you really just say that it's easier to write a large number of windows-only programs than it is to either: a) fix the websites that have ActiveX depend
by sukuriant 14y ago
Did you really just say that it's easier to write a large number of windows-only programs than it is to either:
a) fix the websites that have ActiveX dependencies
b) modify a single web-browser to support ActiveX like IE6 used to
If true, ... wow.
- tomrod 14y agoDepends on the costs involved. Network externalities are a killer.
- kyllo 14y agoWhat I meant was that the large number of currently Windows-only Chinese desktop applications will not be the biggest obstacle to Chinese users adobting Ubuntu, because they can be ported, and Canonical is working with the Chinese government to port the most popular ones ahead of time. The number of Chinese websites out there with ActiveX dependencies is probably much greater, and you can't really "port" a website. Good luck getting all those Chinese web developers to fix their sites. If Canonical bundled a web browser that supported ActiveX, that would temporarily resolve the problem (while enabling it to perpetuate), but I'm not sure if Microsoft's licenses even allow a non-IE browser to re-implement ActiveX. So, I think that not being able to browse many Chinese websites on other platforms is the main thing that keeps Chinese users locked into IE/Windows right now. Perhaps, though, my knowledge is outdated and ActiveX plugins aren't as ubiquitous in China as they used to be.
- w1ntermute 14y agoI'm sure the Chinese government could force the most popular sites to replace ActiveX, but it'll be hard to get to the long tail.