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The Free Software Foundation's "High Priority" List: A Key Guidepost

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OSS

Every couple of years, someone compiles a list of programs that GNU/Linux needs to compete on the desktop. For example, in early 2006, Novell conducted a survey of the applications that people most wanted ported to the platform.

However, if you really want to track the most pressing needs for a free desktop, the most useful indicator is probably the Free Software Foundation's (FSF'S) list of High Priority Free Software Projects. Projects make this list "because there is no adequate free placement," the list's home page explains, which means that "users are continually being seduced into using non-free software."

The trouble with other lists is that they are mostly wishful thinking. No matter how many people clamor, we aren't likely to see GNU/Linux versions of Adobe's PhotoShop or DreamWeaver, let alone Microsoft's Visio. Aside from the obvious animosities in Microsoft's case, most major commercial software vendors accept as a truism that they can't make a profit selling in the GNU/Linux market, so, for the most part, they don't even experiment with the idea. To do so, they would have to radically alter their business models, which, as Xara's half-hearted efforts demonstrate, they are either unwilling or unable to do.

Besides, at this point, the makers of major software products on the Windows platform face stiff competition from rapidily maturing free software rivals. So, if the port isn't going to happen, why waste time pining for it?

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