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What Dropbox Dropping Linux Support Says (techrepublic.com)

Jack Wallen, writing for TechRepublic: For a company to support Linux, they have to consider supporting: Multiple file systems, multiple distributions, multiple desktops, multiple init systems, multiple kernels. If you're an open source developer, focusing on a single distribution, that's not a problem. If you're a company that produces a product (and you stake your living on that product), those multiple points of entry do become a problem. Let's consider Adobe (and Photoshop). If Adobe wanted to port their industry-leading product to Linux, how do they do that? Do they spend the time developing support for ext4, btrfs, Ubuntu, Fedora, GNOME, Mate, KDE, systemd? You see how that might look from the eyes of any given company?

It becomes even more complicated when companies consider how accustomed to the idea of "free" (as in beer) Linux users are. Although I am very willing to pay for software on Linux, it's a rare occasion that I do (mostly because I haven't found a piece of must-have software that has an associated cost). Few companies will support the Linux desktop when the act of supporting means putting that much time and effort into a product that a large cross-section of users might wind up unwilling to pay the price of admission. That's not to say every Linux user is unwilling to shell out the cost for a piece of software. But many won't.

3 of 424 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why is the FS a problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Except Dropbox wants access to your filesystem details for their backup stuff., not just the file descriptor and data.

    So, in other words, Dropbox is run by retards who have no clue about proper software development.

    It's a program that copies files from one location to another. If Dropbox can't get out of the way and let the OS worry about things like the file system and systemD, then there is something seriously wrong with them.

    This is a classic case of Doing It Wrong®.

  2. Re:Why is the FS a problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If that's the case then explain systemd. /s

    Easy; systemd is not the unix way.

  3. Re:Why is the FS a problem? by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This type of design is what I find is what developers make when they are at the "Arrogant Rookie" level of their career.
    Where if there was a book on the technology, The skills used are from chapter 1 and the last chapter.
    They are trying to show off how good they are by not doing things the easy way.
    I had once had to maintain an application because the developer who decided to access a database not via the SQL commands that it supported, but by directly accessing the DLLs and doing the direct calls to the database engine.
    Yes it was faster, but this product was so tightly tied to the Database system that it was nearly impossible to upgrade the database engine, and were at the direct wims of the Database Company, if they charged more then we had to pay more, or do a near full rewrite of the application. As well if there was a bug in the code, then the entire data would get messed up because of the low level access. As well it skipped steps to make the data SQL compatible so it required either a hex editor or custom programming for any ad-hoc report, or odd data fix.

    Normally if a company or a product seems to be very strictly worried about low level differences, chances are it was coded by an Amateur who thinks himself all that. And is a sure sign to avoid such product on all environments.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.