The open-source community has announced for quite a few years now that they will hit the mainstream. I think not.

I don't wanna be an ass, so I'll say some positive things about open-source: It's free, and many times you can get wonderful software, sometimes better than that you pay for. It's customizable, if you're a programming wizard you can make changes the way you like them. And the wizards are nice people, if you ask them kindly, maybe they'll create that driver you couldn't find on the net.

So what's the problem? To create good software, being a good programmer isn't enough. Open-source is software created by hackers for hackers. It's difficult to get it up and running. The user-interface is often so difficult, the mainstream won't understand. There's no place you can call if something goes wrong, except maybe post questions on AntiOnline. (Lotsa clever guys there )

What I'm saying is if you're gonna make software you'll need an organization behind you. Someone to interact with the users, to find out what the user's need (cuz developers DON'T KNOW). You're gonna need people who investigate the application's usability, so that users are able to actually use the application (cuz developers DON'T KNOW **** about usability). And you're gonna need somone who can help users after the software is released.

Most people don't work for fame and glory, they want cold cash. The organization isn't gonna come to life without a decent cash-flow.

Sorry people; money talks open-source walks.