by Tim O'Reilly 
 

In the early days of the PC revolution, people were buying computers to run office applications like word processors and spreadsheets.  In the web revolution, though, the "killer applications" are not web browsers but the online sites that the browser allows people to reach.  But if a web site such as Amazon.com or Yahoo! is an "application", it is surely a very different kind of application than a word processor, something we can call "infoware" rather than "software."  This talk will explore how web sites are becoming applications, how those applications differ from traditional software, and how this paradigm shift affects anyone concerned with the future of Linux or other Open Source software.  

This talk will explore such topics as: 

• Why Open Source has been key to the development of leading web sites like Amazon and Yahoo!, and what this tells us about the future direction of the computer industry. 
• Why, despite all the hype about Java, the use of languages like Perl and Python is growing by leaps and bounds. 
• Why Linux may be missing the boat by competing with Windows on the desktop.