Notes/Domino 6 and 7 Forum : Linux Client

I know this subject has been asked about dozens of times in these forums. When is there going to be a native Linux Notes client?

The answer from the IBM people here is always "There isn't one and there never will be one because there's no demand for it!". Then the discussion goes around and round with "Nobody wants Linux on the desktop because there's no apps" then the response is "There's no apps for the Linux desktop because there's no demand."

Well, I came across this article at IDG.net called "As business looks to Linux desktops, some critical apps lacking". (http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,76398,00.html)

Here's some highlights:

"Shawen Donnellan, director of software development for reseller Amherst Corporate Computer Sales & Solutions in Merrimack, N.H., said about 10% of his company's client base of several thousand customers have asked about using Linux as an alternative on employee desktops, in part because of the increased costs of their existing Microsoft Windows software licenses. But those efforts have faltered in many cases because of the lack of full-featured calendaring and scheduling software for Linux, Donnellan said."

"That's the last barrier," said Donnellan, whose company has more than 400 IT workers in four states and upwards of $400 million in gross annual revenue. "That's the one that has driven me up the wall. We would deploy Linux on the desktop across their operations if we could solve that."

What more does Lotus need to do this?