I've let the responses come over the past few days on this.... and... now its time to respond...
said by DarkSithPro:
its never had before: To gain the momentum necessary to join the big boys in the operating system world. If that happens,
This one hit a nerve right away....
Ummm... Linux IS in the "Big Boys" club/cliche along with Unix, AIX, BSD.... its ms "OS" who is not a member of this club/niche.
Just look around at what powers the internet and complex IT systems, its
not ms based its some flavor of Linux to UNIX to BSD to AIX to HP-UX to even VAX and S/360, S/390 which may be running zOS or S/360|390 which may be using VM to run UNIX, Linux etc...
As pointed out later on, there are literally tons of products using Linux embedded to run things. Items such as STB's, DVR/PVR's, GPS etc.. No its not 100% Linux, but its pretty close 95%+.
The back rooms of all that POS stuff from NCR and IBM? Guess what it runs on? Its not ms even it the stupid things run ms at the register. Take a roam around a Lowes some time and you will see ms being used as nothing more than terminals back to S/360|390 systems same with Publix, Target, Krogers (not K Rogers as some one once told me
) all are not using ms, and not its not Linux either....
Oh... and all those neat effects you see on screen at the movies and other shows... guess what probably 99% produced those? LINUX.
Even one of the shows I despise the most used an Amiga for its graphics! (Amigas were way ahead on graphics, but had other corporate issues that killed it.)
Not ms yet again.
The point is Linux, BSD, et al are the "Big Boys" not ms.
As for this leading to more ad potion for Linux?
Probably some, yes... in huge amounts.... probably sadly not.
Several have posted that OS X is probably likely to pick up most of the gains... Sadly and painfully thats probably true. Why? For example support. One post here referenced having 800FIXMYFUPC to call be it ms or crapple.... contrast that to the "standard" in Linux support...mailing lists (most ms users freak out over this idea), IRC (ditto), and/or forums (like here). Yes you can get support for things like Ubunutu from several places, but thats the part of the problem "several places." Just like Linux is not just Linux its Debian, its Gentoo, it CentOS, its Julep Linux, its Kubuntu... their little heads are spinning.... there is no Linux Inc to go get "OFFICIAL LINUX" and support.
And while some may think that the above is heresy, it would if I were to purchase something from that fruity company... but sadly its the truth...The local mall that wants oh so desperately to be "upscale" has remodeled and added stores, restaurants and more food areas..well one just happens to be across from the local crapple store. My new past time is to sit at a table and chomp on my cinnamon rolls etc. and watch all the isheep... Its even a hangout, for the local teenagers... with several preening before entering because their latest crush was inside..... tons of people in there, few left with anything... a few were actually brining back.... couldn't tell you why from the "viewing area."
Another reason? Ideology. Yep mine included. Your either in the Linux camp or your not and your against us. Pick any other area, KDE v. what ever, OEM v. community drivers, etc..
Software.... for the average Jane User doing their tasks is just as easy on Linux as it is on another "OS." No there is not Quicken, or Photoshop or...but there are equals and better from KMyMoney to GIMP to FreeOffice to xyz...
Paraphrasing . . . . .
quote:
if Netflix doesn't work....
Well funny thing... netflix can and does WORK ON LINUX. One of those little box player things has it embedded in the system and it uses Linux... The issue here is two fold... ms software used to get DRM. Could this be released outside of the box device itself? Probably. I would not/won't touch it for the same reason I won't now, DRM. Its the standalone client that is not released on Linux. How many Android phones have a client? Thats Linux based. Now personally netflix has nothing to offer me, I am way to snooty when it comes to movies and shows.
Which leads to other software...
quote:
....lack of AAA games...
I have no clue what those are, nor do I need to or want to. Its oft repeated that for Linux to take off it needs gamers. Really? Jane User doing email, web, etc. would seem to be the larger market v. niche users at the uber high end of things who need to have ammo
box cases
Along with corporate desktops... ala if they use it at work they will use it a home... which is a hurdle that OS X has... they left the business world in the dust except for pre-press and photo areas, but even this has eroded significantly..
Next hardware....
The referenced link in this debate list a litany of issue in regards to hardware... alot is true... how many dumb winprinters are there still out there? remember the trials of winmodems? Same with scanners too. Its not completely bad... HP seems to get it.. Brother some what gets it (more later), some don't epson, cannon.
Regarding video cards. I want my drivers from the OEM. That doesn't mean that if the community wants to develop their own equal, great go for it... but hounding OEM's over this when they have stated that pigs will not fly this decade on this over and over and over gets Linux no where and plunges things right in to that ideology issue again.
Which leads to another issue here... supporting converts...
quote:
Why do I get the feeling a lot of Linux users don't want it to take off? Is Linux a hobby to tinker with, or just a reliable Operating System
How many here want to be faced with questions like:
"My utrla whammer voodoo techno mega duper 1.2 gigawatts quintrillon byte VRAM with uber duper lags on craftwarriorblipperblopper?"
You tell them to open a terminal and do this or that for info and the response will be what is that. don't know how to do it, won't do it, just want to point and clicky this or that to fix.. I can grantee any Linux support forum(s), lists, nntp, IRC they choose to use will be a very unwelcoming experience and that will be that. Game over.
I am not going to deal with those questions, as soon as I get responses like: "I don't understand what is jaksadjal that command or something?" I am done, some one else can assist. I am also not going to assit in re gnoem, virtualbox, and anything else that goes against my idea of what should be used on Linux. (Theres that ideaology thing again. I am not going to support things I want to go away.)
The UI mess that is about to be foisted upon ms users ala the way it was with gnome users will cause a great deal of fall out, and sadly & painfully they will run to OS X. I think its a great opportunity, but its just another opportunity that Linux will miss the boat on. Why?
There is no Linux 2013 to purchase, or preinstalled, or to download and install..there is how many distro's? Last count on Distrowatch was several hundred. Another theres is no Linux Inc. to call for support. Yes, canoncial and others do offer this, but few to any converts understand or know that. Again try to throw out all the bad ideas and habits of the past all at once leads to fear and they run back to what they know and understand. The common question out of this is " Which is the 'official Linux?'" BZZT! Wrong answer. This group wants official releases, support, etc.... As soon as they hear "well there is not an 'official'... " click! They've tuned out and quit listening all they hear now is blah blah blah blah ideology stuff... No interest...
Can Linux replace Jane User's desktop? YES! I've done it..those in cubeville need only to get to web, email and the listed agency application which is custom developed. All they do is clicky clicky on the pretty pictures. The biggest thing has been that the pretty pictures changed and things look a little different on KDE v. some other "OS." I think that Jane User at home if switched to something based on KDE and had all the little clicky clicky things to use would not notice a thing... but how many distros come with all those clicky clicky things ready to go from an install? ? ? None that I know of. Too uptight and worried about saving space on a DVD or DL to include things, and then properly setup the desktop to take advantage of them so Jane User doesn't have to seek out something. Serisouly you don't even include the web browser darling of Linux? You have to install it!? ? ! REALLY!? KDE based distros don't include my web|file|ftp|samba browser/client now either... thats a rant for another time... but not to include the darling of the Linux community? And then not set it up and ready to go? REALLY!? ? ? Time and time again, all I hear is "xyz is bloated because it includes VLC, and this player and that player and yet another player!" SO!???! Let the user try out the players and they can learn what they like. Maybe they like VLC, maybe not... Having shortcut icons that start web browsers, media players, email programs, spreadsheets etc. ready to use upon install is what is needed. Ubuntu fails this, and just about every distro does. All you get is this blank desktop. Oh and the default for KDE or any other DE needs to be the same desktop that has been used for how many decades. That also means that the traditional layout is used as well which is a menu button in the lower left, a taskbar on the bottom, etc.. If you want the option to put it in the wrong place, fine. BUT new converts need to see it where they expect it. Then you can train them or let them adjust to their preferences as they learn things.
Which leads to this... paraphrasing several comments
quote:
..tablets/cloud will replace desktops....
Ummm yes and no... cloud is nothing more than a return to thin client computing which has been around longer than some of its "new" champions have been alive. Things like XDMCP, which many want to trample and remove, is part of your "cloud" computing concept.
As for tablets... replacing desktops? I don't think so... I think they are a great aid to those in the field and mobile applications, but in place of my desktop.. I don't think so and that goes for everything from email to web to developing... Not happening. email or web on a tablet... good grief no .... its bad enough on an Android phone... I need a keyboard to type with not that on screen thing... thats why my phones have a slide out one. No predictive tech is not the answer either from T9 to now, NO thanks! Its wrong more than its right and it can lead to bad situations...how many auto corrected/typed gag snaps are there? Exactly. No thanks. I'll type my response, with out any assistance, thank you.
The one thing that Linux has going for it v. OS X ?
You don't need new hardware to use the OS! And the OS is, FREE.
But that hurdle of how to get it on the machines... hmmm theres that ugly UEFI restricted/secure boot problem. Theres installer problems (see several threads here, although these may be due to the desire to dual boot, which I don't do since Linux is the only OS that exists in my world.
) Then throw in hardware issues, getting them to understand to use xyz for abc... and that many things they may want to use are available like some of those messaging services....
Again, so its a great opportunity, that sadly will be squandered yet again. I think many of the issues could be squashed and resolved them, but its too late with 2 months to go, and it requires some one to beat down a lot of people from Linus down. I would love to see Linux flourish on desktop/laptops because of the UI meltdown, and I will cheer and dance as it happens. The joy will be short lived as nothing really will change in the land of Linux.
Lots of ideas on whats wrong... so how would these issues be fixed? I know how
*I* would do it, but those here don't like that.
So how do you fix things to get Linux on more desktops? ? Telling companies to "F you!" How's that working? Not so much huh...
Whats next on the plan?
So how does Linux capitilize finally, on yet another chance, to gain market share?