Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 12th Feb 2008 21:32 UTC, submitted by Flatland_Spider
The Linux Foundation has posted the second half of its long and thorough interview with Linux founder Linus Torvalds, part of the Foundation's 'open voices' podcast. While the first part of the interview focused on the Linux development community, this time Torvalds sounds off on everything from patents and innovation to the future of Linux. According to Torvalds the reason Linux hasn't taken off is that most people are happy with the way things are. "If you act differently from Windows, even if you act in some ways better, it doesn't matter; better is worse if it's different." Torvalds also attributes much of the frustration with Windows Vista to this same idea. In other words, it's not that Vista is worse than XP, but it's different and that causes distress among users.
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Member since:
2007-06-24
I think the main reason that users aren't flocking to Linux is the fact that there is no real standardization. You can use one distribution and learn how to set it up for the hardware you're using, then use another and it's completely different. Sometimes you don't even edit or create the same files in the same places to perform the same tasks. To someone who grew up with technology and is familiar with everything, this might not be much of an issue, but for those who are only mildly technical, this is a gigantic hurdle.
I feel that Linux works well for two kinds of people. Those who know so little about a computer that all they need to do is browse the web, check email, and nothing else...and those who are very technical and know more than the basics of how a computer operates. The middle category of users who don't know much about computers but want to do a lot more with them requires this standardization that helps them figure things out on their own.
Just my opinions, anyways!