Linked by Mystilleef on Mon 29th Sep 2003 06:30 UTC
Linux will become ubiquitous in the year 3000. Okay, that was a horrible joke. Linux is just a kernel, the engine that runs an operating system. By itself, it is essentially useless. Kernels shouldn't be discussed or noticed by normal users. And as such when providing these users with reviews, previews and "professional" opinions, computer consultants, computer reviewers and computer journalists should not spew headlines like "Linux is not ready for prime time", "Linux on the desktop by XXX", "Linux to takeover Windows", "Linux is not ready for desktop" and so on.
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If Linux takes off on the desktop, it could happen first on college campuses. There would have to be some killer app that many of us might not be too thrilled about, for example it might be a new rich client for file sharing and media playing. The app might be created by some random kid like Fanning. If that happens the VCs and entrepreneurs will move in to take advantage. I suspect this wave will be slick businessmen like Robertson and Lindows - they won't kowtow much to the FOSS community, won't be allergic to DRM, etc.
College kids use Windows for the same reason the rest of us do - they have to create MS Word documents, use IE for compatibility with certain courses, etc. But Linux is free or close to it (in price), so a dual boot can be set up for little extra cost. Contrast this with Mac, which would require them to buy expensive hardware over and above their Windows PC.