Linked by Jeremy LaCroix on Wed 13th Apr 2005 06:51 UTC
I've only been using GNU/Linux since 2001, so I won't say that I'm by any means an expert yet, as most of those that are reading this, probably have been using Linux much longer than I have. However, I still have high hopes for the Linux scene. The purpose of this article is to voice my personal opinion on what I feel is keeping GNU/Linux from taking over the mainstream operating system market. My intentions aren't to "badtalk" the open source kernel+apps, but rather give constructive criticsm on what I personally feel it could be done better.
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Linux may need to learn some things, but not those things.
Installers are the weakest point of Windows. They work okay for installing a program, but try using Add/Remove Programs (bit of a misnomer since you basically can't add programs using it) to uninstall stuff. You wind up in a mess of individual proprietary installers.
The worst candidate here would be Nortons - clicking "uninstall" refuses to work. Going through "change" requires two or three reboots to remove all the programs from the list - and your system is still *covered* in cruft from it.
Package management is one of the strongest points of Linux - and the various GUIs have nothing to do with the console. Even Portage has a frontend available...
"When Microsoft releases its newest Directx, you don't have to wait until the next version of Windows to utilize it, you are free to download and install it right away"
Well not really. You get bugged repeatedly about "validating" your copy of Windows. Having downloaded it, you find out it's an incredibly awkward web setup that requires more waiting and lots of clicking.
Whereas if I want to install a package on here, I can tell Linux to install it along with many others, and it will do it without bothering me. Windows Update won't do such a thing because every second package "requires" a reboot.
Linux may have a long way to go, but at least it's aiming at the right place. Windows will never get there.