Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 15th May 2006 20:02 UTC, submitted by J.R. Smith
"Can the ordinary computer user ditch Windows for Linux? The question came up when I decided that my six-year-old version of Microsoft's Windows operating system had to be replaced. My Sony Vaio computer was still too young for the trash heap. And I was hesitant to spend $200 on the Windows XP operating system, especially with Microsoft planning to launch XP's replacement, Vista, in January. So, I decided to give the operating systems that run on Linux technology a try."
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Member since:
2005-11-05
A pretty good if rather depressing article. The gist seems to be that if Linux is not as easy to get running as Windows, does not enjoy the same level of hardware support, and does not interact 100 per cent with certain Windows apps (MS Office, e.g.) then it is not good enough for more than mundane tasks.
The problem is that Windows is not Linux. And if you just say "It's called Linux but really it is Windows" then you are asking for the impossible.
Imho, Linux lacks persuasive and charismatic advocates from outside the tech community. Endorsements from well-known and respected people could make a lot of difference. They could tell a story that made Linux interesting and sexy to Joe User. The traditional tech-based advocacy of Linux - Microsoft bad, no viruses, FOSS, KDE vs Gnome, etc - is completely meaningless to most folks and a turn-off, I would guess. Linux needs to get way above the level at which you only find it on machines that are so cheap they are intended for folks who cannot afford a "proper" computer.
The other issue is quality control, not easy for small companies with limited resources. But they could do more to help themselves. I am typing this on Dapper. Despite being told that Dapper is in a period of polishing, hundreds of megs of updates continue to pour in for almost every file on my machine. This isn't polishing; it is rewriting the OS at the last moment and pretty well guarantees that the final Dapper will be no more polished than the version that could have been released before Ubuntu announced a delay. You may not like commercial software houses, but they are a lot more ruthless at imposing cut-offs and dealing with situations like this.
Many of the article's other points are to do with the perennial issues of packaging systems and multimedia. Personally I think that a big outfit like SuSE should cut through this by imposing its own system and bringing full multimedia to the table. It would require them to take a stand, perhaps, but sooner or later the successful distros are going to have to take a stand and stick to it. Passing the buck to the "community" is, again, meaningless to Joe User.
Edited 2006-05-16 08:16