According to Canonical head honcho Mark Shuttleworth, Windows 7 presents the ideal opportunity for Linux to gain significant inroads into the desktop market. He said so in an interview with InternetNews. While I certainly do hope so, an eerie sense of deja vu creeps up on me: isn't this like the 923298th opportunity where Linux is supposed to make inroads into the desktop market?
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Member since:2006-04-22
[/q]Well that's true. It's possible versus easy. Linux needs to be easier than Windows. I don't think that can ever happen for the whole platform. Individual distributions need to step out on their own. Never mind that Linux is difficult to develop for because our distro's the easiest OS in the world to develop for. That's where Ubuntu needs to be. Right now, they're a very long way off that. [/q]
Historically for a product to break into a market that is dominated by another it takes more than a few basic elements. The best example that I could give would be the Japanese entry into the U.S. auto market in the mid 1970s. They introduced cars that were: lower cost, more reliable, better fuel efficiency, and lower ownership/maintenance costs. Companies such as Fiat, Peugot, Renault, and others all could lay claim to a few of those aspects, but would suffer from lack of at least one. Renault had everything except reliability. Peugot had everything except maintenance costs. Etc...
For something to break another's market dominance they can not simply be just "good enough" in a few areas, while lacking in others. More importantly it is how the consumer as a whole views the product, not the supporters obviously. Linux fans may feel that Ubuntu is everything in the world, but the market at large sees elements that are missing or unfulfilled.
Point is, have the questions every truly been asked, and have they been answered in regards to whether Linux truly fulfills the consumer expectations for a desktop OS.
Member since:
2005-07-01
Well that's true. It's possible versus easy. Linux needs to be easier than Windows. I don't think that can ever happen for the whole platform. Individual distributions need to step out on their own. Never mind that Linux is difficult to develop for because our distro's the easiest OS in the world to develop for. That's where Ubuntu needs to be. Right now, they're a very long way off that.