"The fragmentation of Android is very real and very problematic for end users, developers, mobile operators, device manufacturers, and Google. However fragmentation does not mean Android is going to 'die' or 'fail' as some seem to think. On the contrary I think we can count on Android playing a significant role in our world for a long, long time. I also am confident that Google has already lost control of Android and has zero chance of regaining control. This post explains why I'm so confident about this."
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Member since:2007-01-13
Don't burst into tears Princess.
You claim to be a Linux admin and then try and scare everyone with highly implausible nightmare scenarios. Do you use Fedora daily builds for production environments?
I'm not saying Linux is perfect but most of your comments are pure BS.
Fact: It only takes 30-60 minutes to get a fully functional desktop system up and running with any of the mainstream Linux distros. In contrast a new Windows install is basically useless.
Fact: It is extremely easy to upgrade or even totally replace a distro as long as you use a separate home partition.
Fact: It takes hundreds of hours to have even a reasonable understanding how an OS works "under the hood". [It takes thousands of hours to be an expert]. Linux is very different to Windows. If you allow an untrained Linux user administration privileges they are guaranteed to fsck their install. Ignorance is not the fault of the OS.
Fact: It is not necessary to upgrade to the latest and greatest version of a distro. In reality the hard drive in a home PC will normally fail before the distro support period ends.
Fact: Enterprise level distros eg RHEL have extremely long support cycles of 7-10 years (as long as Windows).
Fact: Linux provides the source code so you can patch or update any code even after the support period ends. [Try doing that with Windows].
Fact: You can't expect a a purist FOSS (Debian) home consumer (non-LTS Ubuntu) or bleeding edge (Fedora) distro to be used in a production environment without some hassles. That isn't their intended role.
Member since:2008-01-29
Who are you trying to fool? The year of the Linux desktop never arrived.
- A LOT of hardware have issues under Linux, or require drivers that are difficult to install. Not to mention never tailored to whatever distro the user is running.
- Distribution fragmentation is one thing, but what about desktop fragmentation? GNOME 3.x, Unity, KDE 4.x, XFCE... It's all a mess.
- You claim there is nothing you can do on a default Windows installation. Well, at least you can install flash/java/multimedia codecs painlessly by answering yes when going to a site. I mean, Synaptic is great for technical users but grandma can forget about it.
- None of your "facts" about how easy it is to use Linux applies for normal users. You are looking at it through your own eyes, you fail to see Linux from a non -techincal users point of view.
- When faced by superior arguments from sbergman27 you react by claiming that he is not a Linux user? Just... Wow.
Member since:2005-07-24
Good. Because the Linux desktop market has been stuck at 0.5% to 0.75% for over a decade:
http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-200807-201201
Despite all your hand-waving about how easy it is, it's never gotten past square one. Especially embarrassing for a free (as in beer) set of offerings. This strongly suggests that there are some problems. Among them are the fragmentation issues I've mentioned. (Horizontally, between extant distros, and temporally, between successive versions.) A disregard of the user experience. (Something else is always "even more important" in key areas.) And a stubborn refusal by members of the perpetually tiny Linux Desktop community to even admit that there is a problem.
Sometimes I don't know why I bother.
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Member since:
2005-07-24
Well, let's see. I've been a Unix admin since 1988. A Linux admin since ~1996. And currently admin ~100 desktop Linux users. Linux is the only OS I've used on my own desktop since 1997, aside from the occasional jaunt with Open Solaris or some *BSD variant.
Aside from your grandmother's and uncle's computers, what Linux desktops do you administer?
I have a wealth of experience which I'd love to share with you. The situations I deal with would likely crush your spirit. But I persevere, and have succeeded, on the balance, with Linux desktops, despite its intrinsic problems. And despite having been spat upon, regularly, by two bit Linux pollyannas who don't think I'm pure enough.
Go ahead. Give me your stats.
Edited 2012-01-17 07:19 UTC