Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 28th Aug 2012 20:46 UTC
"For years now, Linux has been a black sheep standing in the shadow of Apple and Microsoft. Despite having a fervent and enthusiastic following, the operating system hasn't been able to grab a sizable share of the computing market and has instead been content to subsist on the customers that come away dissatisfied with the mainstream competition. But that may be about to change. With the release of Microsoft Windows 8 on the horizon, some are saying Linux may have a great opportunity to steal a significant share of the market away from Microsoft, allowing it to finally take the helm as a major operating system service provider." This has to stop, and the only reason I'm linking to this nonsense is to make this very clear: Linux will not magically conquer the desktop or even make any significant gains because of Windows 8. People who don't like Windows 8 (Vista) will continue to use Windows 7 (Windows XP). This is getting so tiring. And does it even matter? Linux is winning big time in the mobile space, server space, and countless other spaces. The desktop is and always has been irrelevant to Linux.
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RE: I dont think this will happen this time either
by shmerl on Tue 28th Aug 2012 22:00
in reply to "I dont think this will happen this time either"
Member since:2010-06-08
Windows drivers might not work with later versions of Windows the same way. I see no benefit in Windows drivers over any other platform. If the driver is closed, it all boils down to whether the hardware manufacturer is going to release driver updates for recent versions of some OSes, no matter Windows or Linux and etc. Otherwise - try your luck with some Windows XP drivers on Windows 7 or other way around.
Edited 2012-08-28 22:01 UTC
RE[2]: I dont think this will happen this time either
by nej_simon on Tue 28th Aug 2012 22:48
in reply to "RE: I dont think this will happen this time either"
Member since:2011-02-11
That's a different issue. Windows might have problems with older hardware if the company behind the it hasn't bothered releasing an updated driver and the driver wasn't included in the new windows release. But Linux on the other hand has problems with new hardware. What matters most? New versions of windows are mostly backward compatible with old versions anyway. The only time I tried a XP driver on Windows 7 (for an old sound card) it actually installed without issues (athough it forced me to use a 32 bit version of windows 7).
RE: I dont think this will happen this time either
by ze_jerkface on Wed 29th Aug 2012 09:46
in reply to "I dont think this will happen this time either"
Member since:2012-06-22
... but you can't do that on Linux since it lacks a stable kernel ABI.
Linux is a great OS for geeks but as long as issues like this exist it will not be able to compete with windows for consumer PCs.
Linux is a great OS for geeks but as long as issues like this exist it will not be able to compete with windows for consumer PCs.
This debate has been raging for over a decade.
The "screw what manufacturers want" side has clearly won, Linux has had a whopping 0% increase on the desktop from 10 years ago and everyone still complains about video drivers.
RE[2]: I dont think this will happen this time either
by Valhalla on Wed 29th Aug 2012 10:17
in reply to "RE: I dont think this will happen this time either"
Member since:2006-01-24
The "screw what manufacturers want" side has clearly won, Linux has had a whopping 0% increase on the desktop from 10 years ago and everyone still complains about video drivers.
Hah, what bullshit, Linux has gained very little on the desktop but that has nothing to do with lack of proprietary video drivers.
It HAS proprietary video drivers, NVidia keeps their Linux drivers up to spec with the Windows drivers, not because they want to cater to Linux desktop user needs but because Linux is HUGE in 3D/SFX and absolutely dominant in HPC and these are the markets discrete GPU vendors on Linux are catering for.
Discrete graphics from NVidia is pretty much the only holdout there is anymore, and discrete graphics is obviously being obsoleted on the desktop favour of gpgpu solutions like the offerings from Intel and AMD (fully open source offerings) for anyone but hardcore gamers and professionals in 3D/CAD.
So yes, 'screw proprietary drivers' side is definately winning.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
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!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
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.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
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."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
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.More Features »
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Member since:
2011-02-11
There are still some serious issues with Linux on consumer PCs. For example there are no good way to distribute a driver along with some hardware. On Windows and OSX you would just install the bundled driver, but you can't do that on Linux since it lacks a stable kernel ABI. So if your new device is not supported out of the box on your Linux system you'll have to compile your own module that may or may not compile against your kernel, try to get a newer kernel build to work and hope that there are no regressions or simply wait for the next release of your distribution. Of course, if the hardware is really new and the company behind it isn't very open source-friendly it might take longer than that before a driver is available in a stable kernel.
Linux is a great OS for geeks but as long as issues like this exist it will not be able to compete with windows for consumer PCs.