Another Linux will never be main stream article.
Posted by Danpereda in Storys Thoughts and Rants, Tech, Webmaster Mar 1st, 2008 | 7 responsesBy Dan Pereda
www.danpereda.com
I know you have heard it before, “Linux will never be main stream because of … (Insert reason)”. And all the fan boys will respond in a nice polite manner to explain how much better Linux is or how IF you had learned to use Linux first, Windows would just seem wired stupid and wrong. Well that is just it.
Windows is not better than Linux for what it does today. It is better than Linux for what it did 20 years ago. What was that you might ask? Windows took a new technology (Computers) that scared most people and made it easy and user friendly. Why were people afraid of computers? They were afraid of change, did not really want to have to learn something new, and most of all they did not want to look stupid. With Windows, the power of a computer was now graphical and any thing was just a click away.
Fast forward to today and Windows is the defacto standard on more than 90% of the worlds computers. Now you are asking the world to change from Windows to Linux. Why would they do that? What do you get from Linux that you don’t get from Windows? For those that don’t remember or were not alive, it took along time for a lot of people to accept computers as something that everyone was going to need or want. It was only after there became a social and economic mandate that you be able to use a computer and then own a computer or your gonna get left in the dust, that computers boomed in to expansion.
I do not see that Linux has much to offer the average user. Not enough to warrant people dedicating time to learn something new, or worse admitting that they don’t know something to begin with. I know some of your arguments:
• Linux is free – Most people never pay for Windows, it’s included in their computer’s purchase price.
• Linux is more secure – Most people don’t care. People think “Security problems are going to happen to me”.
• Linux is more stable – Fine, whatever. Windows XP almost never crashes. And Id rather reboot my PC once a year than learn Linux.
• Linux has a ton of free programs – It doesn’t have the main stream programs that I bought for my PC (Adobe Premier or NASCAR 2008)
What prompted me to write this is that I have several computers in my house all with different operating systems including Debian, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu and more. Now that I am getting a little older and I am becoming busier, I just don’t have time to manage all these systems. I need to consolidate and upgrade. I pondered going to a new MAC and scrapping everything else, No my programs that I have won’t work on a MAC and I will not repurchase them just to put them on a MAC. Fine I will go fully Linux, No I can’t even port my graphics/video software to Linux. Well what is wrong with Windows? I already own copies of XP pro and Vista and frankly with my short amount of free time Windows is the easiest way to go.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Linux. It is great and unbelievably powerful. I use it everyday to run this website and others; it also runs my phone system. I don’t feel that Linux will become main stream until it can offer something that Windows can’t and the world can’t live without.
In summery Linux is still missing the “KILLER APP”.
I know what some of you are thinking and for that, in this article I am only talking about Linux on the desktop. Servers, appliances and other geek only systems don’t count.
By Dan Pereda
www.danpereda.com
7 Responses to “Another Linux will never be main stream article.”
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*jawn* another of these useless articles …
linux killer app?`package manager.
While a package manager is great, How does that apply to joe schmoe user? Most people have no idea what that is.
“Most people never pay for Windows.” Then where did the 35 billion Microsoft has in the bank come from, pennies from heaven?
“Linux is more secure – Most people don’t care.” Having their computer shut down because it’s infested with malware and living in constant fear their identity will be stolen because of a keylogger, I wouldn’t call that not caring. Most people live with that crap not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know they have a choice. And telling them that Linux isn’t viable for the mainstream isn’t helping.
“Linux is more stable – Fine, whatever.” You just might have a point there. I too could have lived with the occasional XP crash. But it’s more fun to not have any at all. It’s also more reassuring. So in essence your are saying it’s a non issue, I agree.
“Linux has a ton of free programs – It doesn’t’t have the main stream programs that I bought for my PC (Adobe Premier or NASCAR 2008).” No it doesn’t. Whose fault is that? Does Linus work for Adobe? You should be blaming Adobe for not porting NASCAR 2008 over to Linux. Think about it. It’s not a question that if there is an application that you want or need that doesn’t run on Linux then you live with Microsoft. But it is absolutely NOT the fault of Open Source or Linux that you are locked in. Don’t blame Linux because you are stuck with a closed source solution. Really, we who use Linux and Open Source are putting all users in a much stronger position with respects to what gets made, how it gets made and most importantly, how it’s licensed.
I have seen a few of these “Linux is not ready for the Mainstream” pieces now and they all boil down to this: “Linux doesn’t fit my needs so it won’t fit anybody else’s.” Wow. I hate the color red and so should the rest of the world. You said it yourself, “I love Linux”. But you can’t use it because Adobe hasn’t ported Adobe Premier or NASCAR 2008 to the Linux platform.
I using mepis ( this version based on ubuntu ) and I have a cute little icon ( the kind Window users like ) that even changes when packages to be upgraded are available …
Don’t know how much easier it can be
“Most people never pay for Windows.” Then where did the 35 billion Microsoft has in the bank come from, pennies from heaven?
“Linux is more secure – Most people don’t care.” Having their computer shut down because it’s infested with malware and living in constant fear their identity will be stolen because of a keylogger, I wouldn’t call that not caring. Most people live with that crap not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know they have a choice. And telling them that Linux isn’t viable for the mainstream isn’t helping.
“Linux is more stable – Fine, whatever.” You just might have a point there. I too could have lived with the occasional XP crash. But it’s more fun to not have any at all. It’s also more reassuring. So in essence your are saying it’s a non issue, I agree.
“Linux has a ton of free programs – It doesn’t have the main stream programs that I bought for my PC (Adobe Premier or NASCAR 2008).” No it doesn’t. Whose fault is that? Does Linus work for Adobe? And please tell me, why are you complaining that Linux won’t run NASCAR 2008 when Windows XP won’t either? Did you forget that it only runs on the Playstations 2/3 and the Xbox? Or are you just padding your complaint? It is not the fault of Open Source or Linux that you are locked in. Don’t blame Linux because your closed source solution has you chained to Microsoft. We who use Linux and Open Source are putting all users in a stronger position with respects to what gets made, how it gets made and most importantly, how it’s licensed.
I have seen a few of these “Linux is not ready for the Mainstream” pieces now and they all boil down to this: “Linux doesn’t fit my needs so it won’t fit anybody else’s.” When your needs include playing a game on Linux that only runs on the Playstation and Xbox, they’ll never be met.
Guys you make great points, but I think I was not clear on my point.
You have to put your self in the mind of the average computer user. I think of my dad or my VP’s assistant. In their mind there is nothing that Linux can do, that Windows can’t. I am not saying that it is true.
I am just saying that “Ignorance is Bliss” for the average computer user.
PS I don’t really play games, I used Nascar 2008 as merely an example of what could be found on an Average Computer. I must have been mistaken and you can Substitute Nascar 2008 for just about any PC game.
“Having their computer shut down because it’s infested with malware and living in constant fear their identity will be stolen because of a keylogger, I wouldn’t call that not caring.”
Except that Windows is secure enough as long as it has an antivirus. It’s just that Microsoft and Windows bashers love to exaggerate the magnitude of security risks.
“Most people live with that crap not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know they have a choice.”
And most people wouldn’t bother at using Linux it they were well-informed, either. Because most of them don’t want to be forced to configure their OS by writing commands in a terminal, recompiling crap and troubleshooting. They want something that just works out of the box.