Do you think Linux ever will..........

[Tesl]

ever become the mainstream OS? do you think one day that it could become the most used system there is, for both use at home, work, networking or whatever?

for me, i believe that one day, eventually, it could. M$ has such a strong grip on the market though, it has invested in hundreds of different projects and looks almost impossible to shift. They can manipulate the market to work with them, manipulate other companies under the threat that M$ can, and would, put them out of business. Linux has its problems, mostly down to compatibility and its user interface, but could those problems not be bridged, and later marketed?

We all know here that Linux, if understood, is one of the most powerful operating systems there is. Installing a distribution and making it work is often enough hassle to throw people away from it, make them return to windows.

For me, as its Open Source, Linux has the potential to be the best operating system there is, the most stable, the most bugfree, and the most compatible.

I think part of the problem is that there are just too many distributions, the efforts of millions of programmers/hackers are so widespread that it has slowed progress right down. If there was just a few distributions, that everybody could help work on, it could be made the best system ever. As its open source, it would be controlled by the people, and so the market wouldnt be dominated the same way as M$ competes now. If a large majority of people put their efforts into writing drivers and making all hardware compatible, as well as porting games over, the time taken for that new mouse to work would be days, maybe weeks, unlike months. Then the company that has released the distribution can focus on the user interface, making installations easy and fast, and marketting it out to the world.

I think that is the only way Linux can ever overthrow Windows. It is capable, it can develop hundreds of times faster than windows ever can, security problems can be fixed in hours, not weeks. But i feel distributions have to work together, maybe even merge companies and give themselves the ability to really take off.

Well, iv gone way off what i origially intended this topic to be about, but do you ever think Linux can conquer the market, and become the mainstream OS? if not, why? and what needs to change?

[gleather]

I don't care if Linux dominates, I just want it to have a fair chance. The problem with Microsoft is that they don't want any competition. They are Nazis.

[Tesl]

Originally posted by gleather
I don't care if Linux dominates, I just want it to have a fair chance. The problem with Microsoft is that they don't want any competition. They are Nazis.

true ;)

i see what your saying, "Domination" isnt whats important. I would love to see the power of open source software be seen throughout the world, and for the potential of Linux to really be seen. As long as M$ are (almost illegally) controlling the market, that wont ever be able to happen. As far as i see it, with M$ 'in power' Computer Science will not be able to progress as well as we would all like it to =/

[tripey]

I like the idea that some distros are more suited to certain uses than others, so having a large array of them is useful. Some are for people who want to get into the underlying structure of Linux and configure it the way they want it. Others are for more mainstream users that just need to check/read email, search the web or visit their favorite websites, and other basic tasks. The majority of mainstream users will never open their box to swap a video or sound card, just as most of them will never lay under their car to change the oil. Most of the normal casual computer users I know have no idea you can upgrade their machines! Distros like RedHat, Mandrake, and Xandros are ideal for people like that. The problem is that most people are willing to spend the $150 extra when buying a new machine for an OS like Windows because they are familiar with it, by name and by looks. Perhaps when huge sellers like Dell, Compaq, and Sony begin offering mainstream machines that are Linux powered, things might change. Unfortunately though, these same computer giants realize that average users (the ones who let them rake in billions) are quite comfortable with Windows.
I think a lot of why Linux isn't as popular as it could be right now(to the mainstream) is because of its open source nature! Joe Q. User wants to be able to drive to CompUSA, look at a fancy display of fancy boxes of software and find the 'perfect' photo editing program or finance manager. He doesn't want to have these programs already installed with the OS (and several of them at that!) and the documentation buried somewhere in some mysterious file. As far as he is concerned, the program should be installed with as few 'clicks' as possible, and a nice little icon should be on his desktop, start menu, system tray, and taskbar. oh yeah, and it should start everytime he starts windows LOL.
Another unfortunate this going for Linux is the people who realize that Windows isn't the only OS in the universe and turn around and buy a Mac! Don't get me wrong, I use Windows, Linux and I also use Mac OS 9.x and OS X. They all have good points (heh, yes i think Windows has good points). Windows is way to invasive to me and tends to be victim for all the h4x out there, Mac OS is far too expensive to use since machines are extraordinarily priced for the hardware you get, and Linux lacks certain programs I'd love to use under it- namely DVD authoring programs.
Sorry for my long windedness, but this is something I and I'm sure many people ponder. In short, Linux is awesome, I use it daily for most tasks, but I await the day for certain key software (fully functuioning!) to be made available. phew....

[Lemming]

I'd be happy enough if it was considered important enough to get software made for it, especially games which by and large run quicker and more stablely in Linux (natively) then in windows.

[DerekKraan]

Domination is not an issue for me. What I believe is important is acceptance to the point that all major games are released for the platform and that it becomes more common knowledge. 99% of the people that I know haven't ever EVER heard of Linux. That's something I would hope would change.

[saithan]

I think Linux is mainsteam now......
However that has nothing to do with dominate(which like gleather, I care not).
when I started using Linux no body even knew what linux was (in my social grouping). Today people you would most likely prejudge as not knowing anything about linux can atleast tell you that they heard of it and they know it is an Operating system.

[myshkin]

i dont know about linux being mainstream. but i believe linux will last long after microsoft or any other proprietary os is gone. open source will never die, it belongs to the people. :D

[Chadduss]

If there were only a few distros I think I might walk away from Linux. To know that (when I'm ready :)) I can go to Slackware or Gentoo and delve into the inner workings of Linux keeps me going with Linux.

[scott_R]

You mean it isn't? :D Actually, I think it's a lot closer than people give it credit for. Numbers/money aside, Linux has moved into the sciences, banking, and many specialty situations. While that may not seem like much, those are areas that unix traditionally held, and MS was supposed to take over. MS hasn't done that, and from the speed of Linux's improvements on the desktop, I'd have to say MS's advantages on the desktop are simply market inertia. While that may be enough to conquer a market, once the market's taken, consumers get curious. When that happens, they discover Linux. Little by little, some people migrate. When you reach a level where a number of people around you are using something, eventually even the most computer wary person will think about migrating. It's how it always worked in the computer world, and it looks like the way it's working now.
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MS's biggest problem is that it's in the same spot Apple was in a while back. It's up against an open system, and it's more expensive. Despite being "easier" to use, cheaper and "good enough" won out back then. As it will now. Locking in customers, offering free stuff to schools, etc., may be enough to keep you in business, but it's not enough to retain dominance, as Apple found out.

[SolKarma]

Distro proliferation is a good thing.

After all, a distro is nothing more than the Linux kernel, which itself is nothing more than a gussied up interrupt handler (be them hardware device interrupts, virtual memory interrupts, timer interrupts or user programs interrupts), combined with a graphics stack (typically the XFree86.org implementation of the X Windows System, session manager, window manager, and desktop environment) and many freeware user applications.

The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard and library dependencies are but a couple (and perhaps the biggest) of flaws that keeps the typical Linux distribution from being a "user friendly" mainstream "operating" system.

Of all "user friendly" distros, only Knoppix (and it's spawn, e.g., Morphix) captures the essense of what a user-oriented Linux distro should be. The brilliant CD-based, zero install distro, works "out of the box" for most situations. When Knoppix falls short of 100% OoTB, the distro relies on gamers' "cheatcodes".

Knoppix portends to the future of computing. What is that future? The future is a homogenized, "hermetically sealed" virtual machine that works from the start.

[kryrinn]

M$ costs way too much money right now for companies that dont have the money. however, Linux is not marketed enough towards those companies. i know where my dad works (ku medical center), the last several new servers they have gotten, are Linux. A lot of people in businesses probably run off of Linux servers and dont even know it. The government found it right to break up a phone company, so why dont they make M$?? The anti-trust stuff has gotten nowhere. M$ is still one big, hogging company. They even have their certification classes in high schools... this school im typing from right now has a M$ networking certification class. And when i mentioned that maybe they could put in a Linux class, the teacher went what?? i dont know if any of the teachers here could tell you what linux is. I've convinced a few friends to try knoppix, and one has gone as far to install suse 8.2 on an old box. but for the most part, it doesnt matter how big Linux gets, as it could end up with the Win fate, of having too many stupid newbies who barely know how to turn on the comp and there ends up with a bunch of distro stuff that is meant for the dumbies. if Linux was to remain seperate, it would be nice, as long as M$ doesnt have its way.

[plattypus1]

Linux needs games. This may seem like a trivial matter to most, but if you think about it, there are a lot of computer literates (geeks) that are gamers and probably stick with Win because of that. Think of the sudden, computer-literate (read non-n00b) customer base Linux would gain if it became a fast, free gaming machine with enough native titles to make it worth switching.

Now, Linux will probably never become the choice of Joe Luser until it's the default OS shipped on their box. They don't really care what they have, as long as the box works and they can check their e-mail and surf the web, and probably word process as well.