Your Thoughts On Main Streaming Linux What next?

[Khymnon 0]

Personally, I'd vote for Linux and other *NIX-derivates any day of the week, but I know that's because I have a rather technical background, and I'm one who actually enjoys delving into the inner details of things.But that's not how everyone thinks, which is fine, of course. I believe Windows will always has its users, just like Linux will always has its. It's merely, like everything else, a matter of personal taste.But some Linux users seem at times obsessed with the idea of turning Windows users towards Linux. When I ask them about that, they start talking about the monopolization of OS market by Windows, and the evil of major corporations like Microsoft, and very rarely I hear someone talking about trying to elevate the standards. The fact is, I agree that Windows is lacking in many ways; too many, perhaps. But I'll also have to admit that its driver support has been a great thing, at least for quite a long time. Not to mention, the visual eye-candy, which has proved to be a major player for them.Indeed, the Linux community has gone through major steps to enhance the lacking parts in Linux, and they have succeeded to some extent. And I do believe that using Linux can certainly raise the standards for OS development and general user experience. But still, I know some will never see the point of all that. And those people will most likely stick to Windows. Again, I think that's fine .. to each his own.I know most of what I said has already been said, but hey, it's a forum, I should get to say what I have to say. Or are you people working for Microsoft? *wink*

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

lol, I agree, but the only time I start "flaming" people is when people are closed minded about their computing skills. You can unlock many skills if you know how to "properly" operate a computer.xboxrulz

[jipman 0]

There's no way a Linux can be more popular than windows, don't get me wrong. Linux is more or less superior, BUT, in this world it's MARKETING that counts. As long as Microsoft keeps pumping up those dollars to promote their software, no free non promoted alternative can gain more ground than they.Also, most people share the microsoft policy. If it works, it's ok. It's normal because people (most of them) are always going for the easy way. And if it works for them, why trying to have them learn something they don't want to or don't feel like needing to? This (most countries) is a democracy you know :DSo unless everyone changes all of a sudden, it's not going to happen.

[unimatrix 0]

unimatrix. IBM wasn't the reason why so many people use Linux. The real reason was RedHat.

 

If it wasn't for RedHat, many people would still use Windows and the infestation would already covered the world.

 

One real life example is my dad's office. When he was planning to get a server, if it wasn't for the RedHat "ad" mail and HP's "ad" mail, then he would've landed and used a Windows server.

 

xboxrulz

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Yeah, you haven't spent much time in a corporate data center have you? That company purchased $12.9 Million dollars worth of equipment & support from IBM. They still had some machines From SUN that were still running Solaris 2 and still supported by Sun Microsystems almost 15 years later! The version of Linux they were running was also SuSE Enterprise with Oracle. It was almost a joint version of Oracle 8i with SuSE at the time. I think they spent almost $1M on just the Oracle software.

 

In the past year we had watched SGI go from a major player in the market to almost out of business. Redhat was still questionable. They were still massively in the Red. SuSE also was still in the Red, but IBM put in writing they would continue to support the Linux Platform through at least 2011. (2001 at the time). With the burst of the tech bubble, there were serious doubts whether Redhat would be in business in the next five years. They are, but I don't hear nearly as much about Red Hat and Linux as I do IBM and Linux these days. Why is the one advertising the E-series on TV?

 

Linux has killed IRIX, put Solaris on life support, and turned AIX into the high-end speciality Unix when stablity and security are the priority. Linux has not dented the SMB market hardly at all if you exclude web-servers. That market is still pretty much dominated by Windows. Why? They already have it and there are far more MSCE's that Linux certs running around. Contrary to popular belief, most small businesses have not had many issues with the NT series of products.

 

There is a serious problem in the Linux community of people seeing it as being the "Elite" OS. Well guess what? Nobody is going to use it if it is for "Elitest Nerdy Smucks". (I would look up the song "Every OS sucks" by the comedy troupe Three Dead Trolls in a baggie. It is a free MP3 download and so very truethful). People use Windows because that is what they are used too. They've used it before and they can go to Best Buy and purchase anything they need, click two buttons and then use it for something. The majority of users don't want to have to bother with some of the problems with Linux. If they want to buy printer, they don't want to have to worry about not having drivers. If they by a program, they want to to put in the CD, have it install it's self and then use it. Despite the flaws of Windows, Windows is the only platform that offers that today. Until someone offers something easier and better, they will continue to use Windows.

 

Linux is the Commercial Server Unix killer, not the microsoft killer. If you look at that 5% - 8% market share of Linux, how many of those units are servers? Probably a large share.

 

When Linux goes up against Apple OS X for home users, OSX usually comes out ahead thanks to iLife and other budled Apple software even though the hardware is more expensive.

[snutz411 0]

I've been away from this forum for a couple weeks because I was on vacation, but its real nice to see this thread has taken off.For now let's take a look at who uses a Unix based OS...Most major and small market companies use it for servers and database administration.Believe it or not, Linux is VERY popular outside of the USA. I don't have exact numbers, but I know for a fact that it is very popular in Europe and South America. In the US, Microsoft is king, so Linux owns that small market share maybe 6-8% of all computer users.Maybe there is a reason for all of this and why Linux isn't as popular as it should be.And what would the world be like if EVERYONE used Linux?1. Everyone and their brother could apply for high paying DBA and network administration jobs.2. Linux will finally see its share of viruses.3. Since everyone abandoned Windows, a small group of rebels revert back and it is now known as the "elite OS".

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

lol, Windows, elite, quite funny. As for viruses, they can't crash a whole system unless it was ran on the root account.xboxrulz

[yordan 10]

they can't crash a whole system unless it was ran on the root account.

And, of course, you are never connected as root on your Linux system while you are surfing on the web ? For instances when you wish to download a rpm patch, ou first login as a standard user, and you go on the web in order to get your patch, and then remove your Ethernet cable before connecting as root on your system ? Does somebody really behave like that ?

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

using the sudo command, you can install RPMs, and most people install from trusted sources (i hope)xboxrulz

[unimatrix 0]

while the design of *iux makes it less prone to viruses, if 50% of the worlds computers were running <<pick your distro here>>, you'd see a lot more viruses out there for that system. That being said, people don't always download from "trusted" sources. That's one reason why Windows has so many problems. Especially from people trying to pirate software, music, and movies. Security through Obscurity seems to only work for AIX...

[snutz411 0]

using the sudo command, you can install RPMs, and most people install from trusted sources (i hope)

 

xboxrulz

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If people don't donwload from secure sources and LOVE staying logged in as root maybe they should use non-RPM based distros of Linux.

[yordan 10]

If people don't donwload from secure sources

The problem is, how do you know that a given source is secure ? Yesterday I connected to a friend's site, hosted at t35.com. I recommend this site to my best enemies. On t35.com, the "page not found" error redirects you to the SpywareStrike page, so then I entered in an endless loop. Finally I gave up and reloaded my system from the last backup.How can you trust a site ? A friend's site is not a good reference, because the hosting provider can change his no-ads politic. I'm sure even not all the sites mentionned at Xisto forum are ad-free and problem-after-unwanted-download-free !

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

never got an infinite loop when visiting t35.com. I'm using Linux and never had that problem.Seems like it only affects Windows users.xboxrulz

[yordan 10]

Seems like it only affects Windows users.

Once more, a good reason for choosing Linux. Unfortunately, if you design a site for home users, some of them are still using Crosoft Windows.

[qwijibow 0]

Fortunatly, Linux is just a kernel.There will always be some distro's aimed at computer illiterates.There will always be distro's aimed at the power users / software hackers.And there will always be distro's aimed at toasters, for users who's needs for toast, is equal to there needs for servers.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

yes, just like SuSE Linux, Ubuntu and etc. All aimed at home, business and school users.xboxrulz