Desktop Linux has never been big and likely won't because the desktop is
dying. That means that Linux growth will likely continue.
In the last two days, China announced that it set a speed record for the
fastest computer. OS was Linux. The London Stock Exchange set a record for
the fastest trading ever. OS was Linux. Android continues to grow. Many
devices that people use have Linux. This includes most ebook readers except
the iPad, most GPS devices, most routers, many TVs, TiVo and the list goes
on and on. The big buzz word is cloud computing and Linux is huge in that.
Most of the big search engines run Linux. Paypal uses Linux. Amazon uses
Linux. Ebay uses Linux. Most banks use Linux at the server level. The
internet runs on LAMP.
Microsoft has been slow off the mark in competing on embedded OS and the
cloud. Their server share is growing but not at the expense of Linux. Unix
share continues to plummet and both Linux and Windows are capitalising. This
is not surprising given the treatment of Solaris by Oracle, the sale of Sun
and Novell's troubles.
When Ray Ozzie resigned from Microsoft his swan song announcement trumpeted
the cloud which he was responsible for and the death of desktop computing.
People are connecting like never before, but the desktop experience is
becoming less important every day. To run all of that, we need embedded OSes
and servers. He gets it, but Microsoft did not. They are still counting on
the desktop and are not making decisions that will help them in the future.
Yes, there is Windows Phone 7, but it is late in coming, has no following,
has no apps, and Microsoft has an inflated image of itself. People are loyal
to Apple, but not to Microsoft. MS is fighting a battle that it cannot win.
Apple fanboys will buy anything Cupertino makes, but MS has no fan boys. It
can't create them by copying Apple and doing it badly. Whatever Apple can
do, Microsoft can do worse. For that reason, Apple has surpassed MS in
earnings and it has huge war chest to diversify and grow stronger. MS is
making money, but not at the rate they used to. I am no Apple fan. I am just
telling it like it is.
Linux has always been diverse. It is an alternative and that is all that it
has aspired to be. Many people like to project their own hopes and desires
and think that Linux is not successful because it has not yet broken the 1%
level for desktops. However, in parts of the world it is much higher and
other parts it is lower. We tend to be ethnocentric and think that what is
happening here is global. Not! I think that Linux is successful and could
not care a whit what others judge it to be using their own measure. I would
think that MS would love to own Linux, but they can't. I know that they
would love to crush Android, but i bet that they would like to own it even
more. Every computer not running Windows is lost money to them. Every
Android phone is a lost opportunity. See, it all depends on how you view
things.
The strength of Linux is its diversity. It means that it will always be
here, even after desktop computing itself dies. Somebody will keep it alive,
just because they can. The same cannot be said for Windows. It will die when
Microsoft decides not to produce another version.
I do not see your comments as inflammatory so much as, you fail to make a
point.
Roy
Using Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, 64-bit
Location: Canada
On 30 October 2010 12:06, Paul <pfrederick1@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> --- In LINUX_Newbies@yahoogroups.com <LINUX_Newbies%40yahoogroups.com>,
> Roy <linuxcanuck@...> wrote:
> >
> > There is no perfect distribution, which is why we have so much choice.
> > What works for one person will not do for another. We are all
> > different which is a good thing and have different hardware and
> > different needs. If there was just one distribution then we would
> > likely be complaining even more than we do.
> >
> > SuSE is a good distribution, but not for newbies, IMO. It tries to be,
> > but it can become very unstable if you install many packages and don't
> > know what you are doing, due to the way Yast handles dependency
> > conflicts. It asks, do you want this or that, which is okay as long as
> > you know what this or that is and how it will affect your system.
> >
> > Newbies should stick with Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva or
> > SimplyMEPIS and once they learn then they can branch out to use
> > openSuSE or Fedora and even more basic ones like Arch or Gentoo.
> >
> > Roy
> >
> > Using Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, 64-bit
> > Location: Canada
> >
>
> Now I hope no one takes this the wrong way but I cannot say as I agree with
> the sentiment of this. (yeah right like no one is going to take this the
> wrong way!)
>
> Achieving perfection has nothing to do with the proliferation of Linux
> distributions. Neither does functionality. What works on one Linux distro
> can be made to work in any other. Or it ain't Linux!
>
> Why we have so many distributions is a subject better taken up by social
> psychologists than here. It rests firmly in their domain of expertise. It
> also does great damage to Linux on a variety of fronts. So no, it is not a
> good thing.
>
> Your post, my reply, and the countless idiotic responses it most likely
> will elicit are ample proof of that! Distro proliferation is merely a
> symptom of larger issues that muddy the water, cause undue confusion, and
> retard Linux's growth.
>
> http://www.netmarketshare.com/report.aspx?qprid=9&qpcustom=Linux
>
> Yeah it is going down your eyes aren't deceiving you.
>
> Although one one level Linux is not even a distribution but just a tarball.
> But when one takes a dip in the mud it invariably drags the other along with
> it. The two are inexorably linked I am afraid.
>
> I probably would live a more comfortable life if I didn't say things like
> this, but sometimes compulsion overwhelms me. Now please before anyone
> replies try to understand the spirit of what I said. Try to understand! I
> know this is a complex issue but do try. And if you can't I guess that is OK
> but I don't suffer fools, or I'd be running Windows.
>
> Maybe this isn't a topic for newbies to contend with, but maybe it is. Bad
> habits, and incorrect mindsets do start at early stages. I'm just trying to
> do my small part to derail that is all. Well that's my 2 cents. The change I
> get from this deal I don't see adding up to a whole lot but I guess I'll
> see.
>
> Paul
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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