The Next Leap for Linux 517
Nrbelex writes "The New York Times is taking a look at the state of Linux. "Linux has always had a reputation of being difficult to install and daunting to use. Most of the popular Windows and Macintosh programs cannot be used on it, and hand-holding — not that you get that much of it with Windows — is rare. But those reasons for rejecting Linux are disappearing." The article discusses major PC makers' newest offers and compares them to their Windows counterparts."
Less keystrokes (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that it's on mainstream press.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Poor network performance in Vista, the OOXML vote and now, the Excel 2007 calculation howler have made bad press for Microsoft. Not a day passes on Digg without Ubuntu articles getting over thousands of Diggs. So now, the NYT, Forbes, Gartner, Yankee and the rest must join the Linux bandwagon. Or be left behind.
Correction (Score:5, Insightful)
Those reasons disappeared years ago, what needs to disappear now are stories repeating them.
Re:The fact that it's on mainstream press.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Linux's biggest mainstream advance over Vista will probably stay it's lower price for the next few years.
Re:Correction (Score:5, Insightful)
Its been that way since i installed slackware 1
Re:Hardware still an issue (Score:5, Insightful)
It is as difficult to install windows. (Score:5, Insightful)
Another disappointing thing about the article is that it positions Linux as a "cheap" alternative. The main point of Linux is not that it is cheap, it could be or it might not be. The real power of Linux is avoiding the vendor lock.
Re:The fact that it's on mainstream press.. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sick of... (Score:1, Insightful)
COULD THIS BE!? (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably not.
There's not going to be some sudden revolution to Linux, its going to come gradually. There won't be a Year of the Linux Desktop, I'm thinking one day we'll all look back and marvel about how mainstream Linux snuck up on us.
I doubt this article will get any more than a couple dozen people to try it. But its a start.
What amazes me is how rapidly its improving. The Kubuntu install I'm using is only a year old, but the new Gusty Beta is so much different it might as well be a different OS entirely. How much does Windows improve in a year?
Oh, that's right, they take SIX YEARS to improve, and ended up with Vista.
(K)ubuntu is out pacing Windows so bad its only a matter of time before it overtakes Windows in all fronts. I mean, the automatix problem they're talking in TFA is supposedly already fixed for Gusty, and there's a ton of other features that people will love.
And yeah, and takes days to get an XP reinstall into a usable state too, with drivers and Firefox and updates and anti virus and antispyware and office suites and media players that have to be installed.
Seems to me people who ask the question "is Linux ready for Mainstream?" compare it to a perfect Windows that I've never seen in person.
Re:Hardware still an issue (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hardware still an issue (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:5, Insightful)
If acceptance of linux is something that the community wants, then it needs to realize that Windows biggest flaws are also some of its best advantages. Afterall, its so easy to install programs on Windows that they practically do it themselves
The ubiquitous nature of windows makes it very easy to fix your machine should something go wrong. Part of it is due to the fact that there are very few versions of Windows, part of it has to do with the vast user base that windows has. You may not like how MS got there, but dislike of the situation won't change the problem.
To those of you who know how to use linux, remember this: While windows may have a steep learning curve when it comes to administrative work, with Linux the curve is a brick wall for most users.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:5, Insightful)
How is that any different than Linux, with the exception that with Linux, I wouldn't have to leave my house to go fix her computer?
The only reason I've left her on Windows is that she plays those Reflexive.net games. If they played on Linux, and were easy to install (there's nothing easy about Wine, and it only works on these Reflexive.net games some of the time) then I'd switch her over. Heck, I could even install the games for here remotely, if they'd run afterwards.
Re:The article contradicts itself. (Score:5, Insightful)
Nope, that's a trap [wikipedia.org]. OS/2 was essentially 100% Windows 3.1 compatible, and what happened? Developers thought, "Why bother writing an OS/2 native app when I can just write a Windows app and be compatible?" So OS/2 never got any apps to speak of. And we know where it is today.
Linux needs those alternative, native (or at least cross-platform) apps.
Re:Not really mainstream (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Not really mainstream (Score:3, Insightful)
And supporting Windows apps is indeed a problem for Mac OS X, but not a huge one. Why? Because you can install stuff like Parallels even if you are just a mere human.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? Sorry, but that's just not true. In fact, the famous Geek Squad usually fixes all Windows problems by re-imaging your box (which may solve the problem, but also wipes all your data, which is not cool at all, and not REALLY a true fix.) It would be like hiring someone to fix a leak in your roof and you come home and find that the roof was replaced, but now all your personal possessions in your house are gone.
To really fix windows problems requires a fairly significant amount of skill / knowledge that MOST end users (and Geek Squad employees) simply DO NOT HAVE. If this guy's mom runs into problems on Windows, she will call him anyway.
Once a Linux box is properly setup and running (which I admit may be a bit of a challenge if you have certain bits of "Windows Only" hardware) it is LESS likely to have problems than a Windows box in the first place.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem with Linux for Joe Blow is not fixing it when something goes wrong but getting it to work with peripherals, or new programs. It's gotten a lot better, but when Joe goes out and buys some device and plugs it into his Windows machine, the manufacturer of that device has made it as easy as possible for Joe to get the thing working. On Linux it's not (always) so simple and he might just have to either become a Linux expert or pay someone else to set up his new widget.
Same with software. There's a lot of stuff available for Linux and it's easy to actually obtain, but sometimes it's hard to find what you're looking for. It's also often poorly documented and sometimes works quite differently from everything else. Joe can't just go to the store and buy a nice shrink wrapped box with a manual in it, and he can't get what all the guys at work use.
Re:Correction (Score:3, Insightful)
The other 'problem' with Linux (Score:3, Insightful)
You're right about the hardware support. I have been planning to move my home PC to dual boot with Linux since forever: I've been leaving separate hard disk partitions free for this purpose for years. But I never have actually installed Linux on my main home machine, because every time I come to look at it and do the research, I find showstopping issues with some piece of hardware or other.
I don't think that's the biggest obstacle to widespread Linux adoption, though. In fact, the real problem with Linux from the point of view of average home or office users has nothing to do with Linux itself. It is simply that, as TFA suggests, the applications just aren't there for serious users. To get people to shift away from the Windows platforms they're familiar with, Linux must offer better applications, yet there is not one "killer app" for Linux. Many of the best mass market OSS software is also available for Windows, particularly on the programming and server software front where Linux has traditionally been strong. For end users, there are commercial offerings on Windows as good or much better than almost anything on Linux.
The really silly thing is that a lot of this is actually caused by the community-driven OSS model that prevails in Linux world, which admits the kind of politics that would be squished by senior management in a traditional, commercial software development company. Your average end user doesn't care about GPL2 vs. GPL3. He doesn't need OpenOffice to try and be an MS Office clone, because he's got MS Office. He doesn't care about your open standard calendar support in your mail software, he just wants to connect to his corporate Exchange server. He doesn't care that Firefox is just following W3C recommendations in how it renders the page, when the page looks wrong in Firefox but right in IE.
This isn't to say that none of these things matters. To you and me and those who would like to see a better world, the technical details and open standards are important, and for some of us, perhaps the free software philosophy is too. But the bottom line is that the end user doesn't care. He just wants a system that can help him to do his work, relax at home, or whatever. As long as Linux doesn't have the same level of key application support that Windows has, and some "killer app" alternatives that are substantially better than what is available on Windows, it will never be the "year of Linux on the desktop" no matter how good the operating system itself may become, how easy it is to install, how pretty the widgets are in the GUI, or how many geeks object to the de facto standards and vendor lock-in that prevail in the Windows world.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
Troubleshooting is not easier in Windows, especialy if an uninstall program f**s up and leaves your startup and registry in a mess.
The only real problem from the end user point of view is the numerous intall package formats, if you are running RED hat you can guarentee that the software you really want is packed for Debian, if you are running Suse its incredibly frustrating when the latest greatest version of whatever is only available at Ubuntu. How hard would it be to get a unified package management system?
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, Windows has interesting, non obvious features to prevent breakage, such as automatically reverting any modified system files - which can really be a PITA sometimes.
Very few versions of Windows? NT4, 2K, XP, Vista, server/workstation, home/pro, SP n, ...? This hasn't been a good argument for years now.
As to the user base, I prefer quality over quantity. Try asking for help in Gentoo Forums, for example, and you're in for a pleasant surprise.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, and those that have that knowledge usually charge a price. What would YOU rather do... pay someone knowledgeable for 6-8 hours to remedy the situation or pay them for 2 hours to re-image and update the machine? Even plumbers charge $90 per hour.
It's a simple matter of economics.
I agree, which is why that's often an option for end users. It can actually be a much less expensive option in the long run.
"Ready for the Desktop" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:what? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's nice to see an article that at least touches on the shortcomings that hold Linux back as a desktop operating system AND about what is being done/needs to be done to resolve those.
I think this sums it up nicely:
Linux is easy to start using, especially distros like Ubuntu that bundle a lot of good apps into a near-turnkey solution. I don't think any other OS is quite so functional immediately after install. Linux is also a dream for the technical-minded power users who love to customize and control every aspect of their digital workspace. Where Linux falls short right now is in the middle ground: going from the basic install to a system that is functionally competitive with Vista Home Premium or OSX without being one of those powerusers is a daunting task that can--and will, given time--be made easier.
Articles like this coming out of the mainstream media can seem like fluff with very little content to the avid Linux community, but they need to be taken seriously. They're a good indication of what the outside world wants to see in the next round of distros, which gives the developers at least a hint of a way to expand the userbase. Based on this article and others like it, I'd suggest two things:
1) Make media easier to start using. I'm sure there are a dozen distro teams working on this right now, so I'm probably preaching to the choir...but it needs to be said, lest no one say it at all. I've had issues making media work in Linux recently, and am sticking with Vista at the moment because I can't find a few consecutive hours to devote to troubleshooting the matter.
2) The current method of documentation is quite informative, but a bit dry and sometimes difficult to absorb due to the format. The Linux community would be greatly benefited by solid tutorials based on the documentation and FAQs that are spread all over the internet. I'm not talking about a text file tutorial...I'm talking about a video, or even (if it's possible) a custom live cd distro for the purpose of instructing users. However it can be executed, the end result should be advancing the skill level of the user beyond that which they might reach with the current documentation. (disclaimer: I have a personal interest in this, as I tend to stall out on Linux projects because I have trouble finding some crucial piece of information that might be better taught than read.)
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:1, Insightful)
Except nobody uses that option for home installations. In any case, most Linux distros have that option too.
Re:Linux must tackle this first (Score:4, Insightful)
This was back in the early days of XP, when a lot of home users had Win9x. I also had to walk them editing some text files like config.sys on occasion. Getting them into the editor was easy, but then..."No sir, you don't need to read me the whole file. Yes sir, I know exactly what we're looking for here. Alright, do you see a line of text that starts with 'buffers'? No? Okay, move your cursor to the end of the last--click the mouse there--right. Okay, now press enter--yes, it should start you on a new blank line. And I want you to type 'buffers=10'. Yes, b-u-f-f-e-r-s. No, don't spell equals, use the sign. Two horizontal lines, to the left of your backspace key. Correct. And the number ten, as in one zero. Yes. Now you want to save that and exit notepad. Yes, overwrite it. No, that won't break anything so long as you did exactly what I told you to do.
The point-and-click interface gives people a sense of security. It makes them feel like they're in control without being at risk of REALLY screwing things up. And there's some truth to that: changing a switch by editing a number in a GUI field is a lot different than editing a text file. You aren't risking breaking the configuration by deleting a slash or a hyphen...the only way to break it is with a configuration that doesn't work.
I would like to see a more unified control panel for the Linux GUIs that allowed you to tweak text files without having to dive into them. It's one of those things that would provide a bridge between being able to use the OS and being able to get the most out of it for your particular requirements. As with all things Linux it has drastically improved in recent years, but it wouldn't hurt to do more.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:3, Insightful)
Aaaaahahahahaaaaa! *wipestearsfromeyes*
Are you serious? windows is such a bitch to troubleshoot that nobody even tries anymore. Everyone with a clue just reimages when it inevitably starts to act up, home users and corporate IT departments alike. In Linux distros I have wonderful logging by the kernel and the apps, and I can run the apps from the cmd line where they will spit out lots of useful info, and often even have a --debug or --verbose switch. (Not even counting that if that doesn't help, I can recompile with debug symbols and just attach a debugger.)
Windows, in contrast, is so obfuscated that often you cannot even find out what is wrong in reasonable time (i.e., faster than a reimage). The Event Viewer in the computer management app is a sick joke.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about the rest of you who serve as help-desk for a wide circle of family and frineds, but the average user is completely lost if he clicks an icon and nothing happens. The only reason Linux isn't making inroads against MS on the desktop is that you can't go down to Best Buy and find computers with Linux pre-installed.
More than 60,000 Windows programs won't run on Linux. Partial List here. [viruslist.com]
Re:The fact that it's on mainstream press.. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not quite sure what the GP was trying to get at, but this is a bit misleading. The chief innovation of Linux was not technical, it was social. It's not like Linus was the first decent OS architect, but he (and RMS) founded a great community which made a great operating system (and a compiler, text editor, and much, much more). It was the community that made the software, but it was the license that make the community possible. The GNU GPL still draws far more developers than any other open source license, and this isn't all due to RMS making zombies out of us :-)
Re:Correction (Score:2, Insightful)
I suppose I 'work' in a different sector than the window shops.
Re:Less keystrokes (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Dell hardware only works with Ubuntu! (Score:3, Insightful)