Torvalds on Where Linux is Headed in 2008 305
Stony Stevenson writes "In an interview at the ITNews site, Linus Torvalds lays out his current excitement about the future of Linux. Torvalds is looking forward to hardware elements like solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says the operating system is strong in virtualisation despite his personal lack of interest in the area. 'When you buy an OS from Microsoft, not only you can't fix it, but it has had years of being skewed by one single entity's sense of the market. It doesn't matter how competent Microsoft — or any individual company — is, it's going to reflect that fact. In contrast, look at where Linux is used. Everything from cellphones and other small embedded computers that people wouldn't even think of as computers, to the bulk of the biggest machines on the supercomputer Top-500 list. That is flexibility.'"
Quick Summary (Score:5, Insightful)
Interviewer: Where is Linux going.
Linus: Its going where it wants to.
Re:Desktop Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought Linus was just an engineer...? (Score:2, Insightful)
The EEE PC from Asus shows the extents to which vested interests will go in ensuring drivers for display, ACPI, wifi etc. will be DRM-ridden binaries... and Linus hasn't had much to say about these things.
Maybe if he cared about the future of Linux so much, he would try and make as much of it GPL3 as he could?
Games, and the next generation. (Score:5, Insightful)
The day I see in a game forum "Use Linux, n00b." as the usual reply to "OMG! Low fps! Getting pwned! HALP!" will set the ten year count to Linux victory over Windows.
Re:Desktop Linux (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I thought Linus was just an engineer...? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Desperate sounding.. (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm the wrong person to ask, for multiple reasons. First off, I'm somewhat biased, of course. But the other reason is that I don't even know -- or really care -- how Windows Server development actually proceeds, so how could I even compare and make an intelligent point?
I simply don't use Microsoft products, not because I hate them, but because they aren't interesting to me.
And, they were talking about virtualisation and the development process used in both of them:
I think the real strength of Linux is not in any particular area, but in the flexibility.
So, where do Desktops and wireless come in all this again Mr. Troll?
Re:I thought Linus was just an engineer...? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not about politics, and this story has absolutely nothing to do with licensing, so let's not drag that dead horse up again. Sure, it's a valid debate, but there's a place and time for it, and this isn't it.
2008 will be the year of cheap laptops (Score:5, Insightful)
Vista alone is almost more expensive than the hardware !
Microsoft was a good alternative when computers did cost $1500, but now the price is just too heavy.
But they really can't win when the hardware is cheap.
If they keep remaining in the high performance market (which seems their belief, see DirectX 10), they'll lose their market share in 2 years, along with Dell !
Re:Quick Summary (Score:1, Insightful)
M$ doesn't care at all where YOU want to go. Perhaps you want to go to a hassle-free, open, secure system? (Well, that ain't windoze
It was just a catchy, feel-good, 'hey, we care about YOU', advertising campaign that sheep like to hear and follow and obey.
You will go where M$ wants you to go, and that is all there is to it.
Re:I thought Linus was just an engineer...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, when you buy an OS from Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem with the business platform is that it was built for the sole purpose of selling services, therefore when it eventually works and there's less demand for services (data recovery, repairs, etc.) it must be tagged as obsolete and replaced by something newer and shinier but still defective in order to generate again a strong demand for services.
This is the exact reason why Microsoft stopped developing XP the moment it started being a decent OS, pushing instead the adoption of that Vista crap, and also explains why anybody who cares for his/her data or systems should consider Linux, BSD and other operating systems built to work with no strings attached.
Re:2008 : Year of the Death of Linux (Score:5, Insightful)
I take it you don't shop at Wal-Mart?
I didn't see anyone in my office switched to Linux.. or any of my clients.
And you probably won't, as most office PCs fall under the jurisdiction of IT overlords who dislike users replacing OSes.
Sure.. they have nothing else to do other than wrestling with Linux.
I'll take that as sarcasm, and agree with you. The biggest stumbling block to widespread Linux adoption on the desktop is that it usually does take some 'wrestling' to get it to work, whereas Windows generally 'just works'. Yet that's not a fault of Linux, it's a fault of hardware makers who decide to release a driver for Windows and NOT for Linux.
I was going to mention the lack of GUI tools for some tasks, requiring users to manualy edit init files, but then I remembered how many times I've had to open regedit and manually change registry entries. In that sense I've had to wrestle with Windows as much as Linux.
See.. how many distros ??
Actually, a good point. There are a significant fraction of Windows users who don't know which version they're running, and in order to support them you need to know that. Same with the various distros, as they all are different enough so that you need to know which you're dealing with. I was recently at an acquaintance's house and saw their computer. "Hey, you run Linux" I said.... "No, it's Ubuntu" they said. They could have just as easily said "No, it's KDE". Sadly, as much as most
how many kernal updates every week ???
Less than the number of Patch Tuesdays in a month, apparently.
Linux sure got some momentum on academia. Well... to be frank.. its not because they really like. Only because they want to escapre from paying volume-licenses.
Actually, it *is* because 'they like'. $300 is nothing when you've got research grants in the million$. Academia likes it because they can whittle away and tweak Linux until it does *only* what they need it to do, and do it efficiently and fast. Faster than Windows. And when you only need half the computers to get the same speed, or can get twice the speed with what you've got, you use Linux.
But if you really want to argue cost, then don't forget the electricity bill. The $300 spent on a license costs more when you need to buy and power more computers to get the same results in the same time.
Furthremore, there are linux idiots who worship linux OS, who monopolize linux-OS in their domain.
There are Apple fanboys too. And yes, sometimes Windows actually *is* a better choice, although thankfully those special cases are becoming fewer and fewer as time goes on.
Linux community should give up their efforts and must try to learn some lessons from M$ and either help Windows to be better OR do something like Windows for FREE.
I think they *did* learn some lessons... lessons in what NOT to do. In fact, looking at Vista, I think MS has a few lessons that *they* need to learn from the Linux community.
As for 'doing something like Windows....for free', isn't that *exactly* what Linux is?
Afterall.. true power of linux can not be executed without being a linux-geek.. who knows all the command line commands and some degree of linux kernal modding... that's pathetic.
And the true power of Windows can not be executed... FULL STOP. Can't streamline the kernel, must know all the registry tweaks which may or may not be published anywhere. THAT is pathetic.
Re:Games, and the next generation. (Score:4, Insightful)
Basically, Linux could be the undisputed ultimate gamers platform, but I don't see why that would translate to "Linux victory over Windows" unless you have a significantly inflated sense of the importance / population % of gamers.
Re:What about users? (Score:3, Insightful)
Then run a linux distribution that is supported by vmware. You can't expect to run vmware on some random linux distro, no more then I can expect to run my Windows version of vmware on Windows mobile.
(And vmware 5.5, don't have any problems with the newer linux kernels. I am runnig it on 2.6.22 right now), so how old exactly is your wmvare?
Re:2008 will be the year of cheap laptops (Score:3, Insightful)
And if you have just one killer app that only runs Windows, it unfortunately becomes worth it. One reality we have to face is that some major publishers will have to start writing for Linux before most people completely shake off Windows.
Re:Desktop Linux (Score:2, Insightful)
WTB new PR headline (Score:4, Insightful)
The above has been in use since 1999. It needs to be retired. "We're not Microsoft," alone isn't going to cut it for much longer. If Linux advocates keep trying to use that line to the exclusion of all else, they'll eventually find that it isn't Microsoft they'll be competing with...it's Apple. That is one battle that they can't hope to win. OSX is both UNIX based, and with close-to-mainstream user friendliness. Next to that, people have no incentive to use Linux at all.
Re:Desktop Linux (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason why Linux is so scalable is because there is a distinction between the kernel and everything else. Furthermore the kernel is designed to be modular so that you don't need to compile in support for everything from all and sundry different file systems to PCI plug and play support if you're just going to install the thing in a router or wristwatch.
What would you consider to be "full blown" anyway? I would argue that Linux starts at a very basic kernel and builds up from there. However, it would seem that your argument is that Linux starts at a much higher level and then gets stripped down to fit into embedded environments. What exactly is the default level that you seem to be referring to? What is the least that you can have and still be "full blown"?
Re:Keep Aim in sight (Score:3, Insightful)
Tell that to my dv2315nr laptop. The one with barely functioning broadcom wifi drivers and non-functioning audio (conexant 20459).
If you aren't knowledgeable enough to keep the fanboyism down, how about not adding another useless comment to the discussion?
Re:Games, and the next generation. (Score:3, Insightful)
The point is, children are gamers; they spend quite a lot of time gaming and are the ones who'll do all kinds of stuff to get an additional FPS, especially if it's free.
Thet's why GP mentioned the ten-year frame: while the children's parents would still use Windows for work, the kids would play on Linux. And then they'd do other stuff on Linux as well.
Ten years later, former children would be quite used to Linux, probably even defaulting to it.
So in OS selection, just like in religion, just give me a child before he is eight...
Re:What about users? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What about users? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What about users? (Score:4, Insightful)
> of an installation. I just want it to be installed and running.
What's to be tired of? It's Ubuntu/Debian. There's a meta package for this. Just install the meta package.
If vmware weren't more lame, they could do this as part of their installer.
This is strictly a packaging and engineering issue. Vmware insists on
making software that needs to engage in kernel level shenanigans and
won't bother to take the extra packaging effort that entails.
Re:What about users? (Score:2, Insightful)
Windows is designed by marketing. Linux is designed by F/OSS politics. Neither one cares about users. (Mac OS X does care about users, but it is still immature by kernel standards, *sigh*.)
Re:Desktop Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
-metric
Re:WTB new PR headline (Score:3, Insightful)
You're forgetting what's so special about OSS. It's completely free. "Linux" isn't trying to compete with anybody. People that contribute to OSS do so because they want software to do what they want it to do without any restrictions.
By definition, as long as people are developing for Linux people will be using Linux. Who cares how many people run proprietary OSes as long as Linux does what the people who write it want it to do. That's really the whole point, isn't it?