I know the bulk of my readers probably don?t know a hell of a lot about Linux, and that?s ok. But the more I have been reading lately, the more I have had an urge to sit down and really write a rant about Linux, and Windows, and whether or not the underdog will ever really have a chance at anything.
For those of you who don?t know, Linux is an operating system. Windows is an operating system. It?s basically the software that runs your computer and allows you to do the things you do with it. In the way that Macintosh computers are different than PC?s, Linux is different than Windows.
Linux is also free, sort of. Generally speaking, you can download Linux off a bezillion different websites, with a ton of applications (usually everything you would ever need as a desktop user), and install it, all at no cost. Linux, by it?s nature, is ?open source? which simply means that the source code to the operating system is available to anyone who wants it. They can make whatever changes they want, as long as they make those changes freely available. This is the bottom line of open source.
Within the last 5 years, Linux has made huge strides as an alternative to Windows. I myself have given it a go and I know Chris & Jason are two guys that have embraced the Linux solution. It does a lot of things. I have a Linux server here at work and it works great. A hell of a lot better than any Windows box I have to deal with. In general, you hear from people who love Linux that it?s better, and from the Windows crowd, it?s always bad or it?s always ?Linux is hard to learn?, etc. Same argument, all the time.
I saw on Slashdot an article today about how Staroffice/OpenOffice (alternative to MS Office) is seeking ISO certification in it?s XML file format. The posting goes on to say, ?Hopefully this will cut down on vendor lock-in and lure people from using Microsoft Office. ” They think that the certification of a file format will somehow magically make people use Microsoft?s software less. Yeah right.
I always thought Linux was such a great product and I use it sparingly as I need to, but we are a Windows world. Do you think anytime soon everyone who uses Windows will be switching to use a Mac? No. Mac people love their Mac and stay with their Mac but they?re also aware of the limitations of their market. Apple will never take over the market share Microsoft has. It will just not happen. And the more I think about it, I?m starting to feel the same way about Linux. Linux will always exist, and they will have their fans, supporters, and great software, but ultimately, I don?t think they are going to put much of a nudge in the Windows world.
I always read these articles about how Linux is getting to the desktop. Linux is making big strides to beat out Microsoft. But the more I hear about it, it?s always feels like it?s the little engine that could. They could do this and they could do that, but ultimately, the way Linux is out there now, it?s not going to happen. Microsoft has a huge market share and regardless of how much crap they produce, people still buy it, still use it, and a lot of them are oblivious. Us techeads understand the differences but most ordinary people do not. How many computer stores out there sell computers with Linux on them? I don?t know of any in the city I live in. Why? Because they don?t run the stuff off the shelf that people want to use. If and when that ever happens, maybe Linux might have a shot, but ultimately, it?s going to go the same way as Macintosh did and have a limited number of excellent applications, that only a niche market will use. Linux will always be a serious competitor against Microsoft when it comes to server applications like Apache, but it?s never going to be a full, total, desktop replacement. I?m by no means bashing the OS as I think Linux is great, but even for the things I do here at work, which is very basic, installing Linux over Windows to run the apps I want simply would be more complicated, and more of a pain in the ass, then I would want. Windows has a lot of downfalls and is susceptible to a lot of security issues, but the fact of the matter is, I can install it, and run pretty much any application I want, without issue. Linux. I might have to compile the program, or maybe I don?t have the right library, or maybe I need the right version of the program to run it. No, too much. I just want to install something and have it work. Not tweak all the time.
As an example, I wanted to downlload a web traffic analyzer program for work. To get it to work, I had to download the source, compile it. The compile failed because I didn’t have 3 of the right libraries. So I had to download 3 other programs, compile each of them, install them, and then then I was able to compile the web app, and then I could install it. If it was a Windows app, I would have downloaded a zip file, ran the install, and went to it. I know Linux has RPM’s and other package management software, but this was just one example of something that shouldn’t be the case, for an OS trying to get onto the desktop. If it has been a desktop app, do you think the end user should have to go through all of that to install a piece of software. No.
If Linux ever finds a way to match Windows in that regard, for everything, I’ll switch.
So there. I?ve had my say!
