Here's a great article on why Linux will prevail.

This is very well done. It explains why Linux will eventually become the defacto standard and what it needs to do to get there. A great read.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-841870.html

-DarkArctic

i love this...its awesome. it is currently in my AIM profile

No one would buy a car with a welded-shut hood, yet we continue to buy software that way.

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jeff

That article is my sentiments exactly, but Joesixpack doesn't always want to give something different a try. If more computers came shipped with Linux, I think you would see a movement of people switching not to say that many haven't already.

Read it, it's a good article.

J

if i remember correctly, dell offers servers running redhat, but i don't know if buying a dell PC with redhat installed is possible.

jeff

Dell offered desktop machines with Linux pre-installed. I think I remember that BBBBB threw a hissy fit, and Dell stopped offering a healthy alternative to a Microcorrupted engendered stomach ache.

As long as you can't by software at wallmart and go home and run it on your computer, and you can't by any pc computer part and put it on your machine then linux will fail.

Give it up, linux has lost the desktop war, the server war, that is still up for grabs and I think linux could win that won.

eab said:

As long as you can't by software at wallmart and go home and run it on your computer, and you can't by any pc computer part and put it on your machine then linux will fail.

Give it up, linux has lost the desktop war, the server war, that is still up for grabs and I think linux could win that won.

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Have you seriously shopped at Walmart lately ? I think the answer is no, otherwise you would have Mandrake 8.1 Linux sitting on the shelf waiting to go home.

J

come on man, don't go dissing linux in the linux forum. if you really think that it is losing the OS war, then post it in the debates section or something.

jeff

No, let us argue here. I'm never gonna see it in the debates forum.

Walmart will start selling Linux apps if there's demand. As it is, Joesixpack can get most anything done with free software on Linux already so there's no reason for him to go into Walmart and buy some crummy commercial software for his Linux system.

Games are another story, though. Unfortunately, not enough people bought games so the porting houses folded, and now ports are done pretty much as charity.

Originally posted by eab
Give it up, linux has lost the desktop war, the server war, that is still up for grabs and I think linux could win that won.

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ok, lets keep this debate in alt os's. ask anybody, and i mean anybody who knows anything about servers what operating systems run most of the major servers. it is a proven fact that linux is a more stable server operating system, and it is more practical to run than windows in a server setting. honestly, i'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but i'm serious about this. windows is far from winning the server war.

as far as the battle on the desktop front goes, heck, there is no battle yet. its still antebellum if you ask me. i'm not saying that linux will positively ever get ahead in the home pc market, but i have a very good feeling that it will at least gain a lot of ground on microsoft and make microsoft question their strategies. i don't think linux can LOSE ground as it is. it is only getting more popular, and with more user friendly distrobutions that can win over the masses, it is becoming a lot more practical for home usage. of course, for the major geeks, there are a lot less frilly distros available. but linux has a long way to go. it still has a lot of hurdles to jump, but i believe with the help of the community, it will become a major force in the home pc market.

jeff

Come on, we all know FreeBSD is going to take the desktop

But seriously, why does the average user need/want Linux on the desktop?

personally, it is a hobby, and i like it. i'm not against windows, but it is nice to have an alternative. a lot of people just don't like windows period, and would rather use something different. the truth is, there are too many reasons to list why people like linux and use it on their desktop. personally, i am well on my way to not needing windows, if i choose not to want to use it.

jeff

Visidex said:

Come on, we all know FreeBSD is going to take the desktop

But seriously, why does the average user need/want Linux on the desktop?

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Because some distros are almost as easy to install and run as windoze, and because all of them cost nothing more than the cost of the media and tech support.

Spike Spiegel said:

ok, lets keep this debate in alt os's. ask anybody, and i mean anybody who knows anything about servers what operating systems run most of the major servers. it is a proven fact that linux is a more stable server operating system, and it is more practical to run than windows in a server setting. honestly, i'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but i'm serious about this. windows is far from winning the server war.

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I SAID they propaloly would win the server war. Another reason they will lose the desktop war is most people are content were they are at. (maybe not happy but, content) And (correct me if I am wrong) Linux would or does not run well with name brand computers,(dell, gateway, hp, compaq). I may be wrong on that one through.

i'm sorry about that first part, i completely read your thread wrong.

Another reason they will lose the desktop war is most people are content were they are at. (maybe not happy but, content

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more like oblivious and unknowing. not saying they'd like linux if they tried it, but most people have never heard of it.

Linux would or does not run well wih name brand computers,(dell, gateway, hp, compaq). I may be wrong on that one through.

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its because most computers are built with windows in mind. however, i don't think that most premade computers would be too hard to set up to run linux. in fact, dell sells servers and PCs with redhat installed.

jeff

If LInux doesn't win the desktop war, it certainly won't be because it's an inferior OS. The major threat I see to Linux is the fear of the unknown. It took me a killed HD to get over that fear (though I was planning to switch when I had a long break from school). I wasn't happy (more like moderately miffed) with windoze, but I knew how to get around and how to do what I wanted to. That, IMHO, is the hardest thing to let go of.

I believe that there are 2 things that prevent Linux from ruling the desktop market.

1) Bad driver support. Not many companies offer drivers for Linux, so the community has to make their own. nVidia offers a new kernel, but I think that it is far too inconvenient to install a new kernel just for 3D support. They need to get companies to try and supply with ready made drivers that are easy to install.

2) Games/3D support. There is a very large market for gaming. Linux would be the perfect platform for gaming. It's fast and stable. If more companies supported it like id software does we'd be set. They built in Linux support for Quake 3 and Return to Castle Wolfenstien. It would be even better if a perfect, user-friendly version of WineX came out. If DirectX worked in a Linux environment (even though DirectX isn't that good compared to OpenGL) that would be the mother of all OS's.

Whew, This turned out longer than I expected. I hope you enjoyed my rant. I sure did.

-DarkArctic

1) Bad driver support. Not many companies offer drivers for Linux, so the community has to make their own. nVidia offers a new kernel, but I think that it is far too inconvenient to install a new kernel just for 3D support. They need to get companies to try and supply with ready made drivers that are easy to install.

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They don't offer an entire kernel, just a kernel module. Install it, and you're good to go, probably without even rebooting. Its not much of a hassle at all, especially if the distro makes a nice frontend for managing RPMs.

2) Games/3D support. There is a very large market for gaming. Linux would be the perfect platform for gaming. It's fast and stable. If more companies supported it like id software does we'd be set. They built in Linux support for Quake 3 and Return to Castle Wolfenstien. It would be even better if a perfect, user-friendly version of WineX came out. If DirectX worked in a Linux environment (even though DirectX isn't that good compared to OpenGL) that would be the mother of all OS's.

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The big porting houses who ported games to Linux went bust because not enough people bought their games - they just got hassled alot for free binaries because people already bought the Windows version of the game.

I think having to use WineX for gaming would suck, I'd much much rather have real native ports. Besides the fact that the ports would play better, the money you spend on them goes back into Linux in one form or another. If you just go around buying Windows games for free bins or playing in Wine, then you are further marginalizing Linux in the view of the people who make the decisions because they see even more sales for Windows and even less for Linux.

Loki put out alot of good ports, but didn't sell enough, and went out of business last month. Playing their ports was alot better than trying to play the same game under Wine, even if Wine had the game running without any glitches from the game's perspective.

I didn't know it was a module. Well thanks for correcting me, I learned something new.

As for gaming, I agree that Wine isn't exactly the greatest program, it's still the simplest way of playing Windows games on Linux instead of porting every single game.

I guess my point is that they need to work on standarizing more things on Linux. I read a post here about a Linux stardardization council being formed but I didn't get a good look into them. They have the idea down, but we still need to see if they do the job right.

-DarkArctic