Buy a Mac
Posted on 01/02/2002 11:44:58 AM PST by Reaganwuzthebest
Another year has gone by--an eternity in software-development terms--and it's time once again for PC users to ask themselves: Is Linux ready for the desktop?
A few recent factors may set off this line of thinking, including the hostile reaction to restrictive new software licence terms from Microsoft and new developments in the Linux world. But experts say there are a number of factors aside from the quality of the software itself that can affect the practicality of making the switch.
For the past few years, Linux has been riding a wave of hype that originated in the middle of the dot-com boom, and had to do with the surprisingly quick penetration of the open-source operating system into the Web server market. The hype has disappeared, and taken many open-source start-ups along with it, but Linux evangelists say the case for the operating system is stronger than ever. "Everybody has been saying that Linux is over because the dot-com boom is over. But Linux predates the dot-com hype," said Jacques le Marois, president of French Linux distributor MandrakeSoft.
A growing part of that case is a negative factor: the seemingly unlimited power of Microsoft in the operating system market. After apparently brushing aside the antitrust challenge from the U.S. Justice Department, the software giant released Windows XP, which to many appeared to place new burdens on desktop users while laying the foundations for a Microsoft-dominated Internet infrastructure. At the same time, enterprises protested at being compelled to accept new licence terms for Microsoft software that pressured them into more frequent software upgrades.
To many, a sane response seems to be to consider alternatives, with Linux foremost among them. A recent study from IDC found that 15 percent of Microsoft business users were concerned enough about the new licence terms to take a look at Linux or other operating systems. "Although 15 percent is not a huge component of Microsoft's customer base, it is never good to have unhappy customers," noted IDC analyst Al Gillen.
Thinking different
There have also been several significant advances in the Linux world that may give users some hope.
One was the release of new distributions from the three major Linux companies, Red Hat, MandrakeSoft and Germany's SuSE. All three were praised for reaching new levels of ease-of-use, especially in installation--an issue most Windows users never have to face.
The new distributions include updated versions of standard software, like desktop environments, browsers and e-mail programs, that have been dramatically improved in the past few months, and which are now much more convenient for those used to Windows and Macintosh systems. Of particular note are the KDE and Gnome desktop environments and Ximian, which runs on top of Gnome and streamlines things even further.
A few critical Linux applications have recently reached milestone releases. Galeon, a Web browser based on Netscape's Gekko rendering engine, has received good reviews and recently hit its 1.0 release. The Opera Web browser has been around for some time, but with its new 6.0 release the software has begun to win new converts.
StarOffice, the open-source productivity suite from Sun Microsystems, is in beta testing on its 6.0 release, which observers say is at last a credible replacement for Microsoft Office.
Perhaps most significant is Ximian's Evolution, a Microsoft Outlook clone that hit its 1.0 release in early December after a long development period. While other alternatives exist for productivity and Web browsing, Evolution will be the first Linux email software that can connect to Microsoft Exchange servers. Many Linux users still have to run Windows purely for e-mail.
For those looking to run Linux as their platform but stick with certain Windows applications, a startup called Lindows is aiming to produce such a hybrid. The company will sell version 1.0 of its software in the first quarter of 2002; it's a distribution of Linux with some proprietary software added on, and fine-tuned for running Windows applications for which there is not yet a full-fledged open-source equivalent, such as Microsoft Word.
For many types of applications, of course, Linux already has outstanding applications, such as the GIMP image manipulation program and a huge library for software development. But application availability is still the major consideration for most users.
"Applications are the key to success on the desktop and many of the most popular applications are available on any operating system you'd want--as long as it's Windows," said Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of systems software at IDC.
And where it comes to breaking into the Microsoft-controlled desktop market, good technology isn't the only requirement, Linux gurus admit. Every operating system has its quirks, and short of turning Linux into a Windows clone, a learning curve will be unavoidable. And while anyone having trouble with Windows or the Macintosh OS can usually find a neighbor's kid to help them out, that's not yet the case with Linux.
"We will have to get people to change their habits," says Mandrake's le Marois. "But they're not going to change in the next week or month. It's a long-term process."
Buy a Mac
I always made sure to make backups before doing any surfing, since information I needed couldn't be stored on the school's harddrive.
Is it time for Linux on the Desktop?
LOLLinux is a long way from being ready for prime time. Servers yes, the common everyday computer user--forget it! Just look at what happened when Dell offered it installed with support. It took Dell less than a month to figure it out as a support nightmare. Dselect what? Root who?
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I just read And In the Beginning was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson. Great read. Makes you think about the SHEEPLE way we just accept the Microsoft or Apple universe without thinking about what we are doing.
Bears repeating.
After playing with Mandrake 8.0 for a couple of months now, I think Linux as a desktop alternative is really still in its infancy in several ways. Perhaps the kernal is there, but the user end (both the GUI's and end-user applications) still are catching up.
From a development perspective there's a lot of linux application software out there that is still "alpha" or "beta" level code that is buggy and/or doesn't have full functionality yet. I sense that the window-managers are just now reaching a point where they're easily configurable and generally usable (I just figured out how to set up my own menus and keybindings in Enlightenment).
From a marketing perspective, there are some really solid programs out there, but the Linux software market hasn't yet really reached an "industry shake-out" yet, weeding out some of the weaker choices and simplifying the consumer decision making process. Also, the customer awareness and distribution channels have to break out of "geekland" (i.e. all the "slashdot's" and "linux.com's") before consumers even realize that there IS an alternative. Until someone actually starts marketing Linux aggresively for the desktop, few "normal" people will ever realize that it's even a possibility.
No matter how good XP is, I'm skeptical of product activation. It seems to be a first step to something else, like perhaps software leasing.
I'll keep 98SE as long as I can, but who knows how long MS will service it?? That's why I'm keeping an open mind on Linux (or even Mac).
This is true, and with office suite being probably the most prevalent application, Sun's StarOffice 6.0 used on Linux may give MS some competition there, considering it's free.
I agree with your assessment 1,000%. And I believe that this is the downside of the Open Source movement. It's like the old addage "Too many cooks spoil the broth." I'm a strange penguin in that I absolutely love Linux, but I'm a huge critic of Open Source.
Keeping with your marketing angle, how successful can Linux be when there are 10 distros of Linux? It doesn't matter if they all use the same kernel, which is truly all an OS is. Imagine if there were 10 distros of Windows! Unfathomable, right?
The creative minds are there for Linux to compete with Windows. But there needs to be weak-sister weeding out, as you have suggested, and mass vendor consolidation of the Linux desktop. Personally, I'd love to see Redhat, Mandrake, Slackware, and Caldera merge to realize this.
That would be a powerful move, IMHO. And you best believe that Bill Gates and Co. will take immediate notice.
I'll even go out on a limb, and predict that, if Linux does breakthrough, it will be in small companies with smallish (20-100 points) networks and limited IT support. Why do I say this? Well, as the owner of a small company (who wears many hats, including IT guy), Linux has some real advantages in terms of economizing on support (the learning curve is steep, but once you've got it knocked it's a lot cheaper than Windows), network stability, and general ease of maintenance.
The biggest barriers are installed legacy systems, and putting the final polish on the desktop environment (Ximian still crashes too much, and KDE is not suffiently intuitive for the non-techie.)
I wouldn't bet agains this happening in the next 24 months.
Why didn't they mention OpenOffice? It's a great alternative to both Microsoft Office and Sun's StarOffice. In fact, they make their application suite available for Windows as well, and it's free of charge.
99% of users would be content with an office suite that didn't have half of the bloat of 2000/XP. Office is great, but the last six years have added little functionality at excessive cost. It wouldn't be hard to create a better suite, but it would be hell to sell it. The gorilla is willing to do anything to prop up thier sales--including extortion judging from their latest "licensing" scam.
My problem is I rely on Adobe products. Thay and other suppliers are in the same boat. It comes down to the (seemingly unbreakable) cycle:
Applications will not support Linux until it has a market share> Linux won't get market share without application support> endless loop.
Great point. But I wonder what would happen if Adobe released a beta of Illustrator or Photoshop for Linux to kick around. Could word-of-mouth be enough to move other users who, like you, depend on Adobe and maybe want to make the switch? Just a thought.
Not very successful, but if you look at the "top linux downloads" on some sites like zdnet, tucows, etc., you'll note that the demand is greater for the more functional, more established, and easier to install distibutions (some of which you mentioned). While demand is only one part of the picture, it is a market-driven precedent.
The Open-Source movement is difficult to peg because an organization can't really incorporate as an "open-source" organization in the for-profit realm and maintain the "open source" ideology. At the same time, incorporating in the not-for-profit world (which fits the open-source concept better) is a turn-off for techno-investors (as Mandrake found out). I do think a shake-out is coming, though--at least companies like Mandrake and Redhat charge for over-the-counter distributions and (I think this may be their bread and butter) technical support. Hopefully at some point they will become profitable...
...But there needs to be weak-sister weeding out,as you have suggested, and mass vendor consolidation of the Linux desktop.
I agree in concept, but what you listed as a weakness of the Open Source movement I also take to be a strength. For example, I actually like to have a choice of multiple window environments, I just think it would be nice if there were, say, 4 or 5 solid ones instead of 11 that may include a couple that work ok.
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