Posted on 07/12/2018 6:56:39 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Really there’s only two reasons:
Not pre-installed
Too many distros
Being not pre-installed you lose the entire casual user market right off the bat. They will use what’s on the computer and nothing. These folks won’t even install a different browser, forget a different OS.
And with so many distros, and of course the religious wars that go on where ever distros are discussed, the slightly past casual users that want to experiment are scared away.
None of the rest of that list matters as long as those two issues hold. Because you need to actually install Linux to run into the rest of this lists, and those two factors keep the bulk of the market from ever installing.
The best Desktop Unix box for the masses exists. It can be purchased from Apple with the Mac.
For better or worse, Apple won Desktop Unix years ago.
So you can administer everything with group policy then?
...and #4 is hiding in the shadows behind all three of those.
Most linux distros are easier to install than Windows.
We can use the best of both—We have group policies overall, but we can also administer on a local basis as well to fine tune our boxes.
Most linux distros are easier to install than Windows.
and the update updates almost everything installed
Yep.
For most people, who consider their computer to be a commodity item like a toaster, TV or microwave, the attitude is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
When grandpa buys his computer he doesn’t want to have to install an OS.
I do understand what you are saying, though. Linux was never meant for someone who knows *nothing* about computers, though it can be used by such.
DOS (and Windows later) was originally intended for end users, and not techies. That was IBM's market. Linux was targeted at techies, and was Linus' school project in a tech class at University. Big differences in origin, thus big differences in design and use concepts.
That being said, though, Linux today is just as easy (if not easier) to use as Windows. It *is* different, though. The same tasks will use different steps than Windows uses.
In 1984 I bought my first computer. I was torn between buying a Commodore 64 or the new Atari 1200xl. I bought the Atari because it had the superior hardware. Unfortunately everyone I knew had the Commodore and most of the available software was for the Commodore. My hard lesson was for any computing platform software availability is an essential consideration.
For this reason alone Linux has been, remains, and may always be a tiny niche platform...
Correct. I think that is the biggest hurdle to desktop Linux. People in general don't want a computer--they want an appliance. That's fine. I have no issue with that.
If Linux came preinstalled on more than a few (there are some Linux-only computer makers out there, as well as a few Dell computers that come preinstalled with Linux) computer, there would be a much larger market.
When grandpa buys his computer he doesn’t want to have to install an OS.
I bet Grandpa is so far behind in his updates and infested with malware etc
I haven’t messed with it for years, and have been in tech for ~25 years.
How about: 1) It is (was?) non-obvious, and overly difficult, just to install software.
The company I work for are slow adopters (I should just say slow!). They are only now beginning their Win-10 migration plan. It’s a mess because it isn’t very well thought out and they’ve done a lousy job of performing the ramp-up details.
A number of mission-critical apps aren’t compatible with Win-10 (mostly due to versioning). As a workaround they’re scrambling to provide VDI workarounds. It’s a perfect opportunity to start adding Linux workstations into the environment but they won’t even consider a pilot program.
So there’s your Number 11: Entrenched and myopic thinking on the part of IT managers
It has not been difficult to install software for well over a decade now. It is much easier to install software on Linux, than in any version of Windows.
I think you and I (and the author of the article) are in agreement here. I used to really be into building my own computers, etc. I even told my nephew at a computer “Swap meet” in Kent WA back in the 90’s to “soak it all in, because this is a brief moment in history, like when the Model T first brought cars to the masses. When computers become everyday items this will all go away.”
He’s now a computer geek and really gets into this stuff. I moved on to buying a hobby farm and mainly use my computer to surf the net, use VDI/VPN to do my job from home, practice my bass for gigs using youtube stuff, and play Command and Conquere. I also record CD’s and DVD’s and print on them on my Epson printer. It all works and I don’t want to mess with it. It’s just a tool.
But if I were in my 20’s or 30’s, I’d probably be all over Linux and trying to get my friends to get it.
I had a dual boot windows OS2 Warp machine back in the day. ;)
Yup—I’m fighting that same battle. We have thousands of servers, but they won’t think about it on the desktop.
Plus the Linux community is fragmented - hugely so. Understanding "under the hood" is likewise fragmented and variable. Good help is hard to find, no matter which way you go.
in a pigs eye
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