One day I tried to install Linux. Ubuntu installed it like magic. The process was just a little bit more complicated than Windows, but I could still do it. So I was happy. Then I realized that my video card wasn't installed correctly that my max resolution was 1024x768. So I googled the web for instructions. One person says that, the other says this, depending on your processor, linux version and distro, and whether you have installed KDE or GNOME or one of those components that sound completely foreign to me.
Nevertheless, I tried all the complicated solutions, and none of them worked. Then I gave up and switched back to Windows. I have done this twice.
You know why Linux has failed to dominate Windows and even Mac OS X? Lack of direction, lack of dedicated team, lack of marketing, and lack of identity. When I heard Linux, what did I have in mind? Complicated OS with gazillion different distros and versions each of which is no different than the others. When random strangers heard Linux what would they think? Huh?.
will linux ever be able to takeover windows in popularity
Well.DirectX & XNA is your friend. So to make and play cool games, which i believe we all love to do. We have to stick around with the big guy. So with gamedevr's Microsoft wins hands and probably pants down. Well you got the point.[smile]
I belive that GNU/Linux will get a bigger share of the "desktop" market, maybe even as much as 4-5% (If we include netbooks in the "desktop" market) , but it probably won't ever get past Windows. it doesn't have to though, as long as the marketshare is big enough for hardware and software manufacturers to support it those of us who choose to use it will have our free OS while at the same time the added competetive pressure will push Microsoft to improve their products even further to motivate its higher pricetag.
The problem today is mainly lack of support from hardware and software manufacturers, proprietary software can and should be as easy to install and update in Linux as the free software is (download and doubleclick on the .deb or .rpm or select it using the package manager) (Some vendors are really horrible here while others are really good)
Im perfectly happy using Linux as a free UNIX like OS for my servers but for my desktop Windows does the job and has all the software i want. I do run linux(dualboot with XP) on my laptop and it works almost flawlessly (got an AMD/ATI graphics card) , But i mainly use it to ensure that my software compiles and runs on Linux aswell.
If Wine becomes able to run all Windows software with good performance i wouldn't bother paying for another Windows licence when i buy a new computer the OS isn't that important imo, the applications are.
The problem today is mainly lack of support from hardware and software manufacturers, proprietary software can and should be as easy to install and update in Linux as the free software is (download and doubleclick on the .deb or .rpm or select it using the package manager) (Some vendors are really horrible here while others are really good)
Im perfectly happy using Linux as a free UNIX like OS for my servers but for my desktop Windows does the job and has all the software i want. I do run linux(dualboot with XP) on my laptop and it works almost flawlessly (got an AMD/ATI graphics card) , But i mainly use it to ensure that my software compiles and runs on Linux aswell.
If Wine becomes able to run all Windows software with good performance i wouldn't bother paying for another Windows licence when i buy a new computer the OS isn't that important imo, the applications are.
>>will linux be more popular than windows<<
very unlikely
now if the question is will someone usurp windows then the answer is,
most likely
look at the last 5+ years for evidence
'ms has been retarding, apple + google etc have been growing'
come what may, the only certainty is in ~2015 MS will be just another player,
now the question remains will MS be just a skoda or will they be a toyota
the concept of an OS is becoming less relevant with each year
very unlikely
now if the question is will someone usurp windows then the answer is,
most likely
look at the last 5+ years for evidence
'ms has been retarding, apple + google etc have been growing'
come what may, the only certainty is in ~2015 MS will be just another player,
now the question remains will MS be just a skoda or will they be a toyota
the concept of an OS is becoming less relevant with each year
Quote:Original post by Bregma
On the subnotebook: possibly.
Yeah, and this is potentially a huge market IMO. I find Linux perfectly suiting for it. Windows (even XP) eats more battery and is unnecessary since everything needed works on linux (Firefox, OpenOffice, some media player ...) and price is an issue on these little things.
For other things, to quote others, Nope.
Never in the mainstream market.
But for developers and researchers Linux and its features and way or working (and more generally, the Unix philosophy) better suit the audience than Windows imho. However this is probably in turn false again for game programmers, resulting in the quite dedicated Windows bias on Gamedev.net.
But for developers and researchers Linux and its features and way or working (and more generally, the Unix philosophy) better suit the audience than Windows imho. However this is probably in turn false again for game programmers, resulting in the quite dedicated Windows bias on Gamedev.net.
Quote:Original post by Yann LQuote:Original post by mikeman
Believing that, if the most popular OS was free,available to all and open-source, it would be better for society at large, isn't exactly the most illogical belief one could have.
It actually is a pretty good idea. However, the implementation is unbelievably poor.
The problem is that software development without a strict staff hierarchy, quality control and accountability just doesn't work. There's a reason why commercial software companies are organized like little dictatorships. An entry level junior developer just doesn't tell a project manager how he is supposed to do his work. And the latter doesn't tell the CEO how he is supposed to run the company. Everyone has his place and has to take responsibility for the job he does.
True, but successful opensource projects are mostly organized in this way. Take the kernel for example, like Oluseyi pointed out, it isn't a hobby project anymore: I believe the biggest contributors to the kernel are IBM and SUN. Torvalds acts like the dictator with a small circle of trusted developers. For some sufficiently important projects, especially when backed with commercial interests, open source development tend to work.
Quote:...
Such an environment doesn't promote quality and reliability.
So unless the entire Linux community turns around by 180 degrees and people can finally be held accountable for the stuff they produce and a 'master plan' for quality control is introduced and heavily enforced, Linux will never have a chance of succeeding on the desktop market. Never.
Thing is, this will never happen because it presupposes some kind of unity where a 'linux community' doesn't even exist imho. There is KDE and GNOME, freedesktop and the linux foundation, and some big distro's might work together, but that is already stretching it.
Personally, I don't think any linux distro will overtake windows, but popularity might increase. Just in recent years a small percentage of distro's and developers have been trying (rather than just saying so) to make a linux desktop more viable. Ironically, enthousiast linux users want this OS to succeed very much also for regular (non-technical) users, but when one uses even the more friendly distro's, this vision doesn't seem to be shared by most developers. You can see this clearly on wiki's where howto's are written that require CLI work, sometimes even when there is a one-two-three click gui solution already. You can't succeed as a desktop OS when you develop with hackers as your target audience in mind.
That said, I like linux and some thing are easier to use on linux than in Windows. Purely subjective and anecdotal benefits for me are:
- more drivers and easier installation of them (but only when supported, otherwise pain)
- live-cd's
- shitloads of free software
- customizable
- package management
- quick installation of both OS and software, easy multiboot
Quote:Original post by Evil Steve
Nope
Quote:Original post by Toolmaker
Nope
Quote:Original post by Omid Ghavami
Nope
Quote:Original post by Mithrandir
Nope
Quote:Original post by polymorphed
Nope
Quote:Original post by Daedalus AI
Nope
Quote:Original post by RedDrake
Nope
Quote:Original post by EmptyVoid
Nope
Sure.
In 50 years will windows still be around? In 100 years will windows still be around? Likewise for Linux?
In 50 years will windows still be around? In 100 years will windows still be around? Likewise for Linux?
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