A year and one half ago I was a Linux proponent. I thought it might free us from the Apples and Microsofts of the world. First off I want to say Ubuntu is the best Linux that I have used. So far all the upgrades have gone flawlessly. I can't say that for either Suse or Xandros.
If I were in my basement office where I have built a tested and true environment where Linux can thrive, I would probably use Linux far more. However, I'm in a office where we live on wireless connectivity. Wireless connectivity has been the Achilles heel for my Linux efforts. I haven't been able to get it to work reliably, and Wireless just works out of the box on Windows XP and MacOS X. Once I enter the passcode and I don't have to worry about my network connectivity.
Since I have been unable to get the wireless going, I haven't even tried our Samba Server or our Multi-function printer. The good news for Linux is that I'm having a problem printing with my Mac. The bad news is that the wireless on my Macs works flawlessly. The truth is that Linux isn't going to grow appreciably on the desktop unless something happens. That something would a respected organization in the technology world making it easy for consumer to get Linux that doesn't break and is very simple to use. I just no longer have time for fooling around just tyring to get a pitnter 5o 2o4k.
A year ago, I heard that Linux had overtaken Apple's Macintosh platform on the desktop. I think that is far from the case.
If you click on the image to the left you can see Windows has over 94% of the traffic that comes to our website. Macs have a little over 5% and the rest of the platforms are stuck with very little.. I don't see it changing. Things might be totally different outside the US where other factors come into play, but on these shores gaining desktop share isn't exactly easy, just ask Apple.
At this point, I think the only vendor that has a shot at a piece of the desktop market is Apple. Even they have a tough road to hoe
Linux appears to have missed the oportunity to overtake Apple. It's still too hard, and you have to end up knowing more about your computer than you want or need with other operating systems.
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