[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Why Linux on the Desktop Is Dead here

[ReadandShare]

I use Win 7. But the next time I upgrade, I won't be just shopping for the best desktop OS. MS, Linuxs, Android (but not Apple)... whichever one comes up with a good OS that works across desktops, laptops, tablets and phones will get my business.

[nonseq]

This coincides with my, and my circle of friends, experience with Linux on the desktop.

Quote

Using Linux as a replacement for Windows takes more effort than it’s worth, and in the end I was still left with a poor substitute lacking tools I rely on like Microsoft Office, or native syncing for my iPhone and iPad...

...I know there’s an army of dedicated Linux hobbyists who will no doubt unleash a barrage of flames and tirades as a result of this article. They’ll tell me all the ways Windows sucks, and all the reasons Apple is evil, and make exalted claims about how wonderful their lives are since they made the switch, and how they’ll never go back.

Let me preemptively say, “That’s great. I’m happy for you.” It doesn’t change the fact that you’re part of a negligible market segment. It doesn’t change the reality that Linux is not as intuitive or user friendly as it’s rivals, or that it lacks the third party hardware and software support of its rivals, or that using it requires a learning curve and the dedication to dive into forums and learn to tinker. It’s great for hobbyists and hackers, but not for an average user at a company.

I don't have Tony's experience, expertise, or eloquence but this has been my opinion about Linux on the desktop for years.

Thanks, Tony.

Let the flames begin.

[donzeigler0x4o]

As long as people are actually using it on the desktop, how can it be dead? For millions, it's a suitable OS. Just because it doesn't suit your needs doesn't make it a viable alternative for someone else. I guess PC World feels the need to publish crap like this just to fan the flames...

[Jonsul]

"finding workarounds to get everyday tasks done."

Don't you mean, learning the linux way to get certain tasks done? I've had linux on the desktop for around 6 years and I'm only 23. My mother even prefers linux and only has to revert to windows to access her schools website which blocks it.

[eljkoari]

I am very sorry that every time someone mention linux it is thinking about Ubuntu. Why you didn't try Linux Mint? No disrespect but you are just wrong.

[arseshan]

If you couldn't figure it out in 30 days, you might as well consider yourselves destined to pay for stuff that thinks for you.

Moreover, you must be very dumb to have used Ubuntu for 30 days and not figured out how to live with it.

[Danieldv2e]

well apple survived with that 1% and 0% in server and mobile for years...
so i think linux will be fine.
apple and microsoft lack to support for linux, is by fear, not by linux be irrelevant.
the open nature of linux is a danger to the closed ecos from apple and microsoft.
maybe microsoft ruled the first 10 years of the computer age, maybe apple will rule the next 1o years, but when my kids in 2121 learn about computer history will be by a linux tool.
open source code cant be stoped neither in growth or adoption, and in the end it will overshadow closed alternatives.

[GrouchyGaijin]

I use Linux on my desktop (have been using Ubuntu and #! for about three years).

I think Tony is right.

It's great for hobbyists and hackers, but not for an average user at a company.

[bbvammy]

GrouchyGaijin, on 24 March 2012 - 09:52 AM, said:

I use Linux on my desktop (have been using Ubuntu and #! for about three years).

I think Tony is right.

It's great for hobbyists and hackers, but not for an average user at a company.

>>It's great for hobbyists and hackers, but not for an average user at a company.<<

Totally agree.
8 years on Ubuntu and free from the "Magical Dust" and broken porthole.

[arseshan]

Seeing the way things are trending these days, according to me, Desktops are only going to matter to those who need it and The rest of the world are going to be on tablets. If I'm not wrong Desktops might become a touch more expensinve than what it costs today because of reducing demands. A lot depends on how Win 8 fares in the market and if they have anything at all for the desktop users, because, One might really feel sorry (not me) for Microsoft for the situation they are in today, they are really finding it hard to choose between Tablets or Desk/Laptops as THE platform to base thier OS on, and according to me, Apple are not less confused either.

Apple having hinted (based on their new boss's statements during the "New IPad's" release) that they are doing away with MacBooks (air at least) in favor of Tablets, really puts the layman and Apple fanboys in a catch-22 situation. What I am really happy about now is Linux, No matter what platform or form-factor, they are always ready with stuff that works rock-solid. From Raspberry-pies to high-end Servers, If there is one OS that is consistent then that is LINUX.

This gets me back to the Journalist's statement that said "Linux on Desktop is Dead", I mean, He/ She has to desperately come out that huge rock he/ she is living under else stop ranting.

[HankRearden]

With all do respect to Tony, Linux is thriving. It may not ever become mainstream, but that doesn't mean it's dying either. I really love that Linux exists in the first place. It does us all a service. i just recently bought a Mac Mini and installed Lion Server, which was just $49 for unlimited licenses in the Mac AppStore. All I wanted was a Mac based file server. That's it. And that's what I got. But a few years ago that would have cost me $499 for 10 seats and $999 for unlimited. Today, Apple is going after the consumer that might need a server for small things and that fits me perfectly. A MacMini for $599, a LaCie RAID for storage, a USB drive for backup and three terabytes and a week later I have organized my data that I have massed up for the last 7 years. It was stored on random hard drives and was getting to be difficult to find.

We of course have Windows servers, but there are too many issues with working with Windows servers for a Mac. It was easier, and cheaper, to just buy this cheap little Mini and install OSX Server. If or when it dies, another Mac Mini will cost me $599. So it's cost effective.

On the Windows side, Microsoft Office Home and Business is a $199 product and you get Outlook with it. I used Exchange as part of a service package with our broadband provider. So I never had to buy or manage an Exchange server. The cost to me is the cost of the Home and Business software. And believe me I have been seriously considering dropping that and just buying another Mac Mini to be my email, calendar and so on server. It's just so cheap these days and the software is good these days.

I mention these two things because I believe I have Linux to thank for these low prices and excellent options. In 1999 or 2000 or whenever Windows 2000 and Office 2000 hit, I stood in line like a fanboy to buy Office 2000. And I really liked it. I really liked Windows 2000. I still feel it was Microsoft's best OS, period. I believe I paid around $500 for Office and $349 for Windows. Not sure as this was 12 years ago, but it was much more expensive years ago than it is today. And I see no other reason for this other than OpenOffice competing with Microsoft Office and Linux competing for Servers. And with Apple holding less market share than Windows, Apple must have really felt the pinch. The XServe is gone and so is the XRAID.

Competition does wonderful things. It forces companies to focus on what they're best at and it forces them to be price competitive. Both of these result in excellent software for less money than you'd pay otherwise.

I'm also a PC user and one thing about Windows I don't like is the activation policy. For me, I feel like paying customers are treated like dirt and pirates are laughing at guys like me because no matter what Microsoft does it will easily be circumvented and they will never feel any pain at all. The only people feeling this pain are the ones who pay to feel it. And that's me. Same with Adobe. I have to make sure I deactivate when I upgrade my machine so I can re-activate my $1,799 Adobe suite, else it will not let me even use it. And I'll have to beg Adobe to allow me to use what I paid for. That really bothers me. I hope and hope that those wonderful people writing software and asking for nothing in return succeed.

The problem for me is this. I hate GIMP. I have tried countless times to find a way to like it and I can't. I've been begging the guys behind Pixelmator for CMYK support and they basically say, the world doesn't need CMYK, RGB is fine. And it's that attitude that keeps me buying Adobe products. Open Source goes its own way. You can wait for the rest of your life to get a feature you want or you can go commercial and get it right now. And that to me is the big difference.

I love the idea behind open source, unfortunately they don't offer the tools I need. I hate what some of the commercial vendors put me though, but at least I have tools I can use to get work done.

As a side note, I really don't like where Ubuntu is going. And I don't like the new Gnome either. Honestly, I feel like some of these distributions are going in a bazaar direction and getting worse, not better. So now I sound like a fanboy because I've pretty much gone the Apple way. I find myself liking iCloud, and waiting eagerly for the Mountain Lion where we will have Pages documents that store in the cloud and get updated across devices instantly. With my MacMini Server I have WebDav and I can save my documents right to my server from my iPad. I can even print to my HP ePrinters. Now I have an ePrinter at home and one in the office. Lately I feel like Apple is the only one that understands what we mortals want.

[niranjan61]

We are talking monopoly system. I bet more than 99% use computer for browsing, email and office suites. You can do this in Linux. You don't have to learn anything to do this on Linux. I just run some search for you with single key word "Linux". 1. Best Buy only shows windows and mac in the result. if you run ctrl ^f on search result it finds 0 (zero). 2. Walmart shows only supporting hardware's like router or printer. 3. Office depot honestly finds 0 (zero). 4. Staples, same as Walmart. The established system makes extremely makes it difficult to find and buy Linux system. I read several time in past several years that american consumers fight hard to have pre-installed Linux made available to consumers. One interesting article was about Dell. Dell begun selling Linux system after consumer forums pressure. The price tag for Linux was more than window system. The Dell's fantastic reasoning was, It cost more, because they have to uninstall window, then install Linux. In USA system born with Windows, Mac or Apple. Few years back I purchased laptop and came with Vista, (you all know we do not have any choice here). It crashed in a week, again crashed. Since than as of today it runs Ubuntu flawlessly and everybody in home use that. The very important thing is most hardware manufacturer and productivity suit developer (CAD, CAM etc) only support Windows!!!. Government websites proudly says it works best in the "Internet Explorer" or Internet Explorer is recommended. Recently I learned that only Microsoft qualifies in federal contracts. With all this roadblock to Linux, people still use that.

[RascalLA]

I originally planned to install Win7 when upgrading to a new computer...then I ran into the gotcha's.

I live in South America and Windows is only available in Spanish. I speak it well enough but it's so much easier to work in my native English, especially when running into obscure Windows error messages and arcane support instructions.

So, perhaps Win7 Ultimate which would let me switch the OS to English? It costs as much as the entire new PC, including monitor. Maybe order English Win7 Home Premium and have it shipped here? With shipping and customs, it would only be about half the cost of the new PC. But, all of those pesky restrictions like one gets with DVDs for certain geographical regions. I can't be sure I would be able to install and register it since MS might geo-ip me and tell me it's not allowed outside of North America or something.

So I tried Ubuntu (having just read your 30 days with Ubuntu series, very informative). In an hour or two, I had a new OS that could play movies and music, an office suite, AMAZING security against viruses and hackers, some pretty cool games, internet tools for browsing, email and so on, a Quicken-like money manager (Kmymoney) and it boots up from power-on to ready-to-play in about 12 seconds.

It wasn't free though. I had to pay about US 60 cents for a blank CD to download and burn the Ubuntu install package. Hmmm, 60 cents vs 600 dollars. Maybe this Linux thing will catch on more and more in areas of the world where even a basic Win package represents a family's income for one month.

[xMATTPERKINSxk9op]

Some things people need to realize.

People are creatures of habit and tend to use what they are familiar with.

99% of computers come installed with Windows or OSX. Depending on if you buy a Windows computer or a Mac. Which means 99% of people are most familiar with Windows and OSX.

The majority of people won't even try another operating system or any other product that doesn't come already installed on their computer.

Linux is not as user friendly as Windows no matter what type of Linux you are talking about.

Windows computers are the gaming computers so you can't convert Gamers into Linux or OSX users.

When you look at things as a whole Linux was never really alive by mainstream standards. Linux is mainly used only by the most tech savvy people like hackers and technicians.

This post has been edited by xMATTPERKINSxk9op: 24 March 2012 - 10:35 AM

[Aalnwmn]

The problems you had with Linux come straight out of the Whiney-Newbie book of can't-do. Just because you had a hard time (much like a windoz person has transitioning to Mac) does not mean that Linux is not ready to take over the desktop- Actually, it never inteneded to do so.

Quite honestly, I couldn't care less about Linux taking over the desktop world. It is here to stay and I will continue to use it as my main desktop/server environment. Not because I'm a hobbist, but because I can do everyting I need to do without the nightmare of workig in a virus-infested, unreliable, and underperforming platform. Linux however will always be available, and always evolving.

If anything, your article just speaks about your competence and lack of geek-creed.

[htn081258]

Tony,
Try Zorin linux which allows you to choose windows xp, windows 7 or gnome interface. Gnome is the default but you can switch to winxp or win7 if you want after installation. Zorin distro(based on ubuntu) comes pre-loaded with everything ready for you to use. Download it here http://www.zorin-os.com/free.html
I have been using Zorin for 2 years and love it. Give it a try and you may change your mind about linux. The key with linux is to select the right distro. They are all free, so you just need to try different distro until you find the one that suite your need. The website that ranks all distros with links is http://distrowatch.com/

[nonseq]

Aalnwmn, on 24 March 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

The problems you had with Linux come straight out of the Whiney-Newbie book of can't-do. Just because you had a hard time (much like a windoz person has transitioning to Mac) does not mean that Linux is not ready to take over the desktop- Actually, it never inteneded to do so.

Quite honestly, I couldn't care less about Linux taking over the desktop world. It is here to stay and I will continue to use it as my main desktop/server environment. Not because I'm a hobbist, but because I can do everyting I need to do without the nightmare of workig in a virus-infested, unreliable, and underperforming platform. Linux however will always be available, and always evolving.

If anything, your article just speaks about your competence and lack of geek-creed.

Excellent condescension and arrogance- regurgitated from the Linux hobbyist playbook.

Linux in the back office and on servers rocks. And, if anything, it is this capability and power that will save Linux on the desktop for the hobbyist community. If ever professional grade graphic and office applications are developed for Linux- along with plug and play capability for off the shelf devices, Linux might do very well on the desktop, though it's doubtful that major software companies will develop for it with it's minuscule market penetration.

It is also a good solution for many who can not afford Windows or Mac solutions and may have traction in newly emerging markets if set up for the most basic of users to install and use it without jumping through hoops.

[EivindWikheim]

This article is incredibly ignorant, even downright stupid. There's so much wrong with this article I cant address it all, but I will try.

First off - you are comparing things you pay loads of cash for against things that are free. Windows costs you quite a bit, and for a Mac you "have" to buy their extremely overpriced hardware. And you say you lacked tools like MS Office. Again, Libreoffice might be one small step down from MS Office, as much as I hate to admit it, but MS Office is goddamn expensive, Libreoffice is FREE. Heck I even use it on Windows.

Secondly - that Linux is not useable for a company is not true at all, there are multiple successful enterprise versions of linux that work just as well as win/mac, Red Hat is an example.

Thirdly - you have used one version of for Linux 30 days, versus your years and years of using Win/mac. Do you really call that a fair comparison?

[BrianKantowpwl]

I read your 30 days with Ubuntu. It was good reading. However, you never really tried Linux. You tried to make Linux into Windows. That was actually almost your stated purpose.

I switched to Linux 18 months ago. I am a nurse with a nontechnical background. I went into it with the idea of learning the Linux way of doing things. Just like I learned the Windows way of doing things with Windows 95. After 6 months,I was more comfortable with Linux than Windows, but I was almost instantly able to 90% of what I did on Windows.

I would not dream of flaming you, to each his own. However millions use Linux as an operating system. It is far from dead and well seated to thrive as computing evolves.

I only ask, please do not tell people you tried Linux for 30 days, you did not.

As for Linux users. "We happy few, we happy band of brothers" or something like that.