Linux News Roundup: Fedora 14 Gets MeeGo, Madriva Is Reborn
Linux Is on the Rise For Business
Top 5 Mistakes Made by Linux First-TimersDespite phenomenal security
and stability--and amazing strides in usability, performance, and
compatibility--Linux simply isn’t catching on with desktop users. And
if there ever was a chance for desktop Linux to succeed, that ship has
long since sunk.
Over the past few years, modern Linux distributions such as Ubuntu have
utterly transformed the open-source desktop user experience into
something sleek and simple, while arguably surpassing Windows and Mac
OS in both security and stability. Meanwhile, the public failure of
Windows Vista and the rise of the netbook gave Linux some openings to
capture a meaningful slice of the market. But those opportunities have
been squandered and lost, and Linux desktop market share remains
stagnant at around 1 percent.
I should emphasize that I'm not by any means talking about the demise
of Linux itself. New projections from the Linux Foundation credibly
show that demand for Linux on servers will outstrip demand for all
other options over the next few years. And, as I'll discuss at length
in this article, Linux has already established itself as a dominant
operating system on mobile and embedded devices ranging from tablets
and phones to TVs and printers.
But for anyone who has longed for a future in which free, open-source
Linux distributions would rival premium commercial operating systems
from Microsoft and Apple on desktop PCs, now might be a good time to
set more-realistic expectations. Though I personally wish that the
opposite were true, the year of the Linux desktop will never come.
Missed Opportunities
A few years ago, I infamously went on record with the belief that the
stage had been set for a significant breakthrough in Linux adoption
rates. After all, Ubuntu had created a virtually idiot-proof
distribution that was as easy to install as Windows or Mac OS X.
Hardware driver support had reached critical mass. Even major PC makers
such as Dell had stepped up to offer Linux as a preinstalled option on
laptops and desktops.
At the same time, consumer sentiment toward Windows Vista had reached
such abysmal depths that users were clamoring for other options. And to
sweeten the prospects just a bit more, the emergence of netbooks gave
Linux a nearly unchallenged new platform to dominate for months on end.
If there was ever a time for Linux to rise up, 2008 was that time. But
it wasn't meant to be.
Although Asus managed to spark a massive trend with cheap, simple
netbook PCs, it opted to ship systems preinstalled with a Xandros
distribution that left a lot to be desired. Other vendors moved just as
clumsily with a host of bad options that gave Microsoft room to sweep
the market by extending the life of Windows XP. In that one gesture,
all hope was lost for Linux's netbook revolution. Meanwhile, desktop
users who fled Windows Vista mostly just switched to Macs or reverted
to Windows XP.
By the time Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta in January 2009,
Linux had clearly lost its chance at desktop glory.
Why Linux Failed on the Desktop
The failure of Linux to catch on with mainstream PC users will come as
no great surprise to most observers, but the reasons for its failure
are often misunderstood or, at the very least, grossly misstated. Linux
didn't fail on the desktop because it's "too geeky," "too hard to use,"
or "too obscure," as casual detractors so often claim in online forums.
On the contrary, the best-known distribution--Ubuntu--has received high
marks for usability from every major player in the technology press,
and it features a menu layout nearly identical to that of Mac OS X.
Want to unwind with a movie on your Linux PC? Good luck.Ultimately,
Linux is doomed on the desktop because of a critical lack of content.
And that lack of content owes its existence to two key factors: the
fragmentation of the Linux platform, and the fierce ideology of the
open-source community at large.
User expectations have shifted dramatically in the past few years, and
it's no longer acceptable for any PC to fail at basic media viewing.
DVD playback and video streaming from premium sites such as Netflix are
now fundamental capabilities that any computer should have. But the
politics of the open-source world make that a nearly hopeless dream for
Linux.
"I share the hope with everyone that free and open-source software will
rise to meet the requirements of content delivery," says longtime Linux
developer Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing for
Brightcove, a company that specializes in online video streaming. "But
that's not happening."
"DRM is not popular with the open-source crowd," says Whatcott,
lamenting that the open-source community at large remains so
steadfastly opposed to digital rights management technologies. Without
those systems, commercial content providers have no incentive to
embrace Linux. And Whatcott points out that even if the open-source
community were willing to go along, the DRM arena is dominated by
"deep, deep patent pools," making a free, open-source alternative
unlikely anyway.
Meanwhile, even common streaming technologies such as Flash--which
Whatcott helped bring to Linux in his previous role as a Macromedia
(and later Adobe) product manager--deliver poor results on Linux.
"It wasn't for lack of trying," Whatcott says. "At the time, Macromedia
put extensive resources into figuring that out." But despite the hard
work of a team of engineers "that loved Linux," the fragmentation of
the Linux platform and the hurdles presented by what Whatcott describes
as "alpha-quality" drivers for audio and video hardware made success
elusive for the Flash development team.
We shouldn't be too hard on Linux, though. After all, there are stark
signs that the desktop itself is becoming irrelevant.
How to Choose a Desktop Linux Distribution"The war between cloud and
native apps has already been won on the desktop," says Guy Ben-Artzi,
CEO of Particle Code, which makes cross-platform tools for mobile-app
developers. "When it comes to desktop development, everything is moving
to Web technology. If I was really pushing for Linux right now, I would
not be focusing on desktop applications." Instead, says Ben-Artzi,
Linux proponents should push aggressively for open Web platforms.
Kevin Mahaffey, CTO of mobile security company Lookout, agrees. "Linux
can be successful on the desktop if it has a great Web experience,"
says Mahaffey. "The growth of things like HTML5 will help to give Linux
a user experience that's on par with other platforms."
According to all of my sources, if there's any last hope for Linux on
the desktop, it's HTML5. As the next-generation Web standard
establishes a common set of open media-streaming technologies, it will
offer a glimmer of hope to those who want to maintain Linux as their
desktop OS, increasing the odds that whatever content or services they
want to use will work on their open-source PC. Of course, that's
assuming the DRM problems magically disappear.
"In a strange way," says Brightcove's Jeff Whatcott, "iOS may save the
Linux desktop indirectly." Brightcove has thrown its resources into
developing HTML5 streaming tools, and according to Whatcott, "what's
driving that is iOS."
But if Linux ever manages to win equal footing with Windows or Mac OS X
in a cloud-centric world, it will likely be a hollow victory, made
possible only through the sheer irrelevance of the operating system
itself.
Our Mobile Future
"Forget about the desktop," Phil Robb, director of HP's Open Source
Programs Office, tells Linux developers. "I think that's not where the
effort should be put."
Rather than continue to fight for a tiny sliver of desktop market
share, Robb says developers should concentrate on areas where Linux is
strong. "Linux is already strong on small, mobile devices. If you're
looking for ubiquity and impact on the planet, the Linux community
should pat themselves on the back because they've already secured a
victory on mobile."
And it looks like Robb is right. Even before Google's Android emerged,
LG and other companies had turned to Linux to power the underpinnings
of feature phones. Now Android and, to a lesser degree so far, WebOS
(which HP recently acquired in its buyout of Palm) are putting Linux at
the forefront of smartphone and tablet innovation.
Simultaneously, Linux has emerged as the go-to platform for embedded
systems that power Web-enabled HDTVs and set-top boxes ranging from
Roku and Google TV to Boxee and a multitude of others. Of course, to
the end user, Linux is transparent in these offerings, and the
experience is a far cry from what traditional Linux desktop enthusiasts
have come to know and love. Notably, these implementations tend to be
closed rather than open, showing only a simple set of menus to the end
user.
End of the Road?
It has been a long trek since Linus Torvalds wrote the first Linux
kernel as a college project in 1992, and the landscape has shifted
considerably along the way. Despite grim prospects on the desktop,
Linux has clearly asserted itself as a major platform that's here to
stay. And of course, passionate open-source proponents will rightly
stand by their favorite desktop distributions despite the challenges
ahead.
But at this point in history, it's hard to deny the evidence: With
stagnant market growth and inadequate content options compounded by
industry inertia, Linux basically has no chance to rival Mac OS X, much
less Windows.
PCWorld executive editor Robert Strohmeyer has been a Linux enthusiast
since 1994, and still believes in the virtues of open source. Follow
him on Twitter as @rstrohmeyer.
Le 18/10/2010 19:01 dans fr.comp.os.linux.debats P4nd1-P4nd4 nous expliquait:
Linux sur le poste de travail est mort
Les miens fonctionnent encore très bien. Ton affirmation est donc fausse.
(Ca, je le dis depuis longtemps...)
Répeter une connerie n'en fait pas une vérité.
-- @+ Doug - Linux user #307925 - Slackware64 roulaize ;-) Usenet-fr ? Mais qu'est-ce que c'est ? Pour en savoir plus : http://www.dougwise.org/wiki
Michel Doucet
Bonjour/soir, le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:01:50 +0200, *P4nd1-P4nd4* a caressé son clavier pour nous dire dans le message suivant:
The dream of Linux as a major desktop OS is now pretty much dead.
For you and fortunately !
-- Utiliser le butineur, le courriéleur, le lecteur de nouvelles et le SE avec lesquels vous vous sentez le plus sécurisé ... ;) Posted via www.individual.net http://mdoucet.wordpress.com/
Bonjour/soir, le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:01:50 +0200, *P4nd1-P4nd4* a caressé
son clavier pour nous dire dans le message suivant:
The dream of Linux as a major desktop OS is now pretty much dead.
For you and fortunately !
--
Utiliser le butineur, le courriéleur, le lecteur de nouvelles
et le SE avec lesquels vous vous sentez le plus sécurisé ... ;)
Posted via www.individual.net
http://mdoucet.wordpress.com/
Bonjour/soir, le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:01:50 +0200, *P4nd1-P4nd4* a caressé son clavier pour nous dire dans le message suivant:
The dream of Linux as a major desktop OS is now pretty much dead.
For you and fortunately !
-- Utiliser le butineur, le courriéleur, le lecteur de nouvelles et le SE avec lesquels vous vous sentez le plus sécurisé ... ;) Posted via www.individual.net http://mdoucet.wordpress.com/
NiKo
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
-- Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove ! PS3 Firmware update 3.21 : The first software update which downgrade !
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut
rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et
iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est
moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de
leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de
paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher
quelque chose.
--
Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son
mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove !
PS3 Firmware update 3.21 :
The first software update which downgrade !
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
-- Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove ! PS3 Firmware update 3.21 : The first software update which downgrade !
P4nd1-P4nd4
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut
rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et
iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est
moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de
leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de
paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher
quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX,
oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci
voici 40 ans
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
NiKo
Le 18/10/2010 20:57, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Ah ? Tu avais parlé ? Je n'ai vu qu'une copie d'un article paru sur un site web.
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
Source ? Preuves ?
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
En français, ca dit quoi ?
-- Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove ! PS3 Firmware update 3.21 : The first software update which downgrade !
Le 18/10/2010 20:57, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut
rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et
iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est
moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de
leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de
paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher
quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Ah ? Tu avais parlé ? Je n'ai vu qu'une copie d'un article paru sur un
site web.
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX,
oui, il a un rôle à jouer
Source ? Preuves ?
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci
voici 40 ans
En français, ca dit quoi ?
--
Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son
mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove !
PS3 Firmware update 3.21 :
The first software update which downgrade !
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Ah ? Tu avais parlé ? Je n'ai vu qu'une copie d'un article paru sur un site web.
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
Source ? Preuves ?
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
En français, ca dit quoi ?
-- Le mode sans échec de Windows est la preuve que son mode normal est un échec !
SONY : It only does everything ... until we remove ! PS3 Firmware update 3.21 : The first software update which downgrade !
Yliur
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
Ce n'est plus une vieille technologie moisie âgée de 40 ans ?
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci
voici 40 ans
Ce n'est plus une vieille technologie moisie âgée de 40 ans ?
Le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:05:47 +0200 (CEST) Doug713705 a écrit :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01 dans fr.comp.os.linux.debats P4nd1-P4nd4 nous expliquait:
> Linux sur le poste de travail est mort
Les miens fonctionnent encore très bien. Ton affirmation est donc fausse.
> (Ca, je le dis depuis longtemps...)
Répeter une connerie n'en fait pas une vérité.
Si, si : "Une vérité est un mensonge mille fois répété".
JKB
Le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:57:31 +0200, P4nd1-P4nd4 <P4nd1-P4nd4@> écrivait :
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
Rectification. Linux est un Unix parmi d'autres qui est ce qui se fait de mieux actuellement sur un x86. D'ailleurs Unix n'utilise pas la moitié de ce que pourrait faire un x86. Même OS/2 (ou eCS) fait mieux, mais ils ne sont compatibles qu'avec eux-mêmes.
Quant à dire qu'Unix est génial, il ne faut tout de même pas pousser. Unix est une réduction de Multics sur un PDP avec les restrictions de l'architecture du PDP et on traîne ces restrictions depuis trop longtemps.
JKB
-- Si votre demande me parvient sur carte perforée, je titiouaillerai très volontiers une réponse... => http://grincheux.de-charybde-en-scylla.fr
Le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:57:31 +0200,
P4nd1-P4nd4 <P4nd1-P4nd4@> écrivait :
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut
rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et
iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est
moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de
leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de
paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher
quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX,
oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci
voici 40 ans
Rectification. Linux est un Unix parmi d'autres qui est ce qui se
fait de mieux actuellement sur un x86. D'ailleurs Unix n'utilise pas
la moitié de ce que pourrait faire un x86. Même OS/2 (ou eCS) fait
mieux, mais ils ne sont compatibles qu'avec eux-mêmes.
Quant à dire qu'Unix est génial, il ne faut tout de même pas
pousser. Unix est une réduction de Multics sur un PDP avec les
restrictions de l'architecture du PDP et on traîne ces restrictions
depuis trop longtemps.
JKB
--
Si votre demande me parvient sur carte perforée, je titiouaillerai très
volontiers une réponse...
=> http://grincheux.de-charybde-en-scylla.fr
Le Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:57:31 +0200, P4nd1-P4nd4 <P4nd1-P4nd4@> écrivait :
Le 18.10.2010, NiKo a supposé :
Le 18/10/2010 19:01, P4nd1-P4nd4 a écrit :
de la merde comme d'habitude
C'est dingue : Pour un OS qui n'existe pas, n'a aucun avenir, ne vaut rien, ne mets pas en danger les multinationales telles Microdowz et iPPle : Tout le monde passe sa vie à le dénigrer, à prouver qu'il est moins bien, à prédire qu'il ne marchera pas, à sortir des chiffres de leur chapeau pour montrer qu'il n'a aucune part de marché. Tant de paperasse et de fud pour un truc qui n'existe pas, ça doit cacher quelque chose.
Heuu,
Pour ma part, je parle de Linux surtout le desktop
Sur les serveurs, en tant que clône et voleur des technologies UNIX, oui, il a un rôle à jouer
UNIX, est un des système d'exploitation créé les plus géniaux, ceci voici 40 ans
Rectification. Linux est un Unix parmi d'autres qui est ce qui se fait de mieux actuellement sur un x86. D'ailleurs Unix n'utilise pas la moitié de ce que pourrait faire un x86. Même OS/2 (ou eCS) fait mieux, mais ils ne sont compatibles qu'avec eux-mêmes.
Quant à dire qu'Unix est génial, il ne faut tout de même pas pousser. Unix est une réduction de Multics sur un PDP avec les restrictions de l'architecture du PDP et on traîne ces restrictions depuis trop longtemps.
JKB
-- Si votre demande me parvient sur carte perforée, je titiouaillerai très volontiers une réponse... => http://grincheux.de-charybde-en-scylla.fr
Anonyme
Le lundi 18 Octobre 2010 à 19:01 par P4nd1-P4nd4 :
Linux News Roundup: Fedora 14 Gets MeeGo, Madriva Is Reborn
Linux Is on the Rise For Business
Top 5 Mistakes Made by Linux First-TimersDespite phenomenal security and stability--and amazing strides in usability, performance, and compatibility--Linux simply isn’t catching on with desktop users. And if there ever was a chance for desktop Linux to succeed, that ship has long since sunk.
Over the past few years, modern Linux distributions such as Ubuntu have utterly transformed the open-source desktop user experience into something sleek and simple, while arguably surpassing Windows and Mac OS in both security and stability. Meanwhile, the public failure of Windows Vista and the rise of the netbook gave Linux some openings to capture a meaningful slice of the market. But those opportunities have been squandered and lost, and Linux desktop market share remains stagnant at around 1 percent.
I should emphasize that I'm not by any means talking about the demise of Linux itself. New projections from the Linux Foundation credibly show that demand for Linux on servers will outstrip demand for all other options over the next few years. And, as I'll discuss at length in this article, Linux has already established itself as a dominant operating system on mobile and embedded devices ranging from tablets and phones to TVs and printers.
But for anyone who has longed for a future in which free, open-source Linux distributions would rival premium commercial operating systems from Microsoft and Apple on desktop PCs, now might be a good time to set more-realistic expectations. Though I personally wish that the opposite were true, the year of the Linux desktop will never come.
Missed Opportunities A few years ago, I infamously went on record with the belief that the stage had been set for a significant breakthrough in Linux adoption rates. After all, Ubuntu had created a virtually idiot-proof distribution that was as easy to install as Windows or Mac OS X. Hardware driver support had reached critical mass. Even major PC makers such as Dell had stepped up to offer Linux as a preinstalled option on laptops and desktops.
At the same time, consumer sentiment toward Windows Vista had reached such abysmal depths that users were clamoring for other options. And to sweeten the prospects just a bit more, the emergence of netbooks gave Linux a nearly unchallenged new platform to dominate for months on end. If there was ever a time for Linux to rise up, 2008 was that time. But it wasn't meant to be.
Although Asus managed to spark a massive trend with cheap, simple netbook PCs, it opted to ship systems preinstalled with a Xandros distribution that left a lot to be desired. Other vendors moved just as clumsily with a host of bad options that gave Microsoft room to sweep the market by extending the life of Windows XP. In that one gesture, all hope was lost for Linux's netbook revolution. Meanwhile, desktop users who fled Windows Vista mostly just switched to Macs or reverted to Windows XP.
By the time Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta in January 2009, Linux had clearly lost its chance at desktop glory.
Why Linux Failed on the Desktop The failure of Linux to catch on with mainstream PC users will come as no great surprise to most observers, but the reasons for its failure are often misunderstood or, at the very least, grossly misstated. Linux didn't fail on the desktop because it's "too geeky," "too hard to use," or "too obscure," as casual detractors so often claim in online forums. On the contrary, the best-known distribution--Ubuntu--has received high marks for usability from every major player in the technology press, and it features a menu layout nearly identical to that of Mac OS X.
Want to unwind with a movie on your Linux PC? Good luck.Ultimately, Linux is doomed on the desktop because of a critical lack of content. And that lack of content owes its existence to two key factors: the fragmentation of the Linux platform, and the fierce ideology of the open-source community at large.
User expectations have shifted dramatically in the past few years, and it's no longer acceptable for any PC to fail at basic media viewing. DVD playback and video streaming from premium sites such as Netflix are now fundamental capabilities that any computer should have. But the politics of the open-source world make that a nearly hopeless dream for Linux.
"I share the hope with everyone that free and open-source software will rise to meet the requirements of content delivery," says longtime Linux developer Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing for Brightcove, a company that specializes in online video streaming. "But that's not happening."
"DRM is not popular with the open-source crowd," says Whatcott, lamenting that the open-source community at large remains so steadfastly opposed to digital rights management technologies. Without those systems, commercial content providers have no incentive to embrace Linux. And Whatcott points out that even if the open-source community were willing to go along, the DRM arena is dominated by "deep, deep patent pools," making a free, open-source alternative unlikely anyway.
Meanwhile, even common streaming technologies such as Flash--which Whatcott helped bring to Linux in his previous role as a Macromedia (and later Adobe) product manager--deliver poor results on Linux.
"It wasn't for lack of trying," Whatcott says. "At the time, Macromedia put extensive resources into figuring that out." But despite the hard work of a team of engineers "that loved Linux," the fragmentation of
the Linux platform and the hurdles presented by what Whatcott describes as "alpha-quality" drivers for audio and video hardware made success
elusive for the Flash development team.
We shouldn't be too hard on Linux, though. After all, there are stark signs that the desktop itself is becoming irrelevant.
How to Choose a Desktop Linux Distribution"The war between cloud and native apps has already been won on the desktop," says Guy Ben-Artzi, CEO of Particle Code, which makes cross-platform tools for mobile-app developers. "When it comes to desktop development, everything is moving to Web technology. If I was really pushing for Linux right now, I would not be focusing on desktop applications." Instead, says Ben-Artzi, Linux proponents should push aggressively for open Web platforms.
Kevin Mahaffey, CTO of mobile security company Lookout, agrees. "Linux can be successful on the desktop if it has a great Web experience," says Mahaffey. "The growth of things like HTML5 will help to give Linux a user experience that's on par with other platforms."
According to all of my sources, if there's any last hope for Linux on the desktop, it's HTML5. As the next-generation Web standard establishes a common set of open media-streaming technologies, it will offer a glimmer of hope to those who want to maintain Linux as their desktop OS, increasing the odds that whatever content or services they want to use will work on their open-source PC. Of course, that's assuming the DRM problems magically disappear.
"In a strange way," says Brightcove's Jeff Whatcott, "iOS may save the Linux desktop indirectly." Brightcove has thrown its resources into developing HTML5 streaming tools, and according to Whatcott, "what's driving that is iOS."
But if Linux ever manages to win equal footing with Windows or Mac OS X in a cloud-centric world, it will likely be a hollow victory, made possible only through the sheer irrelevance of the operating system itself.
Our Mobile Future "Forget about the desktop," Phil Robb, director of HP's Open Source Programs Office, tells Linux developers. "I think that's not where the effort should be put."
Rather than continue to fight for a tiny sliver of desktop market share, Robb says developers should concentrate on areas where Linux is strong. "Linux is already strong on small, mobile devices. If you're looking for ubiquity and impact on the planet, the Linux community should pat themselves on the back because they've already secured a victory on mobile."
And it looks like Robb is right. Even before Google's Android emerged, LG and other companies had turned to Linux to power the underpinnings of feature phones. Now Android and, to a lesser degree so far, WebOS (which HP recently acquired in its buyout of Palm) are putting Linux at the forefront of smartphone and tablet innovation.
Simultaneously, Linux has emerged as the go-to platform for embedded systems that power Web-enabled HDTVs and set-top boxes ranging from Roku and Google TV to Boxee and a multitude of others. Of course, to the end user, Linux is transparent in these offerings, and the experience is a far cry from what traditional Linux desktop enthusiasts have come to know and love. Notably, these implementations tend to be closed rather than open, showing only a simple set of menus to the end user.
End of the Road? It has been a long trek since Linus Torvalds wrote the first Linux kernel as a college project in 1992, and the landscape has shifted considerably along the way. Despite grim prospects on the desktop, Linux has clearly asserted itself as a major platform that's here to stay. And of course, passionate open-source proponents will rightly stand by their favorite desktop distributions despite the challenges ahead.
But at this point in history, it's hard to deny the evidence: With stagnant market growth and inadequate content options compounded by industry inertia, Linux basically has no chance to rival Mac OS X, much less Windows.
PCWorld executive editor Robert Strohmeyer has been a Linux enthusiast since 1994, and still believes in the virtues of open source. Follow him on Twitter as @rstrohmeyer.
Le système GNU n'est pas un UNIX. La meilleur pub pour GNU, c'est Windows.
Le lundi 18 Octobre 2010 à 19:01 par P4nd1-P4nd4 :
Linux News Roundup: Fedora 14 Gets MeeGo, Madriva Is Reborn
Linux Is on the Rise For Business
Top 5 Mistakes Made by Linux First-TimersDespite phenomenal security
and stability--and amazing strides in usability, performance, and
compatibility--Linux simply isn’t catching on with desktop users. And
if there ever was a chance for desktop Linux to succeed, that ship has
long since sunk.
Over the past few years, modern Linux distributions such as Ubuntu have
utterly transformed the open-source desktop user experience into
something sleek and simple, while arguably surpassing Windows and Mac
OS in both security and stability. Meanwhile, the public failure of
Windows Vista and the rise of the netbook gave Linux some openings to
capture a meaningful slice of the market. But those opportunities have
been squandered and lost, and Linux desktop market share remains
stagnant at around 1 percent.
I should emphasize that I'm not by any means talking about the demise
of Linux itself. New projections from the Linux Foundation credibly
show that demand for Linux on servers will outstrip demand for all
other options over the next few years. And, as I'll discuss at length
in this article, Linux has already established itself as a dominant
operating system on mobile and embedded devices ranging from tablets
and phones to TVs and printers.
But for anyone who has longed for a future in which free, open-source
Linux distributions would rival premium commercial operating systems
from Microsoft and Apple on desktop PCs, now might be a good time to
set more-realistic expectations. Though I personally wish that the
opposite were true, the year of the Linux desktop will never come.
Missed Opportunities
A few years ago, I infamously went on record with the belief that the
stage had been set for a significant breakthrough in Linux adoption
rates. After all, Ubuntu had created a virtually idiot-proof
distribution that was as easy to install as Windows or Mac OS X.
Hardware driver support had reached critical mass. Even major PC makers
such as Dell had stepped up to offer Linux as a preinstalled option on
laptops and desktops.
At the same time, consumer sentiment toward Windows Vista had reached
such abysmal depths that users were clamoring for other options. And to
sweeten the prospects just a bit more, the emergence of netbooks gave
Linux a nearly unchallenged new platform to dominate for months on end.
If there was ever a time for Linux to rise up, 2008 was that time. But
it wasn't meant to be.
Although Asus managed to spark a massive trend with cheap, simple
netbook PCs, it opted to ship systems preinstalled with a Xandros
distribution that left a lot to be desired. Other vendors moved just as
clumsily with a host of bad options that gave Microsoft room to sweep
the market by extending the life of Windows XP. In that one gesture,
all hope was lost for Linux's netbook revolution. Meanwhile, desktop
users who fled Windows Vista mostly just switched to Macs or reverted
to Windows XP.
By the time Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta in January 2009,
Linux had clearly lost its chance at desktop glory.
Why Linux Failed on the Desktop
The failure of Linux to catch on with mainstream PC users will come as
no great surprise to most observers, but the reasons for its failure
are often misunderstood or, at the very least, grossly misstated. Linux
didn't fail on the desktop because it's "too geeky," "too hard
to use,"
or "too obscure," as casual detractors so often claim in online
forums.
On the contrary, the best-known distribution--Ubuntu--has received high
marks for usability from every major player in the technology press,
and it features a menu layout nearly identical to that of Mac OS X.
Want to unwind with a movie on your Linux PC? Good luck.Ultimately,
Linux is doomed on the desktop because of a critical lack of content.
And that lack of content owes its existence to two key factors: the
fragmentation of the Linux platform, and the fierce ideology of the
open-source community at large.
User expectations have shifted dramatically in the past few years, and
it's no longer acceptable for any PC to fail at basic media viewing.
DVD playback and video streaming from premium sites such as Netflix are
now fundamental capabilities that any computer should have. But the
politics of the open-source world make that a nearly hopeless dream for
Linux.
"I share the hope with everyone that free and open-source software will
rise to meet the requirements of content delivery," says longtime Linux
developer Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing for
Brightcove, a company that specializes in online video streaming. "But
that's not happening."
"DRM is not popular with the open-source crowd," says Whatcott,
lamenting that the open-source community at large remains so
steadfastly opposed to digital rights management technologies. Without
those systems, commercial content providers have no incentive to
embrace Linux. And Whatcott points out that even if the open-source
community were willing to go along, the DRM arena is dominated by
"deep, deep patent pools," making a free, open-source alternative
unlikely anyway.
Meanwhile, even common streaming technologies such as Flash--which
Whatcott helped bring to Linux in his previous role as a Macromedia
(and later Adobe) product manager--deliver poor results on Linux.
"It wasn't for lack of trying," Whatcott says. "At the time,
Macromedia
put extensive resources into figuring that out." But despite the hard
work of a team of engineers "that loved Linux," the fragmentation of
the Linux platform and the hurdles presented by what Whatcott describes
as "alpha-quality" drivers for audio and video hardware made success
elusive for the Flash development team.
We shouldn't be too hard on Linux, though. After all, there are stark
signs that the desktop itself is becoming irrelevant.
How to Choose a Desktop Linux Distribution"The war between cloud and
native apps has already been won on the desktop," says Guy Ben-Artzi,
CEO of Particle Code, which makes cross-platform tools for mobile-app
developers. "When it comes to desktop development, everything is moving
to Web technology. If I was really pushing for Linux right now, I would
not be focusing on desktop applications." Instead, says Ben-Artzi,
Linux proponents should push aggressively for open Web platforms.
Kevin Mahaffey, CTO of mobile security company Lookout, agrees. "Linux
can be successful on the desktop if it has a great Web experience,"
says Mahaffey. "The growth of things like HTML5 will help to give Linux
a user experience that's on par with other platforms."
According to all of my sources, if there's any last hope for Linux on
the desktop, it's HTML5. As the next-generation Web standard
establishes a common set of open media-streaming technologies, it will
offer a glimmer of hope to those who want to maintain Linux as their
desktop OS, increasing the odds that whatever content or services they
want to use will work on their open-source PC. Of course, that's
assuming the DRM problems magically disappear.
"In a strange way," says Brightcove's Jeff Whatcott, "iOS may
save the
Linux desktop indirectly." Brightcove has thrown its resources into
developing HTML5 streaming tools, and according to Whatcott, "what's
driving that is iOS."
But if Linux ever manages to win equal footing with Windows or Mac OS X
in a cloud-centric world, it will likely be a hollow victory, made
possible only through the sheer irrelevance of the operating system
itself.
Our Mobile Future
"Forget about the desktop," Phil Robb, director of HP's Open Source
Programs Office, tells Linux developers. "I think that's not where the
effort should be put."
Rather than continue to fight for a tiny sliver of desktop market
share, Robb says developers should concentrate on areas where Linux is
strong. "Linux is already strong on small, mobile devices. If you're
looking for ubiquity and impact on the planet, the Linux community
should pat themselves on the back because they've already secured a
victory on mobile."
And it looks like Robb is right. Even before Google's Android emerged,
LG and other companies had turned to Linux to power the underpinnings
of feature phones. Now Android and, to a lesser degree so far, WebOS
(which HP recently acquired in its buyout of Palm) are putting Linux at
the forefront of smartphone and tablet innovation.
Simultaneously, Linux has emerged as the go-to platform for embedded
systems that power Web-enabled HDTVs and set-top boxes ranging from
Roku and Google TV to Boxee and a multitude of others. Of course, to
the end user, Linux is transparent in these offerings, and the
experience is a far cry from what traditional Linux desktop enthusiasts
have come to know and love. Notably, these implementations tend to be
closed rather than open, showing only a simple set of menus to the end
user.
End of the Road?
It has been a long trek since Linus Torvalds wrote the first Linux
kernel as a college project in 1992, and the landscape has shifted
considerably along the way. Despite grim prospects on the desktop,
Linux has clearly asserted itself as a major platform that's here to
stay. And of course, passionate open-source proponents will rightly
stand by their favorite desktop distributions despite the challenges
ahead.
But at this point in history, it's hard to deny the evidence: With
stagnant market growth and inadequate content options compounded by
industry inertia, Linux basically has no chance to rival Mac OS X, much
less Windows.
PCWorld executive editor Robert Strohmeyer has been a Linux enthusiast
since 1994, and still believes in the virtues of open source. Follow
him on Twitter as @rstrohmeyer.
Le système GNU n'est pas un UNIX.
La meilleur pub pour GNU, c'est Windows.
Linux News Roundup: Fedora 14 Gets MeeGo, Madriva Is Reborn
Linux Is on the Rise For Business
Top 5 Mistakes Made by Linux First-TimersDespite phenomenal security and stability--and amazing strides in usability, performance, and compatibility--Linux simply isn’t catching on with desktop users. And if there ever was a chance for desktop Linux to succeed, that ship has long since sunk.
Over the past few years, modern Linux distributions such as Ubuntu have utterly transformed the open-source desktop user experience into something sleek and simple, while arguably surpassing Windows and Mac OS in both security and stability. Meanwhile, the public failure of Windows Vista and the rise of the netbook gave Linux some openings to capture a meaningful slice of the market. But those opportunities have been squandered and lost, and Linux desktop market share remains stagnant at around 1 percent.
I should emphasize that I'm not by any means talking about the demise of Linux itself. New projections from the Linux Foundation credibly show that demand for Linux on servers will outstrip demand for all other options over the next few years. And, as I'll discuss at length in this article, Linux has already established itself as a dominant operating system on mobile and embedded devices ranging from tablets and phones to TVs and printers.
But for anyone who has longed for a future in which free, open-source Linux distributions would rival premium commercial operating systems from Microsoft and Apple on desktop PCs, now might be a good time to set more-realistic expectations. Though I personally wish that the opposite were true, the year of the Linux desktop will never come.
Missed Opportunities A few years ago, I infamously went on record with the belief that the stage had been set for a significant breakthrough in Linux adoption rates. After all, Ubuntu had created a virtually idiot-proof distribution that was as easy to install as Windows or Mac OS X. Hardware driver support had reached critical mass. Even major PC makers such as Dell had stepped up to offer Linux as a preinstalled option on laptops and desktops.
At the same time, consumer sentiment toward Windows Vista had reached such abysmal depths that users were clamoring for other options. And to sweeten the prospects just a bit more, the emergence of netbooks gave Linux a nearly unchallenged new platform to dominate for months on end. If there was ever a time for Linux to rise up, 2008 was that time. But it wasn't meant to be.
Although Asus managed to spark a massive trend with cheap, simple netbook PCs, it opted to ship systems preinstalled with a Xandros distribution that left a lot to be desired. Other vendors moved just as clumsily with a host of bad options that gave Microsoft room to sweep the market by extending the life of Windows XP. In that one gesture, all hope was lost for Linux's netbook revolution. Meanwhile, desktop users who fled Windows Vista mostly just switched to Macs or reverted to Windows XP.
By the time Microsoft released the Windows 7 beta in January 2009, Linux had clearly lost its chance at desktop glory.
Why Linux Failed on the Desktop The failure of Linux to catch on with mainstream PC users will come as no great surprise to most observers, but the reasons for its failure are often misunderstood or, at the very least, grossly misstated. Linux didn't fail on the desktop because it's "too geeky," "too hard to use," or "too obscure," as casual detractors so often claim in online forums. On the contrary, the best-known distribution--Ubuntu--has received high marks for usability from every major player in the technology press, and it features a menu layout nearly identical to that of Mac OS X.
Want to unwind with a movie on your Linux PC? Good luck.Ultimately, Linux is doomed on the desktop because of a critical lack of content. And that lack of content owes its existence to two key factors: the fragmentation of the Linux platform, and the fierce ideology of the open-source community at large.
User expectations have shifted dramatically in the past few years, and it's no longer acceptable for any PC to fail at basic media viewing. DVD playback and video streaming from premium sites such as Netflix are now fundamental capabilities that any computer should have. But the politics of the open-source world make that a nearly hopeless dream for Linux.
"I share the hope with everyone that free and open-source software will rise to meet the requirements of content delivery," says longtime Linux developer Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing for Brightcove, a company that specializes in online video streaming. "But that's not happening."
"DRM is not popular with the open-source crowd," says Whatcott, lamenting that the open-source community at large remains so steadfastly opposed to digital rights management technologies. Without those systems, commercial content providers have no incentive to embrace Linux. And Whatcott points out that even if the open-source community were willing to go along, the DRM arena is dominated by "deep, deep patent pools," making a free, open-source alternative unlikely anyway.
Meanwhile, even common streaming technologies such as Flash--which Whatcott helped bring to Linux in his previous role as a Macromedia (and later Adobe) product manager--deliver poor results on Linux.
"It wasn't for lack of trying," Whatcott says. "At the time, Macromedia put extensive resources into figuring that out." But despite the hard work of a team of engineers "that loved Linux," the fragmentation of
the Linux platform and the hurdles presented by what Whatcott describes as "alpha-quality" drivers for audio and video hardware made success
elusive for the Flash development team.
We shouldn't be too hard on Linux, though. After all, there are stark signs that the desktop itself is becoming irrelevant.
How to Choose a Desktop Linux Distribution"The war between cloud and native apps has already been won on the desktop," says Guy Ben-Artzi, CEO of Particle Code, which makes cross-platform tools for mobile-app developers. "When it comes to desktop development, everything is moving to Web technology. If I was really pushing for Linux right now, I would not be focusing on desktop applications." Instead, says Ben-Artzi, Linux proponents should push aggressively for open Web platforms.
Kevin Mahaffey, CTO of mobile security company Lookout, agrees. "Linux can be successful on the desktop if it has a great Web experience," says Mahaffey. "The growth of things like HTML5 will help to give Linux a user experience that's on par with other platforms."
According to all of my sources, if there's any last hope for Linux on the desktop, it's HTML5. As the next-generation Web standard establishes a common set of open media-streaming technologies, it will offer a glimmer of hope to those who want to maintain Linux as their desktop OS, increasing the odds that whatever content or services they want to use will work on their open-source PC. Of course, that's assuming the DRM problems magically disappear.
"In a strange way," says Brightcove's Jeff Whatcott, "iOS may save the Linux desktop indirectly." Brightcove has thrown its resources into developing HTML5 streaming tools, and according to Whatcott, "what's driving that is iOS."
But if Linux ever manages to win equal footing with Windows or Mac OS X in a cloud-centric world, it will likely be a hollow victory, made possible only through the sheer irrelevance of the operating system itself.
Our Mobile Future "Forget about the desktop," Phil Robb, director of HP's Open Source Programs Office, tells Linux developers. "I think that's not where the effort should be put."
Rather than continue to fight for a tiny sliver of desktop market share, Robb says developers should concentrate on areas where Linux is strong. "Linux is already strong on small, mobile devices. If you're looking for ubiquity and impact on the planet, the Linux community should pat themselves on the back because they've already secured a victory on mobile."
And it looks like Robb is right. Even before Google's Android emerged, LG and other companies had turned to Linux to power the underpinnings of feature phones. Now Android and, to a lesser degree so far, WebOS (which HP recently acquired in its buyout of Palm) are putting Linux at the forefront of smartphone and tablet innovation.
Simultaneously, Linux has emerged as the go-to platform for embedded systems that power Web-enabled HDTVs and set-top boxes ranging from Roku and Google TV to Boxee and a multitude of others. Of course, to the end user, Linux is transparent in these offerings, and the experience is a far cry from what traditional Linux desktop enthusiasts have come to know and love. Notably, these implementations tend to be closed rather than open, showing only a simple set of menus to the end user.
End of the Road? It has been a long trek since Linus Torvalds wrote the first Linux kernel as a college project in 1992, and the landscape has shifted considerably along the way. Despite grim prospects on the desktop, Linux has clearly asserted itself as a major platform that's here to stay. And of course, passionate open-source proponents will rightly stand by their favorite desktop distributions despite the challenges ahead.
But at this point in history, it's hard to deny the evidence: With stagnant market growth and inadequate content options compounded by industry inertia, Linux basically has no chance to rival Mac OS X, much less Windows.
PCWorld executive editor Robert Strohmeyer has been a Linux enthusiast since 1994, and still believes in the virtues of open source. Follow him on Twitter as @rstrohmeyer.
Le système GNU n'est pas un UNIX. La meilleur pub pour GNU, c'est Windows.
