Slashdot Mirror
ESR's Desktop Linux 2008 Deadline
jesboat noted Eric S. Raymond and Rob Landley's essay about what the Linux community must do to achieve dominance entitled "World Domination 201". It says
"Idealism about open formats will not solve our multimedia problem in time; in fact, getting stuck on either belief in the technical superiority of open source or free-software purism guarantees we will lose. The remaining problems aren't technical ones, and none of the interesting patents will expire before the end of 2008. We've got to ship something that works now. If we let this be a blocking issue preventing overall Linux adoption during the transition window, we won't have the userbase to demand changes in the laws to untangle the screwed up patent system, or even prevent it from getting worse. It's a chicken and egg problem, demanding a workaround until a permanent solution can be achieved. We can't set the standards until after we take over the world."
And who, exactly, will do this pressuring? Linux users, while consisting of a large number of rabidly anti-payware fanatics, are by no means the stooges of ESR, RMS, Linus, or anyone else. Linux reigns in the server market where, frankly, nobody needs to pressure anyone for anything because we already have all the device support we need. In the desktop market, OTOH, end users are perfectly willing to be practical about things and simply use binary blobs where they're available, or - *GASP!* - NOT USE LINUX when it lacks proper device support for whatever they've got.
Linux users are not a class interest. They are not a community. They're people who happen to use Linux. Period. Full stop. Just because Eric has delusions of grandeur about taking over the world doesn't mean everyone else is going to jump on the bandwagon at wag their fingers at vendors for not bending over backwards to support them.
At the end of the day, this is just more hot air from the master of cranial flatulence himself and amounts to fuck all in the real world. Linux has achieved dominance in the server market, and that's pretty much where it's going to stay. If anyone has a problem with this, I would suggest doing something other than listening to the local Open Farce blowhard for advice. Change can happen, but it will not happen because ESR says so.
Linux will always be the people's operating system, made by people for people.
No, Linux has never been the "people's OS". It has an entrenched by nerds for nerds culture. It remains the "geek's OS". "People's" implies a far larger segment of the population than are willing *or* capable of embracing Linux.