Slashdot Mirror
Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops
WSJdpatton writes "The much-hyped notion that Linux would be a viable alternative to Windows to run desktop and notebook PCs for corporate users seemed dead on arrival a few years ago. But the idea is showing some new vital signs as companies look for cheaper alternatives to Microsoft products. The Wall Street Journal outlines several firms that are reaping savings and stability on their workplace desktops by rolling out Linux distributions. 'Auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroën last month said it will start using Linux on 20,000 of its workers' PCs. Novell Inc., which sells a version of Linux and is supplying it to Peugeot, says it has recently signed up several large U.S. financial institutions that are installing Linux on some employee PCs. Sales of Linux PCs are showing a really nice uptick at Novell, says Ronald Hovsepian, chief executive of Novell.' Not everyone is a convert, though. 'The State of Illinois recently consolidated its IT systems onto Microsoft software -- and has no interest in using Linux, says Paul Campbell, director of the state's Central Management Services department. "We don't have time for science projects in state government," he says.'"
Soon after being installed and tried, Linux ends up in the trash can and Windows right back on the computer.
The reason? it's all about the interface. And I'm not talking just about the GUI.
Linux's forte is running vending machines, watches, calculators, etc.
Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents.
I still have a hard time as an administrator to get things like HP Printers to work with Linux. When I do get them working, I run into strange things like not being able to print out a landscape PDF in portrait.
Or trying to use third party print servers with linux.
Anyway, I think for 80% of the stuff that people do, Linux is a great choice. But everytime I run into a printer or a scanner, I find the area that Linux lacks, and can't compete against windows.... yet.
which gathers grandstanders, the continues to lose very own shItter, base for FreeBSD who sell another
How many times will you Linux freaks come back with this same idea? I've heard this time after time going back at least to 1999. "We're starting to make progress on the corporate desktop!"....then 2 years later...nothing! Just another push to pretend you're relevant. This is just another "rise and repeat" exercise from a socially irrelevant group of people who wish so dearly that they were relevant. For crying out loud Mac has made a bigger come back and progress when it was on the brink of death then Linux has made its entire existence. When will you come to a sad truth that no one cares about you or Linux????
and moreover, i find the thread just below this one very telling. Someone has a printing issue (a rare issue on Windows btw), the help he gets is:
-Use a different distribution
-Get out more
-Windows can't print anway
I will never forget the day that I installed Linux, after staying away for a few years, thinking wishfully that Linux was now all mature and useable. I downloaded thunderbird and surprise surprise, it didnt want to run because I didnt have the right version of libgcc or something like that. Funny, almost every program on Windows run on almost any version of Windows. Sometimes some require SP2 though...
I can't blame any particular party for these kinds of issues, but the whole decentralized process and the ivory tower attitude of too many linux evangelists. For the way that many people interface with and use their computers, Windows and MacOS will always be a million miles ahead of Linux. The libertan types linux users don't care anyway, but the moralizing evangilists will continue to anguish in failure, posting bullshit stories on slashdot to feel better.
Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents.
Admit it, all Linux and Open Source is just another BUSINESS PLAN! I could care less about Open Source or Copyrighted Software. To me support and management for Open Source cost 10 times more. So the only difference is if you pay for it when you buy or download it cost a lot less for support and management. On the other hand if I get an Open Source product for free I PAY TEN TIMES MORE to management and support! So its time to stop HIDING UNDER YOUR UMBERLA OF OPEN SOURCE and come out an admit that you folks also need to make money for a living and your just want me to USE OPEN SOURCE so that you can CHARGE ME 10 TIMES MORE FOR MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT! FUNNY... I just hired a MYSQL admin at my shop last week for 96,000 while I only pay my MSSQL DBA 65000 who manages all my real production databases! YOUR ALL A JOKE!
Is it not obvious why corporate America cannot adopt Linux? There is no comparable product to MS Office. Trust me I've tried them all. Open Office is a joke, online spreadsheets and wordprocessors are slow and have perhaps the same options that Word 1.0 had. Corel is another company that has dropped the ball enough times that they just need to give up. I've been trying hard to use their product for over 10 years now and they just don't seem to be interested in keeping users. I have never seen an office suite so full of bugs as Corel and I'm a long time Corel fan. I liked their office suite better than Office back in the days of Office 97. Their spell check was always far superior because it used autocomplete 10 years ago and MS still hadn't done that in 2003 instead they use that stupid list of potential matches. Sadly though spell checking is about where Corel's word prcessing strengths end.
.. thats a stupid idea. Windows doesn't have competing installshields that only work on some computers. How can end users even easily find programs to install if Linux can't even agree on RPM vs DEB and why does Linux still suck at running anything graphical right out of the box even on the worlds most popular cards. These are not traits of an OS that's ready to truly put it's offering up against Mac or Windows.
I'm not saying you can't get by on these wannabe office suites, but for people who are used to Office they are all a fairly big step down.
Linux as a desktop on 20,000 auto workers PC. I doubt these are truly desktops as we imagine them but rather extremely watered down utilitarian type workstations. I've worked on some automobile dealer networks and they already were using unix, solaris and their desktops were all very simple and utilitarian to begin with. While that makes Linux a good choice it doesn't speak much for Linux really entering the desktop market. Even Ubuntu linux is barely a reasonable offering for most peoples needs. Linux is still moving along very slow in the desktop arena.
The real exciting uses for Linux are for dedicated workstations such as audio and video editing and appliance like servers or any embeded project for that matter. The custmization factor of Linux has easily become it's best feature and that's why it's much easier for Linux to excel in specialized solutions than it is to displace MS as everyone favorite desktop.
I think most IT departments would still be wise to wait for Linux to smooth out it's flaws. Such as not having competing package managers
It's getting there, but jumping the gun only hurts the overall cause and keeps MS and MAC more aware of Linux's market share. Ultimately I find the chances of Linux taking MS out to almost non-existent. Better platforms do not win vs money and marketing and Linux isn't even a better desktop yet, so the only real selling point is that its free. Desktop wise, you get what you pay for a clunky version of windows running a patched together GUI on top some 20 year old X server code. While x Server is a cool idea I'm not sure it's really what you want your GUI built on. In fact all in all isn't it about time to design a desktop system around a GUI instead of a command line. Plus if all else fails MS need but release their Linux distro with office ported to it. Even if Linux wins, MS can monopolize it and ultimatley make other distro less compaitable therefore driving them out of the market. Do you think MS cares if they get sued while protecting their monopoly, of course not. It's worth a million dollars a day EASY to hurt the enroaching competition. The closer Linux gets to being a desktop OS the closer they get to finding out what it's like to play against BIG MONEY and I HIGHLY doubt it's going to be pretty.
Real desktops rely on the idea of generating revenue to keep programmers paid for their work. It's harder to get people to pay for Linux apps and few companies are finding ways to really make money off Linux. Maybe that's a good thing for Linux users, but I fear Linux is still a very w
Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Why hasn't this big open source explosion happened yet? Let me tell you something about management- they have a keen eye for cost saving. If they don't, another company or individual will take that approach and dominate. If there's a clear better path for software deployment that simply isn't being exploited and is 100% superior, why is it not being used? Why is someone not capitalizing and trumping their competition? Where's the glowing success story?
Is it because Microsoft owns the media? What about Apple/Pixar/Disney/ABC?
Could it possibly be the fact that Microsoft's software is either
A) Superior but more expensive
or
B) Inferior, more expensive, but more profitable?
It's as simple as the 'Communism doesn't work' argument. Why doesn't it work? Because... where's the sickle and hammer? People need results. Where are the results? If Microsoft offered Illinois excellent support porting their system to Microsoft, then they're the victor fair and square- because I assure you this is a level playing field- managers know what linux is.
I'll say it again- Open source enthusiasts- stop being a culture of economic angst and try to be a culture of improvement. You're in the free labor market, stop complaining and get to work.