Why Linux Has Failed on the Desktop

SlinkySausage writes "Linux is burdened with 'enterprise crap' that makes it run poorly on desktop PCs, says kernel developer Con Kolivas. Kolivas recently walked away from years of work on the kernel in despair. APCmag.com has a lengthy interview with Kolivas, who explains what he sees is wrong with Linux from a performance perspective and how Microsoft has succeeded in crushing innovation in personal computers."

Comments

Oh, quite wrong!!! (Performance? HAH!!)

[borgheron]

Linux didn't fail on the desktop because of bad performance.. no no... it failed because of the lack of a consistent interface. One app is done using one kit, and another is done using a different kit. All with a different set of interface guidelines. We have dozens of window managers and hundreds of different looks and thousands of people who are too convinced that their way is the right way.

I have a very close friend who says that she doesn't know if she has a Mac or a PC, she just wants it to work. That's it. Nothing against her, she's one of the sweetest people I know, but that is the kind of person the desktop plays to. The community suffers from a consistent overestimation of their users. They forget to consider that many users are not interested in the technology... they just want it to work and look pretty... that's it.

Oh and, by the way, this doesn't just apply to Linux, but it will happen with any free software/open source operating system out there.

Full Disclosure: I am the Chief maintainer of GNUstep... so I'm guilty of this too. So sue me...

Choice can, sometimes, be a really bad thing. :)

GJC

Re:Don't think so

[mixmasta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/UX