Now im not trying to be a smart-alec however. Apple has already proven this. If you want to be profitable with OpenSolaris you have to be there at the start. Offer OpenSolaris in the school systems. As an open source software I am sure many collages and, even some high schools would be happy to offer courses in Solaris and OpenSolaris administration. Most students come out with only a basic understanding of the Linux operationing system, Then go on to get jobs using microsoft products because that is what they know and understand. Microsoft floods collages with there software and offers reduced cost of there operating systems to students. OpenSolaris is already there with no cost to the student. I have looked at what most colleges offer in terms of classes. I have seen a 0 classes on Solaris, OpenSolaris, mysql, Oracle, and mostly nothing on open source software with the exception of 2-4 semesters worth of linux which you can pick up a book and get about the same knowlage. You have alot of talented people comming out of design school they get hired and there employer buys them an apple because that is what they know how to use. Being that there is currnetly no cost for OpenSolaris flood the schools with it. Same for Mysql. With the demand for Network admins on a slight decrease and the demand for Database admin slowly on the rise. If oracle were to flood education system with Solaris-like knowelage, they would see return on there investment in the form of more students with advance to expert knowleage of the oracle, mysql, databases as well as Solaris and OpenSolaris not only knowelage but suggestions for there new employer to take. With an opensourse community doing alot of the develpment you have a good amount of heavy lifting taken care of. When faced with a problem the first thing you should do is think back to the first rule of business: Make your weaknesses, your strength. Well I hope you take my advice and, I hope it works out for you. I would hate to see all the great work that Sun has done lost to the world because we as an opensource community could not come together and solve a minor problem.
-Goodluck to Oracle whichever way you turn.
Ubuntu is normally the go to distro. However recently Linux mint (very much ubuntu/debian based) has surfaced as a good user friendly OS. That being said, there is a little known flavor called Zorin OS, which is targeted for the big OS move from Windows to Linux. Happy hunting.
Here's the thing -- I've been working in the IT field for over 15 years now. I'm no systems administrator but I certainly know my way around a computer.
I want Linux to be ready for the desktop.
I want Linux to provide a decent end user experience.
Between driver issues, chicken and egg problems (my network isn't working, how can I can my network working if my network isn't working), absolutely atrocious user-friendliness, what still feels to this "power user" like a very steep learning curve (I just want to get wireless to work, what is a "NDIS wrapper"? I have to do WHAT?) , nothing built in to the OS to help with this and online forums that are full of extremely helpful people who give convoluted, conflicting and overly complicated advice...
It just isn't a good end user experience. Linux seems all about feature sets and me-too-ism. cleverly titled software packages that are a little embarrassing to run or talk about. But very little thought is given to getting something up and running so a regular person can hit the ground running. If you don't happen to have a family member or friend ready to walk you through the transition, you will end up spending tens/hundreds of hours to get to a point where you can do the same things you could with your Windows machine. The closest I ever came was the Knoppix Live CD about three years ago... but even that ended up being more work than what I got out of it.
Again -- I want Linux to be ready for the desktop. I understand as an IT professional that you can get a much leaner, more secure, stable configuration for a fraction of the price. At the enterprise level that makes sense. But for a regular person looking to take the plunge... documentation, easy of use, drivers that "just work" -- SIMPLE, NON TECHIE ways to get things working once they don't work without needing to learn something new -- all of these might be things that geeks scoff at. But until they are addressed, Linux will forever be a tiny slice on that pie chart.
Come on geeks. Microsoft is ripe for the picking. Macs will grow in market share. People will continue down the MS upgrade path and you'll keep talking about how 20__ is the year of desktop Linux...
Part of the problem here might be newer hardware is made for Vista and, has propriety drivers for Vista an install of XP will most likely fail as well. there is a site called laptop for Linux it will tell you what distro works best with which laptop.
OSes are on a scale. On one side you pay with money to get your end result on the other you pay with time. It comes down to what do you want to do? If surfing the net, e-mail and writing docs any OS can do that and you should stay with what works for you or what you prefer. I run Linux because when I ran windows I kept having to add software to do this task or that price runs up quite fast. I had to add hardware because all the software I added lowered proformance.
The bottom line is Linux is not yet supported by hardware and software developers (well not as widely) But if Linux and mac were supported as much as windows has been you would see a huge shift in the balance of power in the OSes. Because every company would have to step up or fall by the wayside. 90% of the end users would rather pay to have it work. The rest of us want to make it work ourself.
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Now im not trying to be a smart-alec however. Apple has already proven this. If you want to be profitable with OpenSolaris you have to be there at the start. Offer OpenSolaris in the school systems. As an open source software I am sure many collages and, even some high schools would be happy to offer courses in Solaris and OpenSolaris administration. Most students come out with only a basic understanding of the Linux operationing system, Then go on to get jobs using microsoft products because that is what they know and understand. Microsoft floods collages with there software and offers reduced cost of there operating systems to students. OpenSolaris is already there with no cost to the student. I have looked at what most colleges offer in terms of classes. I have seen a 0 classes on Solaris, OpenSolaris, mysql, Oracle, and mostly nothing on open source software with the exception of 2-4 semesters worth of linux which you can pick up a book and get about the same knowlage. You have alot of talented people comming out of design school they get hired and there employer buys them an apple because that is what they know how to use. Being that there is currnetly no cost for OpenSolaris flood the schools with it. Same for Mysql. With the demand for Network admins on a slight decrease and the demand for Database admin slowly on the rise. If oracle were to flood education system with Solaris-like knowelage, they would see return on there investment in the form of more students with advance to expert knowleage of the oracle, mysql, databases as well as Solaris and OpenSolaris not only knowelage but suggestions for there new employer to take. With an opensourse community doing alot of the develpment you have a good amount of heavy lifting taken care of. When faced with a problem the first thing you should do is think back to the first rule of business: Make your weaknesses, your strength. Well I hope you take my advice and, I hope it works out for you. I would hate to see all the great work that Sun has done lost to the world because we as an opensource community could not come together and solve a minor problem. -Goodluck to Oracle whichever way you turn.
Ubuntu is normally the go to distro. However recently Linux mint (very much ubuntu/debian based) has surfaced as a good user friendly OS. That being said, there is a little known flavor called Zorin OS, which is targeted for the big OS move from Windows to Linux. Happy hunting.
Perl, C, C++ will take care of most things also OpenGL if you want to help with CAD alternatives.
Thats just annoying, not to mention most people I know go buy a nick name anyway.
I want Linux to be ready for the desktop.
I want Linux to provide a decent end user experience.
Between driver issues, chicken and egg problems (my network isn't working, how can I can my network working if my network isn't working), absolutely atrocious user-friendliness, what still feels to this "power user" like a very steep learning curve (I just want to get wireless to work, what is a "NDIS wrapper"? I have to do WHAT?) , nothing built in to the OS to help with this and online forums that are full of extremely helpful people who give convoluted, conflicting and overly complicated advice...
It just isn't a good end user experience. Linux seems all about feature sets and me-too-ism. cleverly titled software packages that are a little embarrassing to run or talk about. But very little thought is given to getting something up and running so a regular person can hit the ground running. If you don't happen to have a family member or friend ready to walk you through the transition, you will end up spending tens/hundreds of hours to get to a point where you can do the same things you could with your Windows machine. The closest I ever came was the Knoppix Live CD about three years ago... but even that ended up being more work than what I got out of it.
Again -- I want Linux to be ready for the desktop. I understand as an IT professional that you can get a much leaner, more secure, stable configuration for a fraction of the price. At the enterprise level that makes sense. But for a regular person looking to take the plunge... documentation, easy of use, drivers that "just work" -- SIMPLE, NON TECHIE ways to get things working once they don't work without needing to learn something new -- all of these might be things that geeks scoff at. But until they are addressed, Linux will forever be a tiny slice on that pie chart.
Come on geeks. Microsoft is ripe for the picking. Macs will grow in market share. People will continue down the MS upgrade path and you'll keep talking about how 20__ is the year of desktop Linux...
Part of the problem here might be newer hardware is made for Vista and, has propriety drivers for Vista an install of XP will most likely fail as well. there is a site called laptop for Linux it will tell you what distro works best with which laptop. OSes are on a scale. On one side you pay with money to get your end result on the other you pay with time. It comes down to what do you want to do? If surfing the net, e-mail and writing docs any OS can do that and you should stay with what works for you or what you prefer. I run Linux because when I ran windows I kept having to add software to do this task or that price runs up quite fast. I had to add hardware because all the software I added lowered proformance. The bottom line is Linux is not yet supported by hardware and software developers (well not as widely) But if Linux and mac were supported as much as windows has been you would see a huge shift in the balance of power in the OSes. Because every company would have to step up or fall by the wayside. 90% of the end users would rather pay to have it work. The rest of us want to make it work ourself.