One word: famialiarity. 99% of computer users use, have to use, or have used Windows. And even those who went from Windows 95 straight to Windows XP (don't laugh, I have a lot of customers who just did that) get used to the differences very quickly because the same basic GUI is there, the control panel is there, and everything else. You still perform most basic tasks the same way. Imagine taking your grandma from her WinXP box to a Linux box. Better take your phone off the hook. It's not even that Linux is hard to use, it is just different than what Windows users are used to. When you're vying for mass market acceptance, you have to woo the biggest crowd. And for 90% of the userbase, it's people who use Windows.
The other reason more technical minded people don't move to Linux is the fact that driver support is lacking. I know a previous poster just said the same thing, and it's true. When is the last time you bought a mass-market printer, scanner, wireless card, web camera, etc, and it came with a Linux driver? Grandma doesn't know how to get on the Internet a download one from the manufacturer, if they even make one, or download a driver put together from someone in the OS community. They're used to putting in the driver CD, clicking OK a few dozen times, reboot, and the new hardware works. Until Linux mimicks that approach (or comes up with something better, like the OS automatically finding, downloading, and installing the correct driver from the 'net) it is going to be hard to convince Granny, Mom, and your brother to switch.
Don't get me wrong, Linux has come a long way and has a lot to offer, but even the most die-hard penguin fan has to admit that the whole Linux "user experience" is still more oriented towards computer geeks than Mom and Pop. Remember, the average computer user has a difficult time using their microwave, let alone a operating system as powerful as Linux.
I'm not saying that progress hasn't been made, or that it can't happen. Linux just still isn't "there" yet for the vast majority of computer users.
In a free society, we all have the right to dictate the terms under which we provide something, be it labor, material goods, information, or art. And it is the choice of the general public if they wish to agree to your terms and use your offering, or go somewhere else. If you want to give it away, it's your right. If you want to charge for it, it is also your right. If you charge for something and I take it without compensation, that is theft. No matter what is taken, or how "tangible" someone else deems it, it is still theft. Those who argue against this simple truth are just trying to make themselves feel better for stealing the works (or property) of others.
Simple example: When you got hired at your current job, you agreed to work for a certain amount of money. You go to work one day and your boss says "Well, I'm not going to pay you for your work anymore. I think you should work for free." Do you continue to work for him? No. Do you expect to be paid for the hours you worked before the agreement changed? Yes.
My ending statement is this: If you don't like Bill Gates, don't buy his products. If you don't like the terms under which Microsoft expects you to use their products, don't use them. It doesn't matter if you dislike the owner of the property, you have to agree to their terms if you decide to use their property. You wouldn't like it if I just walked into your house and ate your food and talked to my friends on your telephone. Treat others as you would like to have yourself treated.
I drive a 1995 Honda Nighthawk 750, which gets ~50mpg. Why drag around all that extra weight when you don't have too? The problem in America is that everybody seems to need to "validate" themselves with 8mpg SUVs. Go ahead and drive one of those, I'll laugh at you when I'm getting 250 miles from 5 gallons of gas and you can't even get from one gas station to the next before burning that much.
Device called a "computer" re-invented from old vacuum tubes and relays, calculates 3rd digit of pi in 8 hours. Seriously, I can see some fascination with, and respect for, retro technology. But to create a keyboard from an old manual typewriter? Hardly useful or relevant. Hope you don't like arrow keys either...
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Typing those commands in a IRC channel does not "shut down protection" it merely disconnects the user from IRC. A nuisence, but not a security risk.
One word: famialiarity. 99% of computer users use, have to use, or have used Windows. And even those who went from Windows 95 straight to Windows XP (don't laugh, I have a lot of customers who just did that) get used to the differences very quickly because the same basic GUI is there, the control panel is there, and everything else. You still perform most basic tasks the same way. Imagine taking your grandma from her WinXP box to a Linux box. Better take your phone off the hook. It's not even that Linux is hard to use, it is just different than what Windows users are used to. When you're vying for mass market acceptance, you have to woo the biggest crowd. And for 90% of the userbase, it's people who use Windows.
The other reason more technical minded people don't move to Linux is the fact that driver support is lacking. I know a previous poster just said the same thing, and it's true. When is the last time you bought a mass-market printer, scanner, wireless card, web camera, etc, and it came with a Linux driver? Grandma doesn't know how to get on the Internet a download one from the manufacturer, if they even make one, or download a driver put together from someone in the OS community. They're used to putting in the driver CD, clicking OK a few dozen times, reboot, and the new hardware works. Until Linux mimicks that approach (or comes up with something better, like the OS automatically finding, downloading, and installing the correct driver from the 'net) it is going to be hard to convince Granny, Mom, and your brother to switch.
Don't get me wrong, Linux has come a long way and has a lot to offer, but even the most die-hard penguin fan has to admit that the whole Linux "user experience" is still more oriented towards computer geeks than Mom and Pop. Remember, the average computer user has a difficult time using their microwave, let alone a operating system as powerful as Linux.
I'm not saying that progress hasn't been made, or that it can't happen. Linux just still isn't "there" yet for the vast majority of computer users.
In a free society, we all have the right to dictate the terms under which we provide something, be it labor, material goods, information, or art. And it is the choice of the general public if they wish to agree to your terms and use your offering, or go somewhere else. If you want to give it away, it's your right. If you want to charge for it, it is also your right. If you charge for something and I take it without compensation, that is theft. No matter what is taken, or how "tangible" someone else deems it, it is still theft. Those who argue against this simple truth are just trying to make themselves feel better for stealing the works (or property) of others.
Simple example: When you got hired at your current job, you agreed to work for a certain amount of money. You go to work one day and your boss says "Well, I'm not going to pay you for your work anymore. I think you should work for free." Do you continue to work for him? No. Do you expect to be paid for the hours you worked before the agreement changed? Yes.
My ending statement is this: If you don't like Bill Gates, don't buy his products. If you don't like the terms under which Microsoft expects you to use their products, don't use them. It doesn't matter if you dislike the owner of the property, you have to agree to their terms if you decide to use their property. You wouldn't like it if I just walked into your house and ate your food and talked to my friends on your telephone. Treat others as you would like to have yourself treated.
I drive a 1995 Honda Nighthawk 750, which gets ~50mpg. Why drag around all that extra weight when you don't have too? The problem in America is that everybody seems to need to "validate" themselves with 8mpg SUVs. Go ahead and drive one of those, I'll laugh at you when I'm getting 250 miles from 5 gallons of gas and you can't even get from one gas station to the next before burning that much.
Device called a "computer" re-invented from old vacuum tubes and relays, calculates 3rd digit of pi in 8 hours. Seriously, I can see some fascination with, and respect for, retro technology. But to create a keyboard from an old manual typewriter? Hardly useful or relevant. Hope you don't like arrow keys either...