Analyst: It's Game Over for Linux

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[citation][nom]jn77[/nom]In the early stages OSX was stolen from NeXT[/citation]
Umm you do know Apple bought NeXT specifically to use it as a basis for OSX right, they actually did not steal this. Then again Jobs was not in control of the company (Apple) at the time (cause he was running NeXT) or they probably would have tried stealing it.
 
The desktop lusr is an application lusr ... dividing out the **kernel** is meaningless byteboy simpering. The lusrland world don't work like that!

Even dividing lusrland into gamerz, artyz, typoz and technoz you will find at best only 2nd rate applications ... zero native games, OpenOffice just gets by, human-factor horrors like GIMP predominate and for engineering there are **no** native dataloggers or time-series analysers & I have to run SPICE thru Wine.

For lusrland sad ... very very sad.
 
Linux will never be "game over" for me
I'll stop using pc's if I have to start paying $300 for MS again

happily in the %2 (although I suspect it is higher 4-8%)

 
[citation][nom]darthvidor[/nom]Linux is a kernel. All the things above the kernel is just a distribution package.[/citation]
And since a distribution package such as Android is apparently not a valid way for Linux to enter the mobile market, there is no valid way, according to this analyst.

For some reason distributions are perfectly valid for the server market though. After all, he quotes a 60%+ figure for market share.
 
Open source can't be profitable and innovative, how about www.kitware.com?
 
I have to laugh
buncha noobs. /sigh

linux is a particular type of unix.
just as osx, andoid, modems, fridges, ubuntu, red-hat, suse, cars, building lifts, railway services, highway controll systems, electrical companys, water companys...and so-on it goes.
You get the picture.. if unix was removed today .. the wolrd will stop.. (fact._
 
I am a Linux user, and last time I checked, I have very little trouble getting help with my Ubuntu distros whenever I need to. So, who cares if not 2% of the market is using it... that < 2% is millions of people. And that is enough to keep it going. The Mac made it for decades with less than 5% userbase.

Taking Android out of Linux's achievements is like saying Windows 7 is not Windows because the wallpaper is different.

Anyways, if you are thinking of trying Linux, go ahead, the community is large enough to where you should have not problem getting help, and even better, you are likely not to have any problem at all (once you learn your way around)
 
Well, the analyst, no matter how much anyone wants to complain, is somewhat right. Is Linux completely dead? No. It will likely forever stick around it's 1% of the desktop market and 60% server market. A server doesn't need to do much, so you don't need to interfere with it much. Desktops however have a lot of regular user input and needs to play nice with a lot more rapid changes in technology. Tom's had an article today about how VW still recommends IE6 for its supplier's internet infrastructure. As for phones and tablets, Android may be based on Linux, but that's the same as saying the Ferarri 599 is based on the idea of a really powerful gasoline engine. Yeah, you're right, but it's been tweaked quite a bit to distinguish it from a Camry. Android may be based on Linux, but it's been tweaked enough to be called soemthing else and work well at that. If you like Linux, then who cares what anyone says? It's a free OS made and supported by its own community. It's gonna take a lot more than a bad remark from an analyst to put the last nail in that coffin.
 
Linux is a fine OS, and there are many great distros out there for home users. The reason it does not take off is an issue of trust. People do not trust the open source community because we are programed to believe that if we pay for a product that what we are paying for is mostly the support structure to use the product, not the product itself. They are familiar with the windows business model, and they trust that it will be arround for all eternity (which it might). It is a great piece of software for extremely light users (the mom who just uses the internet), and the tinkerers who like compiling code and doing strange things. For the bulk of us the real software runs on Windows or OSx, and so that is what we use. If the linux community was more unified, and could bring the big publishing houses to support the OS, and have a good support system like the windows base, then they could get somewhere. But when you have literally hundreds of distros it is hard to gain traction and get the word out about your product
 
I have a Windows gaming only box, but the vast majority of my computing is done on either my laptop or my netbook, both of which run Peppermint OS One. The Peppermint machines run faster, easier, and more hassle free than they did with Windows.

As for the claim by the analyst, since there are not a lot of machines available with Linux pre-installed, there is little hope for market penetration. You could request one, but you will still be paying for a copy of Windows that you would not get. In other words, the majority of computer owners did not install their OS, nor do they really care which OS they have. They bought "a" gadget, and expect it to work, that is all. I bet if you surveyed all Android device users, only a small fraction would know or care that it is Linux based.

I also agree with other posters that said they prefer Linux to remain small. The only ones who want it to grow are those looking to make a fast buck, and Linux does not need those type of people. All they ever accomplish is the eventual death of a product.
 
My 2 servers and 3 laptops disagree with the "Analyst". The only computer i own that runs windows is my desktop because i game a lot. When not gaming I am often running a Linux VM to do work and school projects
 
@smelly_feet: OSX is based on the NeXTSTEP OS, which is itself based on BSD Unix. Jobs brought the NeXT IPs with him back to Apple when he became CEO again.
 
*yawn*

I could care less about the desktop market anyway. I use linux on all my servers, and for good reason. Is there really *any* other alternative but linux for the server market? I think not. Let MS have the desktop business and the problems that come with it and let the people that are dependent on enjoy what they get.
 
I suppose Gualtieri has a very narrow vision of what linux is... Is it linux if it's using KDE? GNOME? What about commandline only distros? What about Damned Small Linux or Puppy which don't have very large requirements? Is he counting just one distro? Why isn't he saying the same thing about Windows since Windows Phone 7, if I'm remembering my facts correctly, isn't actually Windows XP/Vista/7? Again, if I'm remembering correctly, WP7 is a miniaturized version of Windows, stripped down, and then customized with a lot of mobile specific items, similar to how Android is stripped down then customized... Just because the majority of Android apps run in a virtual machine (standard SDK apps rather than NDK apps), doesn't make it any less linux than WP7 is Windows...
 
Personally? I have little use for Linux other than running it on my router. I loathe fighting to get my games/applications to run properly through WINE. I prefer simplicity and ease of use versus having to go to ten different forums to track down an obscure bug and a resolution. PCBSD is a step in the right direction, but seriously, more people would use Linux if it was less arcane.

Android is built on Linux, yes, but in the sense it does absolutely nothing the average geek would want, right out of the box. Android's success is built on it being easy to use and as simple as possible for the end user, the almost exact opposite of most Linux desktop distros. No compiling, no fussing, no trying to open obscure compression formats. Android is built on Linux, but thankfully insulates the end user from the headache.

Before the mob with pitchforks rises up and says they have no trouble getting Linux to run out of the box chimes in--Sure it's easy if your hardware works exactly on the first go, but if it doesn't? Headache. Linux is free in the sense it costs nothing, but I've always found I more than pay for it in the time it takes to get everything right versus just being able to actually use it.
 
Lets see, RedHat will become a $1Bn capitalized company sometime 1Q2012. One does not get that big with a dying product. Android (yes it is Linux based)is growing by about 250k units a month from all vendors. Pratically any printer on the market today is Linux based. Linux is dominating the embedded systems market. Think Linksys wireless router for example, Linux based.

Needless to say, analyst has brain cavity where sun not shine.
 
I just dont get that even with that many server installations, how anyone could consider an OS that has no income successful. Dunno, even as an IT person, I just dont understand the allure really. I tried it several times and always just end up formatting and installing Windows or Windows Server.
 
Oh Please, Microsoft and every analyst have been saying Linux is dead in the water since last century and Linux still thrives everywhere in homes and businesses and super computers. Stop looking at the US for Linux on the desktop. Look at South America and India and Russia and Germany and China. And now with secure boot, Microsoft is trying to stop Linux. Good Luck, MS. In another 10 years, we will see where Linux will be.
 
Facts:

a. Linux is the kernel. Fedora, ubuntu, Android, Meego, OpenWRT all are Linux + userspace.

b. There exists 5 main areas of computing:
1. Supercomputers.
2. Servers.
3. Desktops.
4. Appliances.
5. Phones.

c. Linux does not rule the Desktop area.

d. Linux massively rules them all the rest.

Conclusion: Linux is a WINNER! rules 4 of 5 computing areas, another Tom article without research.
 
Most users of the typical desktop are people of average intelligence and feel insecure in a new software environment . They have difficulty in relearning. Windows gives them that stability in "look, feel, and doing". I mean the way we store files, where we store files , where to look for whatever, pressing the same set of keys produces a particular result and so on. Most people have not upgraded to the latest version of IE as per recent surveys. The reason I suspect is the fear of a new environment. Most Linux distributions attempt to be "different " as though its a crime to be the same as Windows in "look and feel". I do not not know why this attitude is prevalent. MS did not invent the spreadsheet, the word processor or the virtual box. MS waits for great idea and makes it part of the next Windows release. So the way to go is a Linux distribution which will behave the same way as Windows. Then I expect more people to switch.
 
Five pages about Linux here...yeah sure Linux is dead!
You know if Tom's wasn't so busy getting payola from Apple they might have more space in the news section for articles about Linux and Ubuntu.

What is the general opinion about Ubuntu Mint?
 
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