[wplug] WIRED

Patrick Weber paw160 at psu.edu
Thu Sep 13 19:47:32 EDT 2001


Essentially they ask the questions:
	1. What is Linux really good at?
	2. What is holding Linux back?
Really the one area that Linux surpasses nearly any other OS out there is 
in the server market.  That is one market that remains unconquered and 
highly competetive.  There is the real shot at Linux making it into the 
mainstream business community.  As the article points out, the desktop war 
is lost.  FACE IT!!! Microsoft has really won on the desktop, that cannot 
be avoided.  So why not then focus attention on an area that Linux can 
really dominate?  If concentrated efforts were made at improving and 
perfecting Linux as a server alternative, then it could dominate Sun's 
UNIX, IBM's AIX, and Microsoft's NT. Hands Down.  Too much time has been 
devoted to creating half baked software concoctions for the desktop user 
that simply don't work.  Look at the dozen's of office suites that are 
unusable.  Name one solid graphical development environment.  These efforts 
are essentially useless and only prove the point that Linux is not ready 
for the desktop and never will be, in the universal sense.

The other point that the article makes is how the attitudes of the Linux 
community impact the impressions of Linux in the "outside world".  First 
let me say that I have only had positive experiences with this particular 
group.  However, I think we can all admit that there are those very elitist 
and arrogant Linux zealots out there.  Unfortunately they seem to be highly 
visible to many businesses and can severely impede those businesses 
willingness to accept Linux.  Many times I have experience extremely rude 
behavior from Linux users.  You see this on many sites such as Slashdot 
etc.  Many of these people are driven more by a hatred for Microsoft than 
for an honest appreciation for what is a very solid and reliable operating 
system.  You and I know that these zealots are not the majority of Linux 
users.  Most of us are sincerely interested in either using the OS or 
developing for and expanding it.  Yet, as long as Linux is perceived to lay 
within the realm of ultrageekdom and arrogant exclusive rebels, it will 
never gain the respect it deserves.

The WIRED article is one of the most sincere, unbiased, honest evaluations 
of the current state of Linux.  It is well worth a read.

--patrick




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