20 years of Linux

[jes]

20 years of Linux

Is the open source operating system still relevant?

 

[clikcspeed]

Best Operating System. EVER - that is also a constant. The Internet was built on Linux, thats how far you have to look.

 

[krycor]

I think apple in someways has sped up the recent adoption of linux for end users (besides ubuntu + virtualisation). Essentially with the rise of the popularity of macs users have become more accepting of there not being windows 7 etc on by default, combo'd with the use of virtualisation for running windows 7 to access things made for windows only. It's amazing, beginning to suspect that's why ubuntu is morphing to be more like mac software ui.

For me its always a win, every server project i get to work on as some variant of linux on and with virtualisation these days i happily run my stuff like that. I wonder if notebooks & netbooks will also eventually become always online devices like cell phones are? i.e. cell operators start selling their own rebranded machines with a data package on their network with other advantages like their own update mirrors etc. I mean why don't they do something like that? patches happen only so many times if they sell it as a value add on service that doesn't charge on your cap it would be a great selling point(updates not entire o/s). anyways im bored..

 

[CritiKill]

As a Linux user for the past 6 years it really makes me glad to see this OS rise to prominence in articles like this. Manufacturers should really consider releasing Linux free with every PC they provide. Feature for feature, Linux represents a serious challenge to MS.

Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP is the defacto language and platform of the web so giving people these tools off the bat with the first PC they purchase will only help us get more people web developer savvy...

Linux Mint FTW!!!

 

[kwaggawerner]

Is the open source operating system still relevant???

Who thinks up these sh!!t articles? Linux is bigger then ever,
LINUX IS... 550 Thousand linux devices are being activated daily - http://goo.gl/l357K
LINUX IS... in TV's, Media Players, Car's, Machinery, and Factory-robots.
LINUX IS... the backbone of banks (First National Bank. South Africa, et al.)
LINUX IS... so big, it's out of this world, literally. It's on the International Space Station.

You think NASA will run Windows on their Desktops in the NOC just to have a BSOD during the countdown phase? 4...3....2....OH CRAP, MY PC IS REBOOTING!!

Credit to Microsoft, Windows 7 is great! Job well done!

The author of this article needs to do more research or at least think twice before he hands out titles.

As for it not being quite a desktop OS, it's one of the top two choices for HP for retail-sales in the US, amongst other companies, which I have not yet googled in depth, since I just woke up, and haven't had my coffee yet. chop!

EDIT:
OKAY, upon reading the article again, while sipping some stimulant. I like the way Alastair says "it will dominate just about everything else"... nice. so my apologies to Alastair.

 

[fanusj]

I started using Linux out of curiosity about 4 years ago when I installed it on an old home PC. I was surprised to see how easy it was to install and how feature rich it was. Most surprising was the performance.

Today, all my home computers are running Linux (I am using various distros) and even my corporate laptop runs Linux with XP in a virtual machine. Of course, the XP is to fulfil the corporate standard with the requirement to join their AD domain.

I have a growing number of colleagues and friends that are also converting when they see the kind of productivity that the others experience. And I enjoy their excitement when someone discovers some new app or utility that greatly enhance and expands the Linux experience. It has really put the fun back in IT for me.

And then there is of course the variety of desktop environments and UI's to chose from - there is definitely one to suite your personality

Lastly, I am grateful that I started this journey as more and more of the IT business solutions that we use and deploy are Linux appliance based and the skills that I learnt by using Linux is very useful.

Long live Linux !!

 

[MightyMuffinMan]

I use Linux as well. But the problem with it is it not user friendly to new users unlike windows. The only time it will have a chance as a mainstream PC/Laptop OS is when it is user friendly similar to Windows.

Reality is most users don't care about what they use as long as it gets the job done and looks cool.

Edit: I dont think Linux dominating evrything else is relevant, end of the day Android is ANdroid (its only linux on paper and in its heart so doesnt really count as Linux).

 

[Qrox]

Kill it! Kill it with fire!!!

 

[fanusj]

I use Linux as well. But the problem with it is it not user friendly to new users unlike windows. The only time it will have a chance as a mainstream PC/Laptop OS is when it is user friendly similar to Windows.

I will disagree with you - the learning curve to adjust to the Windows 7 interface is similar to that when switching to Linux. And of course, it all depends on the UI that you choose and prefer . KDE is so similar to Windows that my kids made the switch with no sweat.

What I also find strange is that there are seldom complaints from users switching to the Apple interface - so why be bothered by switching to Linux.

Some of the things that one will get used to within 5 minutes:

* The menu structure - there is nothing that is really different - it is all logical
* The window management - very similar but just on different places (Status bar on top, closing, minimizing and maximizing on the left hand site etc - but it can even be customised to your liking)
* Launching of programs
* Internet browsing (it is exactly the same when you use Firefox or Chrome)
* Disk layout - no C: or D: drive

Some of the things that still amazes me include :

* Free software for most anything you would like to do and that you can think of.
* PERFORMANCE - outperforms Windows any time
* No viruses
* Massive community support at no charge.

 

[BlackMamba]

Linux has not failed in any form, Ms has used bully tactics to beat Linux in the desktop world

 

[Valis]

My belief is that Linux should never become mainstream. I mean, can you imagine all the ex-Windows users flooding the Linux forums with their stupid questions? Oh, the horror!

I've been using Linux for less than two years and think it's amazing. I was forced to use Windows the other day for something and was stunned to realise what a load of rubbish it is. There's just no comparison, Linux is smooth, stable, intuitive, fast, easy to use. Windows is clunky, bloated, unstable, slow and a nightmare to use. Windows users are just not used to anything better and think that is the way computing works. Meantime there's Linux!

 

[superfly]

"Linux" /is/ user friendly. In usability studies, it was shown that Windows' interface was inferior to KDE, Gnome and Aqua (Mac OS X). Most folks, however, only know Windows, and because Linux is *different* they say it's not user friendly.

 

[killadoob]

"Linux" /is/ user friendly. In usability studies, it was shown that Windows' interface was inferior to KDE, Gnome and Aqua (Mac OS X). Most folks, however, only know Windows, and because Linux is *different* they say it's not user friendly.

How many different linux packages are there?

 

[Bismuth]

How many different linux packages are there?

I can't get onto wikipedia right now, but here is an excerpt from the Google search:

Linux distribution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution - Cached
There are currently over six hundred Linux distributions. .... localization, or through inclusion of many music production or scientific computing packages; ... hardware vendors that aims to improve interoperability between different distributions. ...

B

 

[BlackMamba]

I must say I am proud to run Ubuntu for the past 5 years and sure I am the only one around Pienaar/kanyamazane and kabokweni yeeepy

 

[MightyMuffinMan]

I will disagree with you - the learning curve to adjust to the Windows 7 interface is similar to that when switching to Linux. And of course, it all depends on the UI that you choose and prefer . KDE is so similar to Windows that my kids made the switch with no sweat.

What I also find strange is that there are seldom complaints from users switching to the Apple interface - so why be bothered by switching to Linux.

Some of the things that one will get used to within 5 minutes:

* The menu structure - there is nothing that is really different - it is all logical
* The window management - very similar but just on different places (Status bar on top, closing, minimizing and maximizing on the left hand site etc - but it can even be customised to your liking)
* Launching of programs
* Internet browsing (it is exactly the same when you use Firefox or Chrome)
* Disk layout - no C: or D: drive

Some of the things that still amazes me include :

* Free software for most anything you would like to do and that you can think of.
* PERFORMANCE - outperforms Windows any time
* No viruses
* Massive community support at no charge.

installing software on Linux can be a pain.

 

[killadoob]

installing software on Linux can be a pain.

Well yes i would imagine with 600+ versions i can see why developers avoid linux. Can you imagine the support needed to solve all those issues .

I don't think you can really talk about windows and linux on the desktop until we are talking about one linux vs windows not 600+

 

[Quest10n]

Until Linux become as easy as Windows it will remain a software package for the geeks, Linux gurus and all. I don't want to struggle when it comes to installing games and any other software I require to make things easy for me to use.

 

[tortured]

Well yes i would imagine with 600+ versions i can see why developers avoid linux. Can you imagine the support needed to solve all those issues .

I don't think you can really talk about windows and linux on the desktop until we are talking about one linux vs windows not 600+

Thing is even with so many versions a lot of them are the same or very similiar when it comes to the inner workings of the OS. They just look different.

 

[Knyro]

Well yes i would imagine with 600+ versions i can see why developers avoid linux. Can you imagine the support needed to solve all those issues .

I don't think you can really talk about windows and linux on the desktop until we are talking about one linux vs windows not 600+

Developers avoid Linux because of market share. The amount of Linux desktop users is very small so if your primary purpose is to make money Windows is the obvious choice.

When it comes to supporting software you don't have to, just release the source code. Don't forget that there are legions of Linux nerds worldwide helping each other out, ironing out bugs etc. If you want to go the closed source route and supporting the program yourself just release it for one specific distro, although it'll probably be ported to others in no time anyway, complete with support forums. As for compatibility issues, if it runs on Debian/Gentoo/Slackware/RedHat it'll run on most other distros, maybe with a few tweaks here and there/saving the package in a different format.

Until Linux become as easy as Windows it will remain a software package for the geeks, Linux gurus and all. I don't want to struggle when it comes to installing games and any other software I require to make things easy for me to use.

Why does everyone have the impression that installing software on linux is such a nightmare?

The easy way:
1) Open package manager GUI
2) Search for program
3) Click "Install"
4) Done

Far easier than in Windows IMO