Analyst: It's Game Over for Linux
Prepare yourself, especially if you are passionate about Linux.
A Forrester analyst yesterday told the Linux world that it is game over for the OS. No more hope for world domination. At least on desktops and mobile devices.
This special post begins with the following notes: "Poor Linux. It struggled so hard to dominate the world. It was the little open source engine that could, but it didn’t." It ends with "[…] I do not think the open source community can muster the forces necessary to compete. Open source never seems to be the innovator. Instead, it seems to disrupt pricing power for established technologies. Game over for worldwide dominance." Swallow that.
Forrester analyst Mike Gualtieri recognizes that Linux has 60 percent of the server market, but states it only has 2 percent of the desktop market. iOS and Android virtually killed it in mobile. In Gualtieri's words: "Sure, Android is built on top of Linux, but Linux is only one of many piece parts of the Android mobile operating system. It is not Linux."
Feel free to chime in at the comments below.
Would have ditched my Windows machine long ago if I wasn't a gamer.
Reads like someone writing on a subject they know very little about.
Reads like someone writing on a subject they know very little about.
It might not be the same for Windows and iOS/MacOS, because they want to sell you the experience and all that. Linux just wants to fit everyone needs as they see fit. You can have a linux machine and have nothing more than the kernel, bash (or name the one u like) and glibc installed.
Desktop doesn't need that wide range of options nor do cell phones for the masses. But telling that Linux is dead in the desktop, not sure. Linux can adapt and morph way faster than Windows and iOS/MacOS can. Just look at the PPC (for example) support and you'll get an idea on how flexible the concept for it really is.
If OGL and OSS/Pulse had better marketing and adoption, I'd say that the Linux environment would be rocking the desktop. But it ain't that way, so there you have it
Cheers!
Would have ditched my Windows machine long ago if I wasn't a gamer.
Sure, you can do fixes etc to run em. But cbfa.
I'd use linux, and I'd probably like, but the little things would grind me down.
My recent experience with Ubuntu 11.04:
1. Auto update removed my UEFI packages and makes the system not bootable after automatic updates.
2. nVidia official drivers requires console mode.
3. No virtual console for nVidia except third party drivers which does not work in conjunction with nVidia official drivers for X window.
4. Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD not working.
5. Realtek official audio drivers not working properly even compiled successfully.
6. GNU compilers suite latest version can be installed but not suitable for compiling applications (at least without messy system setup) for Ubuntu desktop.
7. Shutdown is fine but reboot will give you crashes or black screen of death.
8. Proper shutdown but still crashes the file system and requires fixes.
9. UEFI boot record in UEFI ROM get erased after firmware update (no such problems in Windows).
10. Booting to safe mode or memory test crashes immediately.
Conclusion is:
1. Not suitable with latest hardware even it is open source
2. Not stable when you need a GUI for desktop.
No matter how good Linux is or how fast is can be updated from the source code level, if it does not work in the latest hardware or even some popular configurations, hardcore users will leave it without a choice. Not to mention normal users.
The quote, "It just works", is really the only way to go if you want the market. 99% are normal, even not all geeks want works done and not messes all the time.
Until its made super simple for the masses it won't catch on. The herd core techie is a SMALL part of the computer user base.