

Linux Has Run Out of Time - rukshn
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2465125,00.asp

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ignostic
>[Running windows apps on Linux is] like vegetarians who crave meat and eat
meat-"flavored" tofu burgers instead. Again, what's the point?

That's a better analogy than the author apparently realized. People sometimes
go vegetarian not because they hate meat. There are plenty of other reasons.
Many don't eat meat because they hate how animals are treated and killed to
get it. I love pork, but I stopped eating it because I'm not comfortable with
abusing and eating such an intelligent creature.

People don't use Linux because they hate Windows applications. In fact, they
probably love the "taste" of Windows and its applications. People use Linux
for lots of reasons. Maybe they have moral issues with Microsoft and Apple.
Maybe they're low on cash and would rather tinker with programs than pay for
Windows. Maybe they're highly-technical users who actually enjoy it.

I agree with the author's key point, though. Linux had an opportunity when Mac
was flagging and Microsoft hatred was in full fury, but those days are gone.
Linux needs better software, but no one's about to make the next big
investment in a software environment where no one wants to pay for anything.

Linux still has a place for custom hardware with niche applications. Aside
from that, I see a future of trying to get software designed for Mac or PC to
work reasonably well. That doesn't spell doom for Linux - it's just the
current and foreseeable reality.

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WD-42
Most people that complain that Linux isn't ready for the desktop are
complaining about not being able to run specific applications, so it's not
ready for mainstream use. Who cares? I use linux on MY desktop because it's an
amazing programming environment. Multimedia people use OSX (or at least used
to) because it is great for multimedia. If spreadsheets are your thing, use
Windows. I dont understand what the fuss is about, if it doesn't match your
needs, don't use it. I use Linux on my desktop and I couldn't care less if you
do or not.

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drostie
Right. It's hard I think for people to remember that Linux distros are just
another program -- even more so, now that we've developed virtualization
tools. I spend most of my time in a Kubuntu Linux VM within Windows because my
workplace coordinates via Windows applications (Outlook and Spark) but my
actual work is strongly enhanced by scripting, ssh, text editors with good
grepping and syntax highlighting (usually Kate but also vim from the command
line), and a bunch of version control work.

Speaking as someone who uses Kubuntu also as a day-to-day Linux environment at
home, Kubuntu will do about 90% of what you want to do. I've not had problems
with browsing the web, handling network drives, seamlessly connecting to
bluetooth, taking a picture with my webcam, calling for hours on Skype,
writing an office document and distributing it via email as a PDF, or drawing
on a PDF with my touchscreen and saving those annotations for later use. KDE
also makes things like screen captures and configuring your toolbars and such
really easy, and creating a button to make Chromium open in Incognito mode for
day-to-day less-tracked browsing was not too hard.

Most Linux environments will do something astonishing which Windows doesn't
do: you tell it to install something and it will handle the details of going
out and fetching it and installing it on your computer (i.e. an app-store).
You can just say one day, "hey, I want lighttpd running on this computer so
that I can share this image with a friend without putting it on an image-
hosting site," and it'll be rapidly accomplished and ready for your use.

What it will not do, includes Microsoft Silverlight (hence Netflix).

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kellros
Honestly, I'm not surprised. It's been a long time coming.

The mental burden of having to learn something entirely new (without much
guidance) can be frustrating - especially if you're forced to make the switch.
Think about the last time you learnt a new programming language that was very
different from what you're used to. E.g. going from a C style language to a
LISP, or to something like Scala from C with no background on the JVM.

For most people, the thought of installing Ubuntu or whatnot would not cross
their mind if their PC/laptop came with Windows. Nevermind that the average
user just knows how to turn a PC on/off and use a few programs/websites. One
reason why I think the LiMux revolution didn't sit too well is that the
precedent for user experience nowadays are set on mobile platforms where
everything is extremely convenient and require little or no configuration - it
just 'works'.

Linux systems on the other hand tend to require a lot of intervention/hand-
holding (e.g. chmod) and rarely come with wizards to simplify processes (e.g.
try installing an unsupported USB WIFI adapter). The world would be a
different place if kids grew up using Linux instead of Windows :). For that
reason I vowed to teach my son some Linux basics and a few programming
languages when he becomes older.

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damm
I'm sorry if this is negative of me.

1\. Linux is a kernel. It is not the user land necessarily and really that's
all this post seems to be about. * Him being unable to run Skype and do his
dumb Windows things. 2\. I feel sorry for people who try to convert to Linux
or Mac and try and keep the same applications; and the same workflow. * Do you
like driving your Pinto like it's a Tesla S Roadsters? if so you might like
this blog post.

I agree with @tarminian that pcmag.com has run out of time and this post was a
waste.

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tarminian
No, pcmag.com has run out of time. Linux will continue.

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simonblack
Shhh. For God's sake don't tell my desktop and laptops. They've been running
Linux (and UNIX before that) for over 20 years.

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dczx
Right. It's dead. Everyone stop using it. Because the author's wife needs to
use microsoft office.

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emergentcypher
Clickbait article is clickbait.

