
Apple is Killing Linux on the Desktop - nickb
http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/apple-is-killing-linux-on-the-desktop/
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mironathetin
Who is surprised? Linux is not a desktop OS. Linux apps suck to hell.

I use Linux since ever as a development platform. It works fine. Email and
websurfing is ok too (thanks mozilla). But as soon as you have to write
something or create and edit an image, linux software is pure crap. Compare
gimp to Photoshop, open office to M$ Office or Pages? Surely you are joking,
Mr. (put your name here ;o).

Linux is a hacker os made by hackers for hackers. Sometimes my impression is,
kernel hackers don't have the slightest idea, what average computer users want
and need. Thats why linux is marginal and will be.

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pius
Don't compare Gimp to Photoshop, compare Pixel.
<http://www.kanzelsberger.com/pixel/?page_id=5>

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scw
There is no evidence presented that backs up the claim that Linux is being
displaced by Apple usage; even stated is that in the time monitored Linux web
users doubled (albeit to a still minute fraction of the total users). The
assumption that having no Apple on the marketplace would leave a niche easily
filled by Linux is also unlikely.

Apple is making good inroads in adoption, after a few costly moves reducing
its market share, is gaining and hopefully continues to gain, traction and
position itself as the consumer alternative to the nightmare of Windows. Linux
is many different things, but the gain of community supported, easy to
install, open source software will likely continue making inroads into the
proprietary world. It remains to be seen if Linux can bridge enough
proprietary apps to address the needs of Joe user.

In many of these systems, an important factor is the software ecosystem
surrounding the OS itself: Windows has had this major boost and resistance to
competition based on its 1-2 orders of magnitude greater availability of
software than any of its competitors, but OS X is attracting a number of niche
apps with major strong appeal to some user factions, and Linux is finally
getting easy to use methods to access the plethora of good apps that make an
OS stick.

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BrandonM
Okay... if Linux's percentage _increases_ , how is Apple killing Linux again?

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bayareaguy
The same way Oracle "killed" Ingres: growing the customer base by an order of
magnitude in the same time it takes your competitor to double theirs.

~~~
manvsmachine
That analogy only holds if increased OSX adoption is somehow inherently
detrimental to Linux users. I don't see them competing with each other
directly that much, as right now both OS are gaining primarily through Windows
converts. The vast majority of hackers and power users aren't going to drop
Linux completely for OSX, they'll just double boot or VM, and having a more
Unix-centric focus in mainstream computing can only help to promote Linux
software development.

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tlrobinson
Not too surprising, since Linux is still very intimidating to the average
computer user.

Even for hackers, OS X has the advantage of being able to run most Linux/Unix
applications in addition to all the excellent OS X apps.

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Tichy
I think Linux is now actually the OS that is the most easy to use, but it has
only been a few weeks yet (release of Gutsy Gibbon) since the major issues
have been resolved.

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eru
Did they finally resolve the trackerd issue?

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Tichy
Don't know anything about it, but they probably have it's status in the
bugtracker (Launchpad, I suppose)?

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eru
I think they have.

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breily
This doesn't seem surprising in the least given that Apple spends tons of
money trying to make people switch and I'm sure most Linux developers couldn't
care less if windows users switch.

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pivo
I assume this money you're referring to is marketing money.

If so, that's not what made me switch. I switched to a MacBook because 1)
Suspend/resume would work reliably, 2) I would be able to plug in an external
monitor and have it work without having to restart X and 3) I would be able to
easily attach to WiFi networks, especially those using modern encryption.

Having supported hardware is a huge plus on laptops.

So I still use Linux on my desktop and I prefer X window managers to the
Finder or whatever OSX's window manager is called. I also think that Linux
package management is vastly superior to the mismash of package management
options available on OSX.

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bayareaguy
Macs have always had more "killer" desktop applications (i.e. applications so
compelling they drive the purchase of the underlying computer hardware) than
random Linux boxes.

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Tichy
Examples?

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bayareaguy
Apple created and dominated the desktop publishing area for a decade before
there was such a thing as Linux. I know plenty of places full of Windows PC's
that bought Macs to run PageMaker. Apple's use of Postscript in their popular
LaserWriter made a market for Adobe same way IBM's use of DOS made a market
for Microsoft.

For more recent examples, I'd look to graphics and multimedia editing
applications (e.g. Avid, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, etc).

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Tichy
Would be interesting to know if Apple is gaining grounds in businesses or for
private use. Most things you mention seem to be strictly for professional use.
It's too bad that there is no Photoshop for Linux, but if people wouldn't
pirate Photoshop, I doubt it would be as common as it seems to be now. Gimp
does just fine for private use, though.

Most businesses I know might give a Mac to their designers, but the rest of
the pack has to live with PCs.

Also, since you mention those "old" killer apps, apparently they were not
killer apps enough to gain the Mac a significant marketshare a few years ago.
So I question their deadliness.

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evgen
As a counter-example, I have watched the entire "command-line or death"
development group at my company move from linux desktops and laptops to
macbook pros over the past year. Linux desktops still survive, but as
peripheral machines under desks that are not being replaced when they die or
the hardware becomes too slow. The only people clinging to PCs are sales and
marketing people who live and die in Outlook.

As others have mentioned, the killer app for the Mac at the moment is being a
unix box that "just works" and lets people get back to coding.

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ivan
This is because the number of gays is growing significantly :)

