[K12OSN] Scary article from Russia (w/o love)

[Moon]

Based on the comments from the Linux side, I believe one can easily see
why Linux is NOT truly ready for the desktop. If anyone that thinks it
is, based on applications and usability, then they are obviously not
basing their opinion on fact. 

I have been using Linux exclusively as my desktop platform for the past
two years (willing to work through and around Linux desktop's shot
comings) and can tell you honestly that there are a lot of shortcomings
in Linux as a desktop client. Note that I have used CentOS, Fedora, and
Ubuntu for the last four plus releases, as well as deployed K12LTSP and
K12Linux in school labs for the past two plus years, so I have had
extensive experience with the usability as well as issues with Linux.

Continuing to blindly favor and praise Linux desktop solely because of
ones prejudices against Microsoft is foolishness and continues to cause
Linux to not address it's weaknesses and enhance it's usability for
desktop users. Out of the box experience, what 90% of the computing user
world experiences, determines their preferences, and if they have to go
through Linux setup/configuration Hell to do it, guess what, they won't.
Look at the statistics for the number of returned Linux based Netbook
PCs vs Windows XP based Netbook PCs, that alone should tell us
something.

It is in Linux best interest to seriously tune and optimize their
desktop offerings. Secondly, Linux seriously needs a Small Business
Server platform that competes with Microsoft's SBS. Continuing to ignore
these two key areas will continue to be Linux Achilles heel to wider
adoption.

Red Hat can continue to blindly ignore desktop and Small Business Server
opportunities to their own demise, but Ubuntu and SUSE will eventually
fulfill that niche and eventually surpass Red Hat. Keep in mind that the
lions share of businesses are small. 

 

On Tue, 2009-05-19 at 10:00 -0600, David L. Willson wrote:

> I resemble that.  For my part, I think Linux is completely ready for the desktop, but I'm not sure that the users are ready and I'm not sure that IT people are as ready as they think they are.  So, my general-purpose advice is this:  Go ahead and pilot Linux on the desktop, with an eye toward full deployment, but make darn sure you have a safety net: a Windows Terminal Server, a Virtual Machine, or a dual-boot handy for anything you might have overlooked.  Working without a net is bad geekery.  It scares users, and it should.  Be humble.  Serve the users that feed you.  Study as hard as you can.  Never, ever attack people, even when they're being "stupid" and "deserve it".
> 
> --David
> 
> ----- "Terrell Prude' Jr." <microman at cmosnetworks.com> wrote:
> 
> > He's only done part of his homework.  And some of those "points" are 
> > just plain wrong.  I smell an MCSE at work there....
> > 
> > --TP
> > 
> > Alan Hodson wrote:
> > > Check out Tashkinov's article:
> > http://linuxfonts.narod.ru/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.html
> > > Serious food for thought!
> > >
> > >
> > > Alan A Hodson MEd.
> > > Instructional Applications Analyst
> > > El Paso Independent School District
> > > oF: 915-887-6871
> > > fX: 915-772-4016
> > > Nxt:915-892-0389
> > > aahodson at episd.org
> > > http://links.episd.org/
> > > Open Source Grokker
> > > http://tinyurl.com/3e4sh8
> > >
> > > Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
> > > but by the moments that take our breath away
> > > -=o=-
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >   
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