Interesting article about "What Linux is doing wrong on the desktop"

[Matt Galvin]

On 4/27/06, Senectus . <senectus at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=339485153&eid=-219
>
> Quote:
> OEMs, especially smaller system builders, will occasionally install
> Linux if a customer demands it, Enderle said. But OEMs fundamentally
> dislike Linux because it doesn't sport a track record of encouraging
> users to upgrade their PCs in reliable three-year cycles the way
> Windows does, Enderle said.
>
> "The PC guys live on churn, and Linux doesn't really change enough for
> them. That's theoretically good for IT managers, who would keep
> employees on the same hardware for nine years if they could, but bad
> for OEMs," Enderle said. "
>
> /Quote

That is very false statement. All FOSS (Linux and everything around
it) software changes so frequently as to demand these "fast" 6 month
release cycles. If that is not churn I don't know what is :-/ On the
flip side the software is usually stable enough to not *require*
upgrades but the upgrades are made available every few months. Maybe
the OEM decision makers are missing some facts here. With new releases
every 6 moths there is certainly room for them grow and sell systems.

On the other hand...

> saviour of Enterprise managers? :-P

for this group.... Absolutely! IT Mangers don't ever want to touch a
machine unless it isn't doing its job.

This...

<qoute>
Another problem is the mistaken belief among Linux advocates that
open-source software equivalents to popular commercial Windows
software and games are adequate, according to Geoff Perlman, CEO of
Austix, Texas-based REAL Software. "The mass majority of computer
users are conservative. They want to use the software they're used to
using," said Perlman, whose firm makes software to ease the rewriting
of applications from one operating system to another.
</qoute>

is also quite untrue and is an overly generalized statement. Just
recently my mom asked me to install something on her computer *other
than windows*. She uses her computer for simple things like writing
email, printing photos, and playing solitaire :) She said she could
not stand the virus and the crashing anymore (and she has a brand new
dell with Windows XP SP2 riddled with viruses). And I did not sell her
on Linux... she knows I work with computers and she just came and
asked me one day if there was something other than windows she could
use. People are seriously feed up with Microsoft.

<qoute>
Mainstream users just aren't going to voluntarily switch to Linux if
it means they have to give up Photoshop, Quicken or even Microsoft
Office, said Perlman, who calls the current dearth of commercial
software a "drought."
</quote>

My above example proves this is flat out wrong. And "mainstream users"
don't use $650 Photoshop.

Anyway, sorry for ranting a bit. These types of FUD articles just irk me :-/

After all the interviews with "Industry Experts", i.e. career windows
users, there is one simple fact that remains clear to me. If my house
wife mom with almost no serious computer experience can ask me out of
the blue, "I can't take the viruses and crashing anymore, what can I
use besides Windows?" people are obviously feed up and look for
alternatives.

--
Matt T. Galvin
mgalvin on irc.freenode.net
http://people.simplifiedcomplexity.com/~mgalvin/
Ubuntu Documentation Team Member