Comments on An Amazing Mind: Why Linux Doesn't Spread - the Curse of Being Free...

my friend you forget that installing a driver is a...

2008-07-21T02:48:00.000+02:00

my friend you forget that installing a driver is as easy as clicking in windows, while in linux its as hard as anything could be.

Linux might be a great OS for those who like to work hard. for people who just want to get their work done easily, linux is not the answer. I spent 6 hours trying to just install a video driver. Everytime it did get installed, some other error appeared.

yes alot of Linux fans might disagree...but its true for someone who hasnt used linux. why would he go through all that pain even if its free?????

Ha this just proves how stupid people are. I could...

2008-07-21T01:19:00.000+02:00

Ha this just proves how stupid people are. I could care less if Linux spreads to the masses. I use it because it is better and if Window and Apple apologists don't see that then let them over pay for their OS which does nothing better than Linux. It's about logic over perception.

Anything you can do on a non-Linux syste4m I can do with Linux and I can do it for free. If you think something has to cost money to have value than I guess our own American consumerism is to blame and their is no hope for any of us.

@foucault123It was my first thought also that the ...

2008-06-13T01:19:00.000+02:00

@foucault123

It was my first thought also that the problem was with how people think of money and true value as well. You could probably do the same with anything at all, say a bag of oranges. Divide them in half and sell one pile for $5 a piece and give the ones from the other pile away. Tell people the $5 oranges are designer cross-bred oranges or some silly thing and put a little sticker on each orange. Bigger names seem to work best. If you didn't tell people anything at all about either pile of oranges other than the price, the first thing they'd likely say would be 'So what's wrong with the free ones?'

It's very sad to see so many people that, as the primary thing they get up to go do every day, are focused on enlarging their stacks of paper and metal (or even worse, some imaginary number that you pay some bank to keep track of with time from your life!) to the exclusion of everything else. Family and all.

People glaze over if you try to tell them that money doesn't matter; it's the big lie that rules all. I started using linux because I believe in the principals behind it and because I'm not worrying about if a particular program is crippled on purpose unless I pay or if it's pirated or if it does things with my computer that I didn't ask it to do, not because it was cheaper on my wallet. But I think I see it different from the author only because of how I happen to view money.

Ultimately I believe that the same ideals that are promoted in linux (freedom to see and change and exchange ideas in whatever form) would be a great way of life all around, not only applied to software and such. We're all in this together, like it or not.

It's amazing to watch these open-source projects grow because of the things that traditional business suppresses.

It's a cool experiment anyway good luck :)

I have at times been a skeptic, and a believer, an...

2008-06-11T06:25:00.000+02:00

I have at times been a skeptic, and a believer, and a overbearing fanboy. I have come to realize that it's really all about choice, freedom of choice. There are advantages and disadvantages to using both windows and linux. Why not use both?

---

The real crime is that MS will NEVER, EVER allow its OS to be pre-installed in a dual/multi-boot setup with linux (unless required by law -- i.e. by lawsuit). The clear reason is that this would open the door to better hardware and driver support, as well as better/killer software apps.

If that bridge is ever crossed in a mainstream since, it'll be bye bye windows. End of story.

very nice article.

2008-06-09T12:10:00.000+02:00

very nice article.

I read through a lot of posts here (but not all of...

2008-05-19T04:54:00.000+02:00

I read through a lot of posts here (but not all of them), so if anyone mentioned this then I agree with you. The MAIN reason for slow adoption of Linux on the desktop is not money. It is this:
CHANGE
Generally, the human race does not like change. People stick with what they are familiar with - and unfortunately, that is Windows.

Other secondary reasons are:

- The lack of support from friends, coworkers, etc... Most people cannot call their neighbor, friend, etc... and say "How do I install this program or that on my Linux box"?

- The corporate world cannot control (at least for now) the core Linux product. Their is a lack of financial incentive. So their is little active promotion from companies to the end-users to "use Linux instead".

To the average user, Linux is simply "different".

The good news is this: I believe this will all change. The strides made by the Linux and Open Source communities has been phenomenal. It will only get better. Corporations have adapted for servers, trickled distribution on the desktop, mobile devices, etc... Linux offers something much greater than Windows does that can nudge people to change - FREEDOM.
As Linux continues to progress, I believe that Windows will have a limited role in the future. This will not happen overnight. But I believe Windows will be Open Source within 5 years, and Linux will have 50% of market within 10 years. The Linux "wave" has just begun.

GNOME is slow, the fonts suck, and the GUI for cha...

2008-05-19T02:32:00.000+02:00

GNOME is slow, the fonts suck, and the GUI for changing desktop settings is awful. How hard is it to put in a GUI everything that xorg.conf does?

Two conflicting versions of rpm-libs got installed; that took a while to figure out.

The preinstalled version of Java (in Fedora, at least) SUCKS ASS, and you have to delete it before putting on the real Sun Java for Linux.

If you set your xorg.conf to invalid values, you can get a blank screen that you won't be able to escape, no matter how many times you reboot and what you try to do on them. (Can't get to a working terminal in Linux, WTF?!) This abruptly ended my foray into Linux. Maybe I'll try Ubuntu when I'm feeling masochistic.

Windows has a lot of problems, indeed, and Vista is a hideous abomination that I shall never install. But XP is not nearly as bad as Fedora.

Stop fellating yourselves and make an OS that people can actually use, and people might actually want to use it.

I would never use microsoft products to store data...

2008-05-14T05:46:00.000+02:00

I would never use microsoft products to store data or as server if I were to start a company. But I would have windows and microsoft apps at the workstations, as it would require less time to educate the employees.

And an other thing. Most people who use internet also use linux. 90+% of all web servers are linux. And apache(server software) is FOSS. It feels natural to use linux as desktop.

I want to propose a solution to all the 'hard to use linux bs'; READ THE MANUAL! Almost every FOSS come with a neat README file(that's READ ME, with big letters so you can find it) which mean you should read that file. It will explain all the ./configure, make install procedure. But I am a nerd and I guess taking instructions are for nerds.

Last of all. Canonical is the last I would contact for help with Ubuntu problems. If you google ubuntu + problem you'll end up in the amazingly well organized forum which holds the answer for most of the common problems.

Sorry if I didn't keep a red thread through out my text, but after reading all the entries I couldn't.

Good experiment!

Desktop tip for gnome users(http://www.gnome-look.org)

OSX is actually the best debian linux implementati...

2008-04-22T15:15:00.000+02:00

OSX is actually the best debian linux implementation with Ubuntu a good second. Windowzz is out!

Its not because its free, I have heard this so man...

2008-04-19T07:39:00.000+02:00

Its not because its free, I have heard this so many times its not funny, the reason is that you have to know what your doing to use linux, you cant just download software and install it, you cant just go online and ask for help on a subject as I have done millions of times to only find there are a thousand and one ways to fix a problem that none of the answers actually fix, linux can be extreamly frustrating for the average user and i should know, I work in it support. when linux becomes as user friendly as windows or mac os then people will flock to it in droves

openSUSE, former Ubuntu), former XP, and Vista use...

2008-04-12T06:08:00.000+02:00

openSUSE, former Ubuntu), former XP, and Vista user here :P lol.

Anyway, I agree with your logic but there's another important factor in this.

Apple PCs are more expensive than those of other manufacturers (HP, Dell, etc.). Take a look at an Apple's specs, and go on another manufacturer's website and try to customize one with closely similar specs. You'll end up with something worth less than the Mac.

Yet, as you said, Mac is way behind Windows. The logic doesn't work.

Factor in the pre-installed reasoning, and they're still way behind than where they should be.

The factor I'm talking about is people just don't care. What they have works, and they haven't felt the need for anything better. So why go through the hassle? A person has a cellphone. Unless they have a built interest in cellphones, they wont go for the better one - be it more expensive or free.

I do agree that more expensive is usually more attractive.

But also, it depends on the source of information. If a close friend tells you they can give you a discount on something - either cheap or expensive, you go for it. If you get a stranger telling you the same thing, you'll think: what's the catch?

Samething with Linux. If someone looking for a switch of OS hears about Linux from a friend, they'll go for it. That's why the common convincing of people by Linux Devs like Ubuntu online isn't working.

windows user here..i use windows coz its free too ...

2008-04-02T07:26:00.000+02:00

windows user here..
i use windows coz its free too with piracy but fact is software i use dont work on linux period.

It's too bad. i am a sad Windows user, merely beca...

2008-03-30T06:08:00.000+02:00

It's too bad. i am a sad Windows user, merely because most of the software out there is designed for Windows. so much of me wants to switch, i even have a virtual machine running Ubuntu. It is so much better than windows. what might help, would be having a company such as dell, or compaq or HP distributing their computer with various forms of Linux pre-installed. that would increase its popularity among people, because most Windows-users i know are just to lazy to switch over. i do promote the usage of more efficient/better OS's, such as using XP over Vista. If only Linux had more outreach.

It might not be the cost at all. In short, people ...

2008-03-28T23:23:00.000+01:00

It might not be the cost at all. In short, people could be afraid that if they make a switch to a new OS they could break their computer.

Many people have computers that they have had for several years. People are most likely worried that if they install a new OS, all their favorite programs,games, music, etc. might not work or they can lose files.

People store so much on their computers that they don't want any perceived risk of losing their files, causing the computer to slow down, or having it stop working completely, and dread the idea of suddenly not understanding their computer.

Linux doesn't spread because Windows got rid of th...

2008-03-26T07:55:00.000+01:00

Linux doesn't spread because Windows got rid of the command line.

And that's it.

I like Linux but I'm still teaching some users to use the Internets Explorer properly. How will they understand 'sudo', 'apt-get', etc?

This "article" is so daft and misses the point so ...

2008-03-21T22:37:00.000+01:00

This "article" is so daft and misses the point so comprehensively, I had to answer:

http://www.zen159501.zen.co.uk/journal/2008/03/index.html

The only point is because it's FREE!

You know, as in freedom.

sadly is true... great post!

2008-03-20T15:46:00.000+01:00

sadly is true... great post!

u no...u can get linux on a flash drive so u can h...

2008-03-18T02:04:00.000+01:00

u no...

u can get linux on a flash drive
so u can hav ur windows, mac, n linux all in 1...

get a mac(leopard) which has the xp paralel, download vista on it, n hav linux on a flash drive...

prety much 4 os's on 1 computer...

but ur comp might b slow if it aint good enugh

Your logic indeed makes sense in a way. Great writ...

2008-03-15T19:57:00.000+01:00

Your logic indeed makes sense in a way. Great writing btw.

But I think the main reason why Linux isn't a mainstream OS (yet) is the marketing. Microsoft and Apple spent millions of dollars on marketing: commercials, launch events, ... People simply don't know Linux.

Another reason is, as you already mentions above, piracy. Because piracy isn't only killing the commercial software market but also the open source software market. Most pirates download illegal software because they want their software to be free. That makes them potential open source/free software-users.

Um...no.Linux isn't popular because no one reallya...

2008-03-14T16:54:00.000+01:00

Um...no.

Linux isn't popular because no one really

a) Ports or codes good games for it and then markets the poop out of them.

b) It is perceived as a "foreign" OS, out of the mainstream. It's not status-quo so it doesn't get the attention it deserves.

c) It's too diversified. Too many brands/builds of Linux makes it unstable in the minds of many consumers. If there was a unified version (which there hopefully finally is in Ubuntu), then it may become more popular among "regular folks."

d) It's "geeky." Most people don't want to learn how to tweak their GUI using AfterStep or Gmone, code in Pearl or Python or make a killer server. They want a unit which they can get on the internet with, send e-mail and do menial tasks, and be assured that this will be interchangeable with everyone else's equipment. People don't know that the latter is already true (most of the time) so they ignore Linux.

e) On that last point, people see this weird looking thing that doesn't look like Mac, doesn't look like Windows and they think "It's not going to work with everyone else's stuff. I'm not going to be able to send my Mom or Sister anything or use it for work because we/they have Mac/Windows. Yes, they are uninformed, but THIS IS THE POINT.

Cost doesn't really factor into any of this. I can say that this is true because people LOVE free. People stand in line and basically pay for free stuff with lost time standing in line for free stuff. People will take more risks for free stuff. People spend money for "free stuff!" "Free" doesn't necessarily equal "devalued."

Wait, Windows is NOT free????Well in my country we...

2008-03-14T15:29:00.000+01:00

Wait, Windows is NOT free????
Well in my country we just use pirated ones. I've seen a real one once though. So that should make a lot of people here use linux since they are both equally free (kind of). Or maybe it's the fact that windows ain't free makes us want it since we then know we are using for free something other people pay for.

I have a macbook with which i can choose to boot u...

2008-03-14T13:10:00.000+01:00

I have a macbook with which i can choose to boot up with either Linux or OS X. Also, i have Virtual PC which means i can use my mac to run Vista. I have spent time using all 3, and cant help but going to OS X to do most things. I now just use the other OS's to play around with every so often.

Linux has its eye candy, but a lot of it is taken from OS X ideas anyway. Vista is completely useless to me, except for the one or two games I can play using it. OS X has games too though. like Halo. Jeez im addicted to that game. Also, OS X is really user friendly, with not much that can go wrong. Ever seen a OS X computer freeze or crash? I dont think so. It doesnt need virus protection, its fast, it looks good and it has versions of most windows programmes plus its own.

so yeah, i think OS X has most of the best things about linux without most of its bad points. The only thing is it has a bit less ability for customisation. windows is just a virus ridden, bug laden disaster thanks to the introduction of vista.

and finally, yeah, your idea seems kinda right... but there is also the idea that linux is only for computer gods and elite hackers.

tell your friend to shell out some extra $$$ for OS X, cause obviously that means it will have a lot of value to him?

I'm a psychologist and a linux user to. An for my ...

2008-03-14T12:33:00.000+01:00

I'm a psychologist and a linux user to. An for my point of view linux doesn't spread not for been free. It's because it's diferent. There are no popular, rich or famous people using it. People it's afraid of been diferent. Of been the only one...
About your idea of paying a little amount like 10 dolars it's not related with the spirit of linux. In my case I can't afort it. I can pay it. I'm in another country and the change of my money to dolars it's realy expensive.

I wanted to like it, really. I enjoy many free pr...

2008-03-14T03:03:00.000+01:00

I wanted to like it, really. I enjoy many free programs and I donate to the cause, but as a user not a programmer, Linux doesn't work for me. Without a doubt this is why it is not more popular.

I stumbled on this and was happily amazed at the n...

2008-03-13T11:17:00.000+01:00

I stumbled on this and was happily amazed at the number of comments.. some very hot, on this very interesting idea.

Go Linux.