Saturday, March 15, 2008

More on Linux

I've been following some discussions over on The Daily WTF with interest. It started out as a simple question on why Windows didn't include a command-line "sleep" tool in a default installation (which was quickly answered), but fairly quickly degenerated into a mud-slinging contest. It's only a matter of time before Godwin's Law is invoked.

One interesting thing about these discussions is that it's normally the Linux devotees who do most of the mud-slinging (although in this particular case, there are some reasonable people who seem to have thought things through on that side of the fence). I couldn't even begin to list the number of anti-Windows arguments I've seen in the past that have been based on things that may have been true in 1992 (but are no longer), or that are outright falsehoods.

This is sad because Linux has lots of strengths in lots of important areas. Yet it's adherents seem either unable or unwilling to sell it on those strengths, and instead resort to highlighting weaknesses (or perceived weaknesses) of the competition. It gives the impression to an outsider looking in that they really don't have confidence in their favoured platform; that they view it as "the best of a bad lot" rather than "the best, period".

Why is this, I wonder?

There has been a colossal push to get Linux established as a viable alternative desktop platform, but even it's most loyal devotee (I'm excluding the rabid/fanatical types here) would admit that it's still not ready. Ubuntu is probably the nearest, but that is still riddled with quirks and difficulties that would be deal-breakers to the typical desktop user. This is all deeply rooted in Unix culture, where there is an implicit assumption that the person using an OS would be intimately familiar with the inner workings of that OS. This is no longer the case, and hasn't been so for well over a decade.

For both platforms there is a Wall that the Hypothetical Typical User will eventually hit, beyond which they cannot progress without making an effort to improve their skills (this may come as a surprise to some, but most HTUs have no inclination whatsoever to improve their skills). Linux places that Wall far far nearer to the user than Windows does. A lot of energy has been wasted in the Linux camp on hot air, hyperbole, FUD and scare tactics. Maybe it's about time that this energy was redirected into something positive and productive, of benefit to everyone, and directed at achieving the goal of putting Linux on the desktop. Like pushing that Wall back.

Or maybe, underneath it all, the Linux camp (who seem to be more motivated by ideology than by practicalities) are really just plain old fashioned not interested in getting there?

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