desktop linux
there’s always so much anticipation/speculation about when desktop linux will take over the world. in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s i felt that same sort of enthusiasm, hoping the best for linux because i’m a huge fan.
but nowadays i simply don’t care about the spread of desktop linux. linux satisfied my needs as a desktop OS probably about 5 years ago. so very selfishly, i don’t care about other people’s needs…i care about mine. use the desktop OS that satisfies your needs. and by needs people really mean that the OS runs the apps they require. because really if linux natively ran your important apps why wouldn’t you use it? you’d be foolish not to. and if you’re entirely a web2.0/cloud type of person you’d be retarded not to use linux.
for example if someone was into graphic design professionally and their single tool that they used daily was adobe photoshop. and lets say there was a native linux port of PS…why would you continue to use windows? or further if gimp/krita had the features the professional required why would one continue to use PS? and i mean this in a very practical way (open source movement aside), the software is _free_. so unless someone enjoys throwing money away i don’t see why they wouldn’t make the transition.
sometimes, when i see a person whose computer usage consists of webmail and youtube i’m tempted to recommend them to use linux (just to avoid all the malware problems that accompany using windows). but then i picture at some point they’ll want to run some windows app and then i’ve created a headache for them and myself. so i keep such comments to myself.
i do see linux desktop usage continuing to grow as tech-savvy people and organizations get tired of dishing out $. and really by tech-savvy i don’t mean an engineer level guru, i mean anyone that is willing to try something different, to experiment, to not easily give-up, etc.
i don’t see windows use dying away anytime soon…at least not in the next 20 years or so. i do see linux capturing a decent chunk of the desktop marketshare at some point.