The sad story for Linux
Linux is used extensively in servers and other enterprise applications but, in spite of its virtues and potential, it is just not getting any traction in being adopted for the desktop. Ubuntu and the rest notwithstanding, the Linux market share remains minuscule at less than 1%. The tight grip of Microsoft on the desktop market and ecosystem is one problem. Another problem is that Linux is still far too geeky for the vast majority of PC users to even consider installing it themselves. And the OEMs only play around a little with selling pre-installed systems. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, who I think is a fair-minded observer, keeps trying Linux and comments again on the failure of Linux to become anything more than a niche player in the desktop market:
When I look over at Linux from my position on the OS sidelines, I have to acknowledge that the development communities behind the Linux kernel, the desktops, applications, and the individual distros have done some good work over the past couple of years. But on the other hand, almost all of the issues that I raised back in November of 2006 (”The world just isn’t ready for Linux” and “Why Linux will never go mainstream on the desktop“) still plague Linux when it comes to its adoption by mainstream consumers (Yes, yes, I know, there are going to be a lot of Linux die-hards who will be up in my grill for saying that, but I will point at the current market share – 0.8% – as evidence which suggests that I am right.). Linux is a great niche OS, but that doesn’t lead to a commanding market share. Looking at Ubuntu’s roadmap for 8.10 I think that it’s becoming apparent (to Canonical at least) given how heavily the release will focus on a niche market – the subnotebooks.
Subnotebooks, now there’s an opening. Windows Vista is far too bloated to run on these small systems. If demand for ultraportables keeps growing, many of us may have a Linux system some day after all.
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