Topic: Has Linux lost the desktop battle?

[sam]

Even I have done it. I don't think you can be a Linux blogger without having done at least one post about how this year is the year the Linux desktop will take over the world. However, no matter how many people seem to write about it. The year the Linux desktop takes over the world always seems to fall through the cracks. Sometimes I think that there must be some Pinky foiling the Linux Brains plans

http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/locutus/has-linux-lost-the-desktop-battle-39977

[Simon]

Until it comes pre-installed on PCs in PC World, and is 95% point and click, it doesn't stand a chance, in my opinion.

[GillE]

That's the most sensible article I can recall reading about comparisons between Linux and other OS's.

Yet it overlooks one fundamental point.  People live in a world where there are multifarious technologies around them and integrating those technologies makes life easier.  Linux doesn't seem to be even trying to do that, so it will always be a niche player and one day it will fade into obscurity.

[sam]

Until it comes pre-installed on PCs in PC World, and is 95% point and click, it doesn't stand a chance, in my opinion.

Its 99% point and click.

[sam]

Yet it overlooks one fundamental point.  People live in a world where there are multifarious technologies around them and integrating those technologies makes life easier.  Linux doesn't seem to be even trying to do that, so it will always be a niche player and one day it will fade into obscurity.

Hmm, you mean like Android? Android is a Linux based OS that is integrated some of the worlds most fantastic technologies.

The hardware support of Linux has grown much more rapidly than that of Windows, and that's without the support of the technology companies in most cases... 

[GillE]

Is Android a PC OS?  I thought it was just for hand-held devices like mobile phones.  I suppose you could argue that PCs are doomed and that everything will be hand-held one day, in which case the whole debate is spurious.  However, predictions of the death of the PC have been surpassed only be predictions of England's success in the World Cup.

[Simon]

[sam]

Is Android a PC OS?  I thought it was just for hand-held devices like mobile phones.  I suppose you could argue that PCs are doomed and that everything will be hand-held one day, in which case the whole debate is spurious.  However, predictions of the death of the PC have been surpassed only be predictions of England's success in the World Cup.

Android can indeed be run on a pc - these mobile devices are just mobile pcs. Anyway, I was just pointing out that linux does embrace new tech and fast.

Eventually all your computing will be done on servers and you just stream the view of that data to your machine... its the only logical step forward given how our bandwidth needs aren't coping -massive data centres churning out small packets.