Comments on: Why You Might Be Using Linux in 2009

By: craden

craden — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:22:04 +0000

linux has been my best friend along the way, I'm using vista before and wasn't satisfied with it so I tried linux, it was the best thing for me.

By: WFTL Bytes! for Dec 29, 2008 | WFTL Bytes!

WFTL Bytes! for Dec 29, 2008 | WFTL Bytes! — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:20:00 +0000

[...] Why you might be using Linux in 2009 [...]

By: rich

rich — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:05:17 +0000

Just make user friendly

By: Pro Information Center » Blog Archive » Jure Čuhalev: KDE4 Release Party Ljubljana

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:31:03 +0000

[...] Why You Might Be Using Linux in 2009 (openmode.ca) [...]

By: alexx

alexx — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:47:59 +0000

Linux still sucks..

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:24:15 +0000

You might want to read this allaun: http://ostatic.com/blog/asus-ceo-says-linux-netbo...

By: 2009 ei ole Linuxin vuosi työpöydällä « slux kirjoitti:

2009 ei ole Linuxin vuosi työpöydällä « slux kirjoitti: — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:19:15 +0000

[...] Linux sluxi on the joulukuu 30, 2008 Tags: gnome, kde, netbook, ubuntu Risse kommentoi blogissaan Open Moden artikkelia jossa jälleen kerraan povataan vuotta 2009 Linuxin läpimurtovuodeksi työpöydällä. Open Moden [...]

By: 2009 ei ole Linuxin vuosi työpöydällä « slux kirjoitti:

2009 ei ole Linuxin vuosi työpöydällä « slux kirjoitti: — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:40:18 +0000

[...] Kirjoitettu paikassa Uncategorized sluxi on the joulukuu 30, 2008 Risse kommentoi blogissaan Open Moden artikkelia jossa jälleen kerraan povataan vuotta 2009 Linuxin läpimurtovuodeksi työpöydällä. Open Moden [...]

By: ross the boss

ross the boss — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:14:31 +0000

*yawn*

Are you from the past? $currentYear + 1 will be the year of the Linux Deskop.

Get a life

By: dalton

dalton — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:05:32 +0000

Linux fanboys never want to hear why. If you're one of the few really interested, here's some material: http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/

By: betruguer

betruguer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:04:04 +0000

Riiiiight. Problems with Linux are always a thing from the past. Been reading that since 1995.

Doesn't fly.

By: Khürt Williams

Khürt Williams — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:07:50 +0000

Well put.

By: Ken Holmes

Ken Holmes — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:05:34 +0000

P. S. I also suggest you share your thoughts with the new president, Barack Obama. He is the most tech and Internet savvy president to date. In short, he gets it!

By: Ken Holmes

Ken Holmes — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:39:42 +0000

Good ideas, and with the new OS we'll be able to eliminate war and disease. We'll all have android servants to attend to our every want. Our children (those we elect to spare) will all be beautiful and exceedingly intelligent. Perpetual motion will not only become reality but it will be productively harnessed to accomplish our goals. Utopia will at last be within our grasp.
Dreaming is good, but facing reality is a necessity. You might begin by developing that "very little clue into a more concrete plan to present. Don't just call on others to do it. It requires research and thought. Are you the one?

By: Ken Holmes

Ken Holmes — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:31:57 +0000

The 200+ distros really aren't a problem. There are only a handful of distros that meet the criteria for the "average" consumer. As for that phone number, as Linux adoption increases so will the number of technicians ready to help. It is strictly an issue of the market. If Linux adoption doesn't increase, it is a moot point, and all of the carping people do is useful only as a feel good exercise.

By: dinu

dinu — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:06:10 +0000

okay.. I've been using kde for 3+ years now … so, do you think its better to stay in kde ? I am just being attracted by the stylish looks of gnome lol … sill me … but kde 4 looks more cool what you think ?

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:24:23 +0000

Not to mention Michael Robertson made allot of bad political moves.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:22:48 +0000

Yea- it's so sad what went on at Linspire cause it was the only distribution that had good KDE integration, ease of use, support, and so on. The company had lots of problems though from day one. It wasn't till later on that I realized on arrogant Michael Robertson was- and I was not too impressed with the employees working for the company either. We need more GNU/Linux enthusiasts working on a solid distribution without allot interference from management rather than Mac enthusiasts and other disinterested persons. I'd say the later is partly the downfall of Linspire.

By: Lin

Lin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:17:01 +0000

1. I believe the answer to the theme question is yes.
2. I'm not sure exactly what you mean- but many GNU/Linux applications work slightly differently due to integration and tailoring efforts. If you've used Ubuntu Fedora will look similar and have similar features, but still not be identical.
3. Yes. Be aware that most distributions including Fedora have far better support and integration for a particular desktop manager. Ubuntu and Fedora support Gnome best. In fact almost all the major distributions support Gnome now. While Gnome is catching up KDE is more feature rich though so it is sort of sad that everybody is supporting Gnome. The result of this is our choices have become more limited. Linspire 5 was the last major distribution (although they did have allot of negative publicity) to be released that used KDE and had decent integration/support. Kubuntu and others just aren't in the same position. Before Linspire got bought the founder Michael Robertson and Larry ruined the distribution after Kevin Carmony (amongst others) left.

By: Jam

Jam — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:08:33 +0000

Well written!
I can only hope that Linux will have it's year in 2009. It is defiantly working hard towards it!

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:02:36 +0000

Your experience is misleading. The issues you have are hardware specific and you can get machines without these problems. I also would like to point out that you have to pay VERY close attention to notice this problem with flash on the machines where it is a problem. SWT.com sells an Asus S37S notebook that has good compatibility for GNU/Linux right now.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:48:49 +0000

There are allot of market leading devices running GNU/Linux. The article was referring to the desktop it appears.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:46:30 +0000

You are confusing Linux with MS Windows. Microsoft patented sucking a long time ago.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:45:55 +0000

You sir, are the heroes.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:39:48 +0000

They are being returned due to crummy GNU/Linux compatibility and support mostly. It has nothing to do with the lack of MS Windows program compatibility. People just think that MS Windows will solve whatever ails them when it really wont. For instance I had one lady who came in with a Ubuntu netbook that she couldn't connect to the Internet. The problem wasn't that of Ubuntu- but rather that she had encryption setup at home and no wifi key-she then tried to use a hotspot that required the purchase of a beverage first (she didn't understand that- and so it wouldn't have worked in MS windows for her either). When she called Dell for support they told her someone would call her back as they didn't support Ubuntu directly. Typical of Dell support. That is when customers usually seek out third party paid support. When she brought it to me at a major retail store I explained this all to her and showed her that it did in fact work-and that the support she got was just typical of Dell. She was very happy that I solved her problem and thanked me for stopping her from having made a terrible and costly mistake (that is installing MS Windows).

By: jack

jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:28:34 +0000

Correction- you don't want GNU/Linux to 'take off'. GNU/Linux has already 'taken off' though. GNU/Linux today is more popular than ever. Over the past 5 years it has gone from being non-existent in the mainstream to being used by a small minority of the main stream. Hard core GNU/Linux users have been around a long time now and the average techy has been toying with it for just as long. There has always been allot of publicity and absurd predictions- yet somehow GNU/Linux has managed to inch its way into the mainstream. I work in technical support and I'm seeing increased demand for support. Asus, Dell, and others may not be providing good support in general- and you can see that with GNU/Linux as well- but they are selling these things as I've been supporting them for mainstream users in a major retail store (Staples) for several months now- customers who've I've never 'sold it' to. You can even find GNU/Linux on store shelves in allot of countries-including some places in the US. Despite low market share numbers on the desktop in the US it has crept its way into the mainstream.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:16:25 +0000

This is true. Definitely in the past there was a problem of Linux distro proliferation, but the perception has outlived the problem.

Especially if you, as a first time Linux user, were to ask a friend (or the Internet) for recommendations on a Linux distro and desktop environment to try, 95% of your responses would fall into either 3 different distros (Though my recommendation would be Ubuntu & Gnome). Which really makes it easier for the end user.

Unfortunately battling perceptions is something Linux has had to deal with for a long time.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:03:42 +0000

Attitudes like this are a part of the problem. You used it in the PAST-and are just propagating misinformation now. If you get a GNU/Linux computer today from a reputable source that comes with good support you won't encounter the issues described. Installing GNU/Linux yourself has been easier than installing MS Windows for a long time-you don't have to do this though if you BUY a GNU/Linux computer. There aren't really that many choices either. The most distributions anybody even really supports are maybe 6. That's usually from the smaller companies too. Dell, HP, amongst others aren't support more than one or two distributions. Most distributions today have only one primary default desktop. So in this respect there is one or the other. You often can change this-but it isn't like these are choices you have to make. You can stick with the default. There are only half a dozen major GNU/Linux distributions and don't forget that Microsoft Windows also has a half dozen different versions. Lets not forget that GNU/Linux is compatible with far more hardware today than Vista.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:56:26 +0000

I've heard of this trend as well. It actually worries me more than most others. Especially since I see Netbooks succeeding and really selling hard for the next couple of years at least, users getting a bad opinion about Linux and associating it poorly in regards to netbooks might be damaging in the long term.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:53:15 +0000

You know Adam, you actually don't have to choose whether you want KDE or Gnome or "put-your-favorite-DE-here"… You can have them all!

I do see Ubuntu system of desktop environment distribution becoming the norm though, one emphasized version (ubuntu), with the others on the periphery to give people choice (remixes, kubuntu, xubuntu, fluxbuntu, edubuntu, etc..).

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:41:57 +0000

Too true. Although I'm pretty glad now the computers will notify me if I've forgotten to attach the file I was sending to the email!

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:41:11 +0000

I'm seeing a theme come up with people more and more using different operating systems on different computers. I think that goes to show the versatility of Linux a bit.

Some would rather use it on the server and backend of their business, and while most companies are unsure enough to use it as the main desktop in their office, linux on laptops or spare computers is becoming popular.

Hopefully what this is all leading to is just to see Linux on more systems, and in more places.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:37:48 +0000

1. As long as you are using the same desktop environment, Gnome or KDE etc.., if you switch distributions the same themes will work.

2. Applications work the same way, but sometimes you'll notice bugs in the user interface, buttons will not look as sharp, or might be displayed incorrectly. For the most part they will look fine and work the same though.

3. Usually there will be the tools you need in the distrobution, to install the other desktop environment from the terminal. If you google something like "Installing kde3 on fedora core 10" you'll find the right commands to use.

No problem!

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:34:43 +0000

Say you have a couple of different computers, will Windows be on all of them always? Or might you have a Mac somewhere. And if you pick up a Netbook along the way would you consider using Linux on that as a spare computer?

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:32:54 +0000

I've also wanted my desktop to be lightning fast sometimes. That's when I loaded up the minimalist window manager Fluxbox. But as far as KDE4 goes, you should expect the performance to increase after the new features are all added and the focus can move towards enhancements more.

I feel your pain for Firefox on Linux. It's THE browser for linux, but still doesn't feel as snappy as Firefox for Windows. For Flash being a problem, I think we can put the blame on Adobe for that. Flash support has been horrible for years, and is now just starting to catch up, but still is far behind performance wise.

It's funny to think, but is entirely true, that bad Flash support could forever kill Linux on the Desktop. But we just rely on it so much these days that we need it to be as fast as possible.

By: Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:28:03 +0000

Ouuuu. The Windows 7 desktop looks even more like KDE4 now. Check it out and compare it if you haven't yet.

By: tracyanne

tracyanne — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:35:13 +0000

quote:: For anyone who still thinks Linux is a pain, just try the last few releases of Ubuntu. It’s an absolute pleasure to install and use.

Try every release of Mandrake/Mandriva, or every recent release of Mandriva since 2006 (for comparison with Ubuntu) and you’ll find that it’s an even greater joy to install and use.

quote:: 1. I am using ubuntu with theme that makes it look like mac. .. if I download fedora core 10, with gnome, can I use the same theme, for mac like looks ?

You can use the same theme on Fedora or Mandrive (with the GNOME desktop) or any other Linux distribution running the GNOME desktop

quote:: 2. Does applications work in the same way, when we use gnome and kde ?

Yes, I install all my Mandriva systems with both the GNOME and KDE desktops, I run KDE, all the GNOME applications run just fine, and, because Mandriva set up the KDE configuration to do so, the GNOME applications integrate visually and functionally into the KDE desktop.

3. If I download gnome fc 10, can change it to kde later, without much trouble ?

Of course, it’s merely a matter of telling the appropriate package manager to install the packages, and then logging in to the appropriate desktop. On Mandriva you simply select task-kde (for KDE3.5.10) or task-kde4 (for KDE 4) from the list of meta packages in urpmi, and wait.

quote:: I tried a number of linux distros in the past and single handedly the biggest problem for linux distros was all the choices people were given.

Then don’t choose, either stay with Windows, or find out which Linux your friend is using and use that, or purchase a computer with Linux pre installed, and stick with that.

quote:: If something doesn’t work, average consumers would like to have a phone number they can call and get the problem fixed.

Well if you lived near me, I’d happily give you my phone number, I charge $50 and hour to fix computer problems. Unfortunately I make most of my money from Windows. Once I’ve upgraded people to Linux, I don’t get as many call outs.

quote::Our work machines are all windows based and sadly the majority of users are inept with the use of windows, let alone tackling linux.

The oft repeated myth of hard to use Linux. None of the people I’ve upgraded to Linux are by any means computer literate, they would be no different from your average office worker, most of them are grand mothers, none of them have any particular difficulty with Linux, and certainly no more so than they had with Windows…. In fact probably less so, as they are no longer plagued by viruses and trojans and spyware and adware, they no longer have to make sense of the messages from the add on security that is necessary on Windows, they just get to use the computer, with little or no fuss.

By: Vuonna 2009 saatat olla Linuxin käyttäjä | Rissen Blogi

Vuonna 2009 saatat olla Linuxin käyttäjä | Rissen Blogi — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:31:54 +0000

[...] Windows Vistan heikko menestys ja halpojen netbookkien yleisyys ovat ajaneet tätä asiaa. OpenMind-blogissa on mielenkiintoinen postaus siitä, miksi kirjoittajan mielestä juuri vuosi 2009 on SE [...]

By: Why You Might Be Using Linux in 2009 « Internet Making Money

Why You Might Be Using Linux in 2009 « Internet Making Money — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:26:35 +0000

[...] From:http://openmode.ca/2008/12/why-you-might-be-using-linux-in-2009/ [...]

By: Dave T

Dave T — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:41:32 +0000

So you are suggesting that in the future people will want things better? No shit sherlock.

By: Vitaliy

Vitaliy — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 10:46:23 +0000

I have been an avid user of Linux on my servers for the typical LAMP configuration. However on the desktop Linux is still lacking. It has greatly improved since my high school days of playing with Red Hat 5 on a Pentium MMX 166, but it is still lacking. Sure install is a breeze now and most things work out of the box (sound and video support is still a big issue [creative xfi anyone?, proprietary video drivers, etc]).

The KDE4 UI is great, I've spent time playing with the latest Kubuntu 8.10. However, I have to say it is NOT fast and is lacking compared to Vista on the same machine. The UI is sluggish compared to Vista on the same machine (mind you I've tried it on two different laptops and two different desktops with various configurations — from integrated Intel Video, to dedicated nVidia or ATI video, up to 256MB video memory and 4GB RAM in the machines with dual core processors!). Artifacts while switching between workspaces and the general slowness when doing so is just annoying. FireFox is DOG slow on ANY sites that have any kind of flash or rich content (for instance… myspace.com is just unusable). Mind you this may just be a FireFox issue, but FireFox is THE browser to use on Linux, so what gives?

Overall, in my mind, Linux has a long way to go, and 2009 is NOT the year for it on the desktop until it is as snappy and responsive as Windows is on the SAME EXACT HARDWARE.

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 09:53:17 +0000

For anyone who still thinks Linux is a pain, just try the last few releases of Ubuntu. It's an absolute pleasure to install and use. There are still plenty of third-party proprietary applications that aren't written for Linux, but it's just a matter of time.

One big thing this article missed is this year's release of the first Android phone. In 2009 we can hope to see several more. Android is Linux. With the rising popularity of cloud computing and mobile computing (smartphones), this may become a major route to Linux adoption.

By: DougO

DougO — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:30:20 +0000

Let me get this straight, you make an over-simplified summary of someone's post, and then chastise it for being too simple? Thank you for your contribution. No, really, thanks.

By: Jordi

Jordi — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:14:18 +0000

About the cloud, take a look at eyeOS open source cloudOS, the perfect complement for a notebook!

By: Goblin

Goblin — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:10:39 +0000

Ah bugz, I presume you are a gamer. Funny you should mention DirectX. Does anyone really see the PC as a games machine anymore? Some must, but then the vast majority use their consoles to play games where they dont have to worry about patches, workarounds etc just to get the damn thing working on Windows.
-
Then you take a mainstream game like WOW and compare it when its run through Linux. If playing WOW is the only thing keeping users to Windows then I think they will find (as many already have done) better performance through Linux.
-
There are some who wont consider Linux, which is a shame, however Im personally not disappointed that those types are not making the move to Linux, as I think the gfx orientated and "nannying of an OS" type user are largely responsible for the binary pig of Windows. IMO they can stay where they are and help contribute ideas to add to the bloat.

By: Emmanuel

Emmanuel — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:51:56 +0000

I absolutely agree with you… the slowness UI of linux is what keeps me from doing the permanent jump from windows. (firefox problem with 17* drivers for example)

By: Marco

Marco — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:30:43 +0000

KDE4.1 is already pretty good, just not in Kubuntu.. you should give fedora10 or OpenSuse a try, it's pretty solid there. The only thing I miss is Apt, but yum does it's job pretty well.

By: bill

bill — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:20:51 +0000

Linux still sucks

By: billybubba

billybubba — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:06:12 +0000

What's with that screenshot of Vista?

By: bob

bob — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:00:47 +0000

you suck