On Wednesday 28 July 2010 02:16 PM, steve wrote:
Linux no longer needs to prove itself. We've now have had more than half of a kickass decade of the linux desktop and clueless people still wonder when would be the year that linux would take off in the desktop market.
Maybe true in offices that have their applications working in Linux. Otherwise for desktops, doze still rules not because it is popular but because the user's specific applications run on it. The user does not have other options. One good thing that FOSS has done is that pricey closed software are now more affordable due to open alternatives.
Migration requires solution providers not service providers. The lower end market cannot afford solution providers and make do with service providers. A service provider can install LInux and even migrate cross platform data but for the limited time and returns, he cannot spend too much time on training, programming, and figuring out how to install hardware that the customer suddenly springs up, to work in Linux. I will give an example. A client of mine wanted to buy a netbook from me and I had told him about the advantages of Linux but the way he readily agreed to it and slowly gave me a list of things that should work on it made me feel that he is going to face problems with hardware that he might add later. I got him a netbook with XP pre-installed and he is using it happily without constantly calling me up for any help. Everything else in it is either freeware or doze based FOSS like OpenOffice, Firefox, VLC player, freeware anti-virus etc.