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Will linux ever be widespread?

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
I just downloaded ubuntu and its pretty cool. however, it still requires a lot of terminal work to install simple things.

i believe if they can get that issue out of the way, linux would be much more easily grasped

what is your opinion?
 
couldn't agree more. Linux to me at least to me, feels like a hobby for a power user. Until they can get around the ease of use and installation of items I don't think it will gain acceptance into the main stream.

I mean people have enough problems with Windows and Mac os, can you imagine the types of problems one might run into under the Linux OS's.
 
That, and the lack of drivers are the main issues, until then it won't be mainstream.
 
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I totally agree. Ubuntu is pretty cool. And if it was a bit more user friendly I'd be all for it.
 
Linux is widespread, what do you think most of the sites you visit are hosted on? :cool: Now, if the question is will Linux ever be as mainstream as Windows for a desktop user...probably not. Linux has it's purpose and there is no real desire for any developer to add the stuff needed to satisfy the average computer user.
 
Linux always aims to be at the cutting edge, for power users. Maintream functionality is a distraction.
 
The day when Linux becomes widespread is when Apple and Mac OS X become the "new Microsoft". Then Linux will be the new "Apple" and will grow on from there.
 
I use Ubuntu 8.10 and openSuSE 11 all the time. I don't find either to be hard to use, and my wife loves Ubuntu, and she's not a techie either.
 
I've tried it, but like you say a lot of terminal work, and the documentation is not easy to understand at all. It has potential but i'd still choose windows over it at the moment.

That said, it is good for older machines, I have ubuntu running quite well on a P2 300mhz laptop. Just not user friendly enough yet though.
 
xUKHCx said:
Define Widespread.

From my view point it already is.
Click to expand...

widespread in the sense many could use it and not be clueless how to use it in a sense

with my just playing around with it, i had to pull out my unix book because i forgot simple vi commands and what not ( i dont use editors often lol)

detz said:
Linux is widespread, what do you think most of the sites you visit are hosted on? :cool: Now, if the question is will Linux ever be as mainstream as Windows for a desktop user...probably not. Linux has it's purpose and there is no real desire for any developer to add the stuff needed to satisfy the average computer user.
Click to expand...

i realize that but why not focus on the user friendliness? i mean if you could add that yet still keep all the funtionality enjoyed by power users now why not?
 
JG271 said:
I've tried it, but like you say a lot of terminal work, and the documentation is not easy to understand at all. It has potential but i'd still choose windows over it at the moment.

That said, it is good for older machines, I have ubuntu running quite well on a P2 300mhz laptop. Just not user friendly enough yet though.
Click to expand...

A lot of terminal work doing what? My wife does all her things (email, surfing, PDF viewing, pictures, etc) without touching a terminal.
 
belvdr said:
A lot of terminal work doing what? My wife does all her things (email, surfing, PDF viewing, pictures, etc) without touching a terminal.
Click to expand...

installing themes and vmware tools is all ive tried and both made me dive in the terminal

when you add apps, do you need to use terminal? not a big deal but if you do,but i cant really expect my parents to pick up using linux as they are computer illiterate as it is lol
 
Linux is (and has been for quite some time) widespread as internet servers and, to a lesser extent, as business data servers. However, people have been saying for years now that it will become widespread on the desktop as well, and it hasn't happened yet. As others have said I think it has to do largely with requiring terminal access for what should be even simple things, and especially whenever anything goes wrong. Unfortunately, because of the open nature of Linux, there is no central control to spearhead a resolution to this problem, everybody goes off in their separate directions, and the result is not exactly user friendly. This has resulted in the myriad of distros, which is quite daunting to a new user (even Microsoft Vista variants aren't this bad). Unless and until Linux is taken over by a single organization that can drive its development I don't see this ever changing. So no, I don't see Linux as ever becoming more than a curiosity on the desktop.
 
dukebound85 said:
installing themes and vmware tools is all ive tried and both made me dive in the terminal

when you add apps, do you need to use terminal? not a big deal but if you do,but i cant really expect my parents to pick up using linux as they are computer illiterate as it is lol
Click to expand...

VMWare I know you have to, but I've never needed terminal for themes. In Ubuntu, you can use the Synaptics Package Manager (a GUI) to install/find packages. Easy as pie. :)
 
Linux will become mainstream when a large company backs it, just as Apple did with BSD. Who will that company be? Google is my guess.
 
And it's not only the cheaper netbooks coming with Linux, the Express Gate in new Asus motherboards is a Linux which boots in seconds to perform basic tasks quickly without having to wait for the whole OS to start.
 
Linux, due to its terminal independence, will not become mainstream until it solves the ease of use. I use it very rarely. As someone said, it feels like a hobby, not a, excuse if I'm wrong, fully usable OS.
 
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