I know what everyone is going to say once they read this article. You’re a Microsoft fan boy. So I’m going to say that Linux is great. I use it at home and it has so many advantages over Windows. Over the past few months there have been articles floating around on the net about how Linux is catching up to Windows and there is a Linux revolution coming.
All of that is great and we all hope it happens. Competition in any industry is a good thing. Just think if there was only one company providing Internet service to 90 percent of the globe. Prices for just having Internet service would be huge. Since there are at least 5 different providers in any given city, prices will be as low as possible.
Windows has two competitors Mac and Linux. The reason why Windows has a huge piece of the pie is because Mac OS only runs on Mac’s expensive (but really beautiful) hardware and the two Windows competitors don’t run what people are used to using. Advocates for Linux would say that there are many free alternatives for Linux that are better than their Windows counterparts and are free to use. I totally agree with them but think of it this way. We all buy ketchup. Most of us prefer the name brand ketchup over the no name stuff even if they are completely the same. Why? We grew up using the name brand so everything seems slightly off. People stick with what we know, its humane nature and that kind of thinking will never change
Okay back to our story, the Linux Revolution. I have a few proposals to help Linux overcome the Windows monopoly.
Use NTFS natively:
Just allow users to have 2 NTFS partitions, one for Linux and one for Windows. Another reason you would want this is if you wanted to switch to Linux you could just get rid of Windows and still be able to use your files on other NTFS partitions without having to go through the whole NTFS driver install for Linux. No matter what anyone says its never seamless.
Streamline the OS install process:
So many distributions install a bunch of apps to show people what great stuff is out there. I would love to see a install that asks you the standard setup questions like partitioning and in the end of the whole processes you are left with a blank slate that has everything you need to install the applications you want. Example, I did an install of a new popular Linux distro. The whole setup was default and once done I noticed that Firefox was not installed. Not a problem I’ll just install it. Once I tried I found that I needed to go to the package manager and install a missing package needed for Firefox to run. Why people? Firefox is becoming a standard why would you make it hard for a newcomer to install and use it? There are several distro’s this happens in and I just don’t get why.
Streamline the application install process:
I have a dream, if this is possible someone please tell me where I can get it. I would love to be able to go to any site and download any Linux application, double click on it, and go through a wizard to install it. As a end result have an icon on the desktop or the launching menu and be able to double click on that icon to use the application without any problems. I know there are package managers out there that streamline the processes but people shouldn’t have to go into a application to install another. Uncompressing? Fine, no issues with that.. The process to install a application is long enough as is. Why make it harder than it needs to be.
Have some sort of consistency between major distro’s:
Im not asking for all distro’s to be the same.. To make it easy for new users to choose between dissolutions keep things like hardware and software configuration the same across the board.. If you make it so all of the major distro’s can work on the same machines there is no worries about compatibility. People can focus on what really makes a distro different and better than the others.
Find a way to Run Windows apps without any system configuration:
This is huge. So many have tried and fallen short. Make it so a person can take a executable game or application and have it work just like it would on Windows. If this happened it would be all over for Windows. Why would a person pay 300 bucks for Windows when the little cost or free alternative plays your favorite games or runs your applications just like Windows. Then sell people on the Linux software.
So there you have it. My thoughts on the Linux Revolution. Again, Linux is still so good in so many ways. It just has a long way to go before it becomes really mainstream. When I say mainstream I mean my mom goes to the store and picks up her Linux computer.
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