flatfish+++ wrote:

> http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=140
>
> This reads like it came right out of COLA!!
>
> (Note the 1 percent desktop user base figure.)
>
> "But hardware support on Linux is good - all my stuff works!
>
> If all your hardware works, great. Congratulations. But ask yourself
> these two questions:
>
> * How much extra effort did you have to go to to get it to work?
> * Did you research your purchase in advance to make sure that it would
> work?
>
> If you answered "yes" to either of these questions then you are willing to
> go to more effort than the average home buyer looking for a new printer,
> scanner or video card. Your average buyer isn't even willing to do enough
> research to make sure that they get the lowest price (that's how stores
> that charge over the odds stay in business). Is this the kind of person
> who's going to check to see if there's Linux support for what they want?"
>
>
> and.........................
>
> " Poor hardware/software/games support is not a Linux issue
>
> True. It's a developer issue. But developers (and the folks who pay
> their wages) are following the money, and at present there's not a lot of
> money to be made from the Linux market.
>
> Another reason that hardware support is patchy is that manufacturers don't
> want their code secrets going open source - it's easier for a business to
> deal with another business than it is to deal with the open source
> community."
>
>
>
> and.................................
>
> " Linux is more secure than Windows
>
> Yes, but … do you think that the average user who runs executable
> attachments sent to them by email or who consents to the installation of
> adware or spyware on their machines would really be safer on Linux?
>
> At present there's a bar of technical competence that users wanting to
> make use of Linux have to be able to clear. This alone makes them
> unlikely to be the kind of people who do things that put their systems at
> risk. Security is not about software, it's mostly about education."
>
>
>
> and........so much more.........
>
> Read it and decide for yourself.
>
> I expect total and complete denial, discrediting the author and the usual
> grade school tactics used by the COLA gang to save Linux from bad press.


Never say Never as Never is a VERY long time.

It is clear that it is an up hill battle to get Linux preloaded, as there
are only disadvantages to OEM's in selling anything other than Windows. The
embedded and phone markets on the other hand are completely different. If
an OS is not preloaded, there can be hardware support issues. On the other
hand, embedded controllers are now as fast as the desktop PC's of six years
ago.

In the embedded market low cost is everything and an OS without any license
fees is a great advantage. On top of that, the Linux tool chain is well
suited to embedded development. Nothing beats being to telnet into an
embedded device and debug it directly. It is vastly superior to the cluster
fudge which is Windows CE's on device debugging.

Motorola has shown that Linux on Phones is a big money spinner. The Linux
phones are cooler. It won't be long before the developments from China pour
across to the West. Once again, Linux is great on embedded devices and
Phones are just that, embedded devices.

As more and more people get used to Linux on their phones, this is likely to
have the iPod effect. That is to say, the people who like Linux on their
phones will then put Linux on their desktops. This will force manufacturers
to supply desktop computers with Linux.

It is also likely that a certain percentage of people will install Linux on
the PS3 to make it into a general purpose computer cum media centre. This
will get even more Linux users.

There is a push even by Intel to go for massively parallel computing as a
way out of the current P = R *(C * dV/dT)^^2 (heat generation) problem. The
current generation of Windows has great difficulty giving reasonable
performance improvements in massively parallel systems. It is hence likely
that somewhere in the near future Microsoft will have to write a
replacement for Windows, if they aren't doing that already. This Windows
replacement will not natively support the existing generation of software.

The existing Windows software will have to be run through translators, which
will result in a massive performance hit. If people have to upgrade to a
different OS and platform, they will just as likely go to Linux as the tool
chains are already there and already free and Linux is already a stable
platform that runs on a wide range of hardware.

As Steve Balmer said "Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers,
Developers, Developers, ....." The upcoming generation of developers are
already using Linux, because it provides a free tool chain set. These
people will be providing the next generation of innovation, some of which
will be FOSS and some of which will not be.

So, never say that Linux will never be dominant on the desktop. Never is a
very long time!

Ian

Ian Hilliard wrote:

> flatfish+++ wrote:
>
>> http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=140
>>
>> This reads like it came right out of COLA!!
>>
>> (Note the 1 percent desktop user base figure.)
>>
>> "But hardware support on Linux is good - all my stuff works!
>>
>> If all your hardware works, great. Congratulations. But ask yourself
>> these two questions:
>>
>> * How much extra effort did you have to go to to get it to work?
>> * Did you research your purchase in advance to make sure that it
>> would work?
>>
>> If you answered "yes" to either of these questions then you are willing
>> to go to more effort than the average home buyer looking for a new
>> printer,
>> scanner or video card. Your average buyer isn't even willing to do
>> enough research to make sure that they get the lowest price (that's how
>> stores
>> that charge over the odds stay in business). Is this the kind of person
>> who's going to check to see if there's Linux support for what they want?"
>>
>>
>> and.........................
>>
>> " Poor hardware/software/games support is not a Linux issue
>>
>> True. It's a developer issue. But developers (and the folks who pay
>> their wages) are following the money, and at present there's not a lot of
>> money to be made from the Linux market.
>>
>> Another reason that hardware support is patchy is that manufacturers
>> don't want their code secrets going open source - it's easier for a
>> business to deal with another business than it is to deal with the open
>> source community."
>>
>>
>>
>> and.................................
>>
>> " Linux is more secure than Windows
>>
>> Yes, but ? do you think that the average user who runs executable
>> attachments sent to them by email or who consents to the installation of
>> adware or spyware on their machines would really be safer on Linux?
>>
>> At present there's a bar of technical competence that users wanting to
>> make use of Linux have to be able to clear. This alone makes them
>> unlikely to be the kind of people who do things that put their systems at
>> risk. Security is not about software, it's mostly about education."
>>
>>
>>
>> and........so much more.........
>>
>> Read it and decide for yourself.
>>
>> I expect total and complete denial, discrediting the author and the usual
>> grade school tactics used by the COLA gang to save Linux from bad press.
>
>
> Never say Never as Never is a VERY long time.
>
> It is clear that it is an up hill battle to get Linux preloaded, as there
> are only disadvantages to OEM's in selling anything other than Windows.

Preloading supported Linux is now more profitable than windopz.
e.g. Linspire and click & run.
You get revenue for pre-install and further revenue for every
purchase of click & run made by that system you pre-installed.
The click and run warehouse is full of ready to run software
including proprietory ones - so it pays for authors of software
to bring out Linux software and distribute using Linspire's
click and run warehouse. This is helped by even more
faster adoption of open source. Hundreds of distros
already available...
http://www.livecdlist.com
http://www.distrowatch.com

Ian Hilliard wrote:

> flatfish+++ wrote:
>
>> http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=140
>>
>> This reads like it came right out of COLA!!
>>
>> (Note the 1 percent desktop user base figure.)
>>
>> "But hardware support on Linux is good - all my stuff works!
>>
>> If all your hardware works, great. Congratulations. But ask yourself
>> these two questions:
>>
>> * How much extra effort did you have to go to to get it to work?
>> * Did you research your purchase in advance to make sure that it
>> would work?
>>
>> If you answered "yes" to either of these questions then you are willing
>> to go to more effort than the average home buyer looking for a new
>> printer,
>> scanner or video card. Your average buyer isn't even willing to do
>> enough research to make sure that they get the lowest price (that's how
>> stores
>> that charge over the odds stay in business). Is this the kind of person
>> who's going to check to see if there's Linux support for what they want?"
>>
>>
>> and.........................
>>
>> " Poor hardware/software/games support is not a Linux issue
>>
>> True. It's a developer issue. But developers (and the folks who pay
>> their wages) are following the money, and at present there's not a lot of
>> money to be made from the Linux market.
>>
>> Another reason that hardware support is patchy is that manufacturers
>> don't want their code secrets going open source - it's easier for a
>> business to deal with another business than it is to deal with the open
>> source community."
>>
>>
>>
>> and.................................
>>
>> " Linux is more secure than Windows
>>
>> Yes, but ? do you think that the average user who runs executable
>> attachments sent to them by email or who consents to the installation of
>> adware or spyware on their machines would really be safer on Linux?
>>
>> At present there's a bar of technical competence that users wanting to
>> make use of Linux have to be able to clear. This alone makes them
>> unlikely to be the kind of people who do things that put their systems at
>> risk. Security is not about software, it's mostly about education."
>>
>>
>>
>> and........so much more.........
>>
>> Read it and decide for yourself.
>>
>> I expect total and complete denial, discrediting the author and the usual
>> grade school tactics used by the COLA gang to save Linux from bad press.
>
>
> Never say Never as Never is a VERY long time.
>
> It is clear that it is an up hill battle to get Linux preloaded, as there
> are only disadvantages to OEM's in selling anything other than Windows.

Preloading supported Linux is now more profitable than windopz.
e.g. Linspire and click & run.
You get revenue for pre-install and further revenue for every
purchase of click & run made by that system you pre-installed.
The click and run warehouse is full of ready to run software
including proprietory ones - so it pays for authors of software
to bring out Linux software and distribute using Linspire's
click and run warehouse. This is helped by even more
faster adoption of open source. Hundreds of distros
already available...
http://www.livecdlist.com
http://www.distrowatch.com

7 wrote:

> Preloading supported Linux is now more profitable than windopz.
> e.g. Linspire and click & run.
> You get revenue for pre-install and further revenue for every
> purchase of click & run made by that system you pre-installed.
> The click and run warehouse is full of ready to run software
> including proprietory ones - so it pays for authors of software
> to bring out Linux software and distribute using Linspire's
> click and run warehouse. This is helped by even more
> faster adoption of open source. Hundreds of distros
> already available...
> http://www.livecdlist.com
> http://www.distrowatch.com

The suits as Microsoft are not stupid. They have created a pricing model
that makes it hard to compete if a mainstream OEM is selling anything other
than Windows.

http://biz.yahoo.com/hbusn/061109/11...biz2.html?.v=1

Linux has to overcome this problem before it is preinstalled in any great
numbers on OEM PC's.

The clear point is that due to the Windows pricing, Linux cannot be sold as
a low cost solution. Hence, Linux will be need to be sold as a high quality
solution. It had looked like Novell was going to be the one to go into this
market, but it appears that they have lost the plot. I guess that it is up
to others now to pick up the ball and start running.

Ian

7 wrote:

> Preloading supported Linux is now more profitable than windopz.
> e.g. Linspire and click & run.
> You get revenue for pre-install and further revenue for every
> purchase of click & run made by that system you pre-installed.
> The click and run warehouse is full of ready to run software
> including proprietory ones - so it pays for authors of software
> to bring out Linux software and distribute using Linspire's
> click and run warehouse. This is helped by even more
> faster adoption of open source. Hundreds of distros
> already available...
> http://www.livecdlist.com
> http://www.distrowatch.com

The suits as Microsoft are not stupid. They have created a pricing model
that makes it hard to compete if a mainstream OEM is selling anything other
than Windows.

http://biz.yahoo.com/hbusn/061109/11...biz2.html?.v=1

Linux has to overcome this problem before it is preinstalled in any great
numbers on OEM PC's.

The clear point is that due to the Windows pricing, Linux cannot be sold as
a low cost solution. Hence, Linux will be need to be sold as a high quality
solution. It had looked like Novell was going to be the one to go into this
market, but it appears that they have lost the plot. I guess that it is up
to others now to pick up the ball and start running.

Ian