[TriLUG] Where is Linux today?

[Cristóbal Palmer]

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 8:31 PM, Maxwell Spangler
<maxpublic08 at maxwellspangler.com> wrote:
>
> If those operating systems get their act together and keep growing, will
> Linux be limited in the future to servers, embedded uses and politically
> or technically motivated users that require free/open source software
> above all else?

Who is missing from that list and why do you need them to use Linux?

I'm serious. Let's pretend for a second that five years from now 60%
of US adults have a laptop that looks something like what a macbook
air looks like, and that it's either theirs or has been issued to them
solely for their use by their employer. Great, so now you've got about
150k people with lightweight laptops in the US. Let's very generously
say that 20% of those run Linux: 30k lightweight linux laptops.
Awesome! But wait... the CURRENT generation of "free" cell phones from
the telcos take pictures and video, have bluetooth, fit in your
pocket, and EVERY adult has something better than that.... see where
I'm going here? What capabilities will that Linux laptop have (besides
a full-sized keyboard) that the phone doesn't?

Interesting things happen when suddenly everyone you care about has a
capability (say, like having google maps and GPS on a device that fits
comfortably in a pocket). What capability or what network effect is
gained by having 30k Linux laptops that wasn't there with 3k Linux
laptops? My guess is that the impact would be minimal. That's not to
say I don't want to see Ubuntu and Fedora dramatically gain market
share--I do. What I'm saying is that if we want to put energy into the
growth of Linux, we should do so because it matches our goals.

What are your goals? Do you want Linux to have a majority market share
on desktops for its own sake, or because you think there's something
philosophically wrong with the other OSs on the market? If the only
problems you see (or saw) in Windows and Mac OS are technical ones,
then you have little reason to contribute to the advancement of Linux.
If your goals are increased freedom, empowerment of the people,
fairness and justice....

So... what are your goals? What are your reasons?

Cheers,
-- 
Cristóbal M. Palmer
"Small acts of humanity amid the chaos of inhumanity provide hope. But
small acts are insufficient."
 -- Paul Rusesabagina