@fewt...thanks for quoting me all over the place...
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See, this is why a non Linux person shouldn't talk about Linux without researching.
There are TONS of Linux support options.
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Huh? First, don't tell me what I do or not do...I know how to research and have...you simply misread or misunderstood my comments. I don't appreciate your tone. You wouldn't like it if I stereotyped you as the Comic Book Store Owner on Simpsons would you? (
Comic Book Guy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ). Don't state that I don't research before I talk about a topic... I think you misunderstood my statement...nobody OWNS Linux in the sense how MS owns the Windows code or Mac owns the OSX code...therefore you have 900 distributions and downloads of the thing. This is far UNLIKE calling MS for Windows support...or Sun for Unix support. I know there are a billion options for "support" for Linux...but there shouldn't be a billion. Companies do not want to buy an OS whose "option" for support is Frank's Tech Support in Wyoming. It's a cynical example but it is an example. All these Linux distributions just confuse everyone with "who am I supposed to call" type scenarios. I hope I am being more clear. Yes, if your company purchased a copy of Redhat, they likely bought a support contract in some fashion. But the whole idea/concept of Linux trying to become a more mainstream OS (work or personal) is that every end user in the world does not have a different version of "Linux". So the downfall of Linux is that it is very open...that's also its strength.
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You state companies don't like this
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I am not sure exactly what "this" is you are referring to but let me give you an example...a very very close friend of mine is the CIO of a company that employs over 400,000 people worldwide...they tried Linux to various degrees and basically threw it out for SUPPORT reasons...basically, the support was far sub-par compared to Sun. Reason #2 was the inhouse technical know-how for Linux was not as great as they thought. Reason #3 was that many people who pitched Linux (inside and outside the company) stated that Linux was almost identical to Unix (which it is not)...hence the numerous support issues they had. Call it broken promises...call it misguided...call it making assumptions...the employeese are not dummies and there was no real anger...using Linux instead of Unix or Windows just didn't work out...they tried it for 3 years if I am correct and they were not "pilot" programs.
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Software has to take a step back?
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I mean Linux Community. If the Community wants Linux to take off in the home market, "they" need to think and act like a single company. Not a community of 3 million "developers" that all want to make their own "flavor" of "Linux". It's one thing to go to an ice cream store and choose from 30 flavors of ice cream...it's not mission critical to your life and you probably don't eat ice cream every single day of the year...so having to figure out how to choose among hundreds of flavors of Linux AND CONTINUE to then use that particular flavor for years in the future is a much more daunting option...an option that the majority of people and companies simply don't want to deal with...and ESPECIALLY if they have well trained staff (or themselves in the case of a consumer) that are currently happy with the 2-3 major OSes that have been tried, tested, and used by Enterprises across the globe for years.
Hey...you may be a Linux guru and that's cool and VERY MUCH appreciated...but you took (or misunderstood) my points out of context...I was clearly talking about Work and Home usage on a computer...not cell phones with tiny Linux editions or Tivo dvr systems. Seriously.
My main point was that as a consumer...Joe Shmoe...who wants to buy a computer system for their home...Linux just doesn't cut the mustard right now...mainly because it's so un-organized that a normal non-techie (and even techie) can't figure out which to choose and how to support it. I don't get the warm and fuzzies if I had to buy a computer tomorrow with XYZ Linux on it...who do I call? What are my support options? Why haven't I ever heard of XYZ Linux? How long has XYZ been around? How long has the company who makes it been around? Why is XYZ better than Windows?...when I buy a Windows based system, I know that I can pick up the phone and call MS for a WINDOWS problem or question...and if it's something more specific like a bad network card or dead monitor, well, I call Dell or whoever sold me the thing and they send a guy out to replace it. Dell and other hardware manufacturers also sell Windows Support..."I know that I can pick up the phone" comment has been drilled into my head for the last 20 years...by who?...a company...a company that employees people and sells a product that I buy...and who advertises in newspapers and tv so I know they exist...a company on the stock market so I can follow their headlines or invest...Seriously...this is the mentality of a consumer.
I am not saying Linux stinks...or that Windows is better...all I'm saying is there is practically no brand recognition for ANY of the Linux distributions in the eyes of hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people on this planet. Please don't reply back stating I can Google this or read PCMag or CIO mag or whatever. I wouldn't tell you to go Google Coca Cola or Honda.
If Linux is going to penetrate the consumer market (which believe me they have been TRYING to for 10 years) then "they"...the communities, developers, distribution owners, etc...they need to come up with a plan to offer and advertise the operating system in a way that consumers will have the warm and fuzzies when they compare 2 identical machines yet one is $75 cheaper (or whatever the price diff). "They" have done a FANTASTIC job at getting (for example Ubuntu) Linux a friendly OS for the laymen (but it still needs improvement if you ask me)...it's now time for "them" to figure out if it's truly ready to be packaged, advertised, and sold in masses...to Joe Shmoe consumer...not Eric and Fewt who have known about Linux for decades.