Buzz: Linux on the desktop

Continuing our look at stories in the 8th annual Network World Buzz issue, we have what is certainly one of the more hot topics of the year: Linux on the desktop.

Continuing our look at stories in the 8th annual Network World Buzz issue, we have what is certainly one of the more hot topics of the year: Linux on the desktop.

Network World’s own Buzz columnist Paul McNamara weighed in on whether or not Linux is making any headway on the desktop.  His conclusion? While the technology certainly has generated a buzz, it’s a small one.

For example, the penguin recently waddled past Apple’s Mac OS into second place in the desktop operating system market, according to IDC. However, second place means a 3% share, which IDC only sees rising to 6% come 2007. But progress is progress, the Linux advocates say.

Besides, those figures don’t paint a true picture, says Bill Weinberg, open source architecture specialist for Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), an industry consortium dedicated to advancing the cause. Market surveys account only for commercial desktop Linux and not myriad free downloads and installs, leading some to peg what IDC calls 3% at anywhere from three to 12 times higher. Weinberg says he believes “the truth is somewhere in the middle.”

Still others say what ultimately happens at the desktop level isn’t clear.

“It’s unclear to what degree Linux will ever displace Windows so long as it’s merely a cheaper but almost as good alternative – which is how it’s generally positioned today,” says Gordon Haff, a senior analyst at Illuminata. “The breakout would be to deliver a Linux-based desktop system that was compellingly better than Windows in function, look and feel, or some other dimension.” However, Haff adds, such a breakout advancement also could prove a challenge for Linux vendors because it would entail new training.

The story is a great read.  Check it out at : https://www.nwfusion.com/buzz/2004/092704linux.html