It should really be called World Domination 050, because it’s providing remedial education that the student should have had before coming to college, but it’s a start:
Linux on the desktop has been a year or two away for over a decade now, and there are reasons it’s not there yet. To attract nontechnical end-users, a Linux desktop must work out of the box, ideally preinstalled by the hardware vendor.
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When somebody with a degree in finance or architecture or can grab a Linux laptop and watch episodes of The Daily Show off of Comedy Central’s website without a bearded Linux geek walking them through an elaborate hand-configuration process first, maybe we’ll have a prayer.
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You can’t win the desktop if you don’t even try. Right now, few in the Linux world are seriously trying. And time is running out.
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Unfortunately “good” isn’t the same as “ready to happen”. The geeks of the world would like a moonbase too, and it’s been 30 years without progress on that front. Inevitability doesn’t guarantee that something will happen within our lifetimes. The 64-bit transition is an opportunity to put Linux on the desktop, but right now it’s still not ready. If the decision happened today, Linux would remain on the sidelines.
[Update: as usual, those wacky kids on Slashdot just don’t get it.]