4 ms·

Seriously, why does anyone care? Do you want to use Linux on the desktop? Great! Use it! Why spend a bunch of time trying to convince Windows and OS X users to

Seriously, why does anyone care? Do you want to use Linux on the desktop? Great! Use it! Why spend a bunch of time trying to convince Windows and OS X users to use something they don't want to. I really don't understand Linux users obsession with converting other people. I suppose it springs out of GNU and the RMS style wish to convert the world to FOSS. While I think it would be great if all software was Free, I don't think it's worth worrying over weather or not Linux is "ready" for the desktop.

rsheridan6 17y ago
Because if not enough other people use it, everybody assumes you have Windows and programs/writes accordingly, and you find yourself forced to do things like use web applications that only work on IE 6. No man is an island.
- nailer 17y ago
  Web apps that only work in IE 6 are dead in consumer space and will be repalced evenetually in corporate space. The desktop is dead, the web is the platform now (10 year Linux desktop user, ex Red Hat employee, author of man resolv.conf in a bunch of distros, the 'mikem' in your sudoers file on RHEL/Fedora)
  - rsheridan6 17y ago
    Eventually. Eventually, we'll all be dead. Meanwhile, I'm still getting pptx files from professors that are meant for MS Office 2007 and work only very badly in open office. And hardware compatibility is still a problem. Don't overgeneralize your experiences. If you work for Red Hat or a similar employer, obviously you're not going to have to use corporate or educational crapware that many others do.
    - nailer 17y ago
      I'm not overgeneralizing my experiences, but rather, observing past history. Nobody ever thought Lotus Notes would disappear either, but it did. Most large corporates still have a lot of desktop crapware, but they're also deploying more webapps as they notice the time wasted maintaining client software. My past experiences at Red Hat were cited because I was once very interested in Linux desktops. I currently work at a conservative investment bank who's nevertheless busy deploying every new app via the browser. PS. Re: OpenOffice opening OpenXML files, if Google Docs or Zoho don't solve your issue, you can access Microsoft Office 2010 web version from Firefox or Safari.
- docgnome 17y ago
  That... is actually a good point. That's the only reasonable rebuttal I've ever heard to my "who cares" argument. :-)

rsheridan6 17y ago

Because if not enough other people use it, everybody assumes you have Windows and programs/writes accordingly, and you find yourself forced to do things like use web applications that only work on IE 6. No man is an island.

nailer 17y ago
Web apps that only work in IE 6 are dead in consumer space and will be repalced evenetually in corporate space. The desktop is dead, the web is the platform now (10 year Linux desktop user, ex Red Hat employee, author of man resolv.conf in a bunch of distros, the 'mikem' in your sudoers file on RHEL/Fedora)
- rsheridan6 17y ago
  Eventually. Eventually, we'll all be dead. Meanwhile, I'm still getting pptx files from professors that are meant for MS Office 2007 and work only very badly in open office. And hardware compatibility is still a problem. Don't overgeneralize your experiences. If you work for Red Hat or a similar employer, obviously you're not going to have to use corporate or educational crapware that many others do.
  - nailer 17y ago
    I'm not overgeneralizing my experiences, but rather, observing past history. Nobody ever thought Lotus Notes would disappear either, but it did. Most large corporates still have a lot of desktop crapware, but they're also deploying more webapps as they notice the time wasted maintaining client software. My past experiences at Red Hat were cited because I was once very interested in Linux desktops. I currently work at a conservative investment bank who's nevertheless busy deploying every new app via the browser. PS. Re: OpenOffice opening OpenXML files, if Google Docs or Zoho don't solve your issue, you can access Microsoft Office 2010 web version from Firefox or Safari.
docgnome 17y ago
That... is actually a good point. That's the only reasonable rebuttal I've ever heard to my "who cares" argument. :-)