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They've said as a skin on Windows. Linux on the desktop is dead. Linux in mobile is where it can shine. The Slashdot crowd needs to just concede the desktop

They've said as a skin on Windows. Linux on the desktop is dead. Linux in mobile is where it can shine. The Slashdot crowd needs to just concede the desktop and move on. The desktop is all Windows and Apple.

dman 16y ago
The dream is still alive!
nathanb 16y ago
In my workplace, I'd say that about 20% of the developers run Linux, 40% run MacOS, and 40% run Windows (the Windows users generally ssh or vnc into a Linux compute server to do builds and stuff). I also run it on my netbook (an Eee PC from Asus), and somewhere along the line someone decided that desktop Linux was alive enough to make the Broadcom wireless chip work in Linux. I think this is actually the first time I've installed Linux on a laptop and had it just work. I'm not saying that Linux is about to take over the market or anything silly like that, but proclaiming the death of Linux on the desktop is just as foolhardy as proclaiming its resurgence.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  but proclaiming the death of Linux on the desktop is just as foolhardy as proclaiming its resurgence. Really? Linux has never been alive on the desktop. I worked in a lab that 100% Debian Linux in 1996, and it was dead then. But honestly if it makes you feel better if I say that Windows, OSX, Linux, BeOS, AmigaOS, and NeXT are all in the running on the desktop... sure.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    > Really? Linux has never been alive on the desktop. For some values of "alive" and some values of "desktop". And it doesn't make me feel better. It only makes me feel sorry for those who work in very boring Windows-only workplaces. That's really heart breaking, specially for a web developer like me.
    - kenjackson 16y ago
      Where desktop is a computer that is on your desk (or under) and where alive is at least 5% marketshare.
      - rbanffy 16y ago
        There is a computer on my desk, but my e-mail is processed elsewhere, just like my paycheck, my corporate purchases, my calendar, my project management tools, my collaboration suite and a lot of the software I develop. My desktop computer hosts a browser, a text editor, an application server (more or less identical to the one that runs my applications - on a more or less identical OS) and, on occasion, an IDE and its own replica of another set of servers. If I weren't developing software, whatever is on my desk wouldn't be relevant, as long as it could host a browser. I can also tell you, for the traffic I get on my blog, that Linux is very well alive in the web development world. I am sure my posts won't attract the average VB6, corporate-drone, shirt-and-tie Windows developer, but, honestly, who cares? The worthy among them will evolve into something, given time. I don't care for those who don't.
        kenjackson 16y ago
        Well then Linux is already the most dominant OS ever! Discussion over, because clearly I have nothing to trump your web logs. And lord knows that anyone who uses Windows is hardly human and the fact that we let them live is a testament to our lord Linus. But if you do wish to kill some of them tonight, no one could blame you. Right?
        rbanffy 16y ago
        Even VB6 programmers are people, Ken. And yes. Linux is pretty much alive and well in a lot of places. Face it: most of the world couldn't care less with what OS and browser they use to get to Gmail or Facebook. They don't buy OSs. Dell buys OSs for them.
rbanffy 16y ago
From where I sit, I see 6 Macbooks, 2 Windows and 9 Linux laptops, 1 desktop dual-booting Windows and Linux connected to a 50" TV (it's used for demos and presentations). Of the Linux boxes, 1 of them runs Fedora, one runs Debian and the rest run Ubuntu. The rest of the floor follows more or less the same distribution. There must be a problem, for I see dead OSs.
- ugh 16y ago
  One percent market share is dead, no matter what you are seeing.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  I see a bookshelf of technical computer science books. I guess Computational Linear Algebra from 1992 is makings its way up the NY Times best seller list. It must be, because its right here on my desk. Also, I just ran my program and it didn't crash. There must not be any bugs in it. Here's a hint, a little of bit of research will help you not make claims of things that aren't happening.
  - eof 16y ago
    Presumably he meant that he saw people using those laptops, not just sitting there unused on a shelf.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    > I see a bookshelf of technical computer science books. I guess Computational Linear Algebra from 1992 is makings its way up the NY Times best seller list. It must be, because its right here on my desk. Straw man. I never said Linux is making its way up NYT best seller list. I only questioned your statement that it's dead on the desktop because, frankly, it's not. It's niche. > Also, I just ran my program and it didn't crash. There must not be any bugs in it. Another straw man. But remind me, just in case, to never buy any software from you. > Here's a hint, a little of bit of research will help you not make claims of things that aren't happening. The same applies to you. Linux is not dead on the desktop. The desktop will give way to other kinds of devices and, surprise, Linux is already pretty much dominant in that space. Dead? Hardly. And, even if they will no longer be called "desktops" I bet they will still be on desks.
eof 16y ago
Well except it's not. I use linux on my desktop and laptop and will continue to. It may remain niche; but 'move on' is a bit extreme. There are some things linux distros are inarguably better at; and will continue to be as Apple has no motivation for package management. Linux on the desktop will never 'win' because the desktop will die before it would have caught up.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  And yet, the PC may be doomed, but the servers that will hold the data and run most of the program logic for our "Post-PC" devices will probably run Linux.

dman 16y ago

The dream is still alive!

nathanb 16y ago

In my workplace, I'd say that about 20% of the developers run Linux, 40% run MacOS, and 40% run Windows (the Windows users generally ssh or vnc into a Linux compute server to do builds and stuff). I also run it on my netbook (an Eee PC from Asus), and somewhere along the line someone decided that desktop Linux was alive enough to make the Broadcom wireless chip work in Linux. I think this is actually the first time I've installed Linux on a laptop and had it just work. I'm not saying that Linux is about to take over the market or anything silly like that, but proclaiming the death of Linux on the desktop is just as foolhardy as proclaiming its resurgence.

kenjackson 16y ago
but proclaiming the death of Linux on the desktop is just as foolhardy as proclaiming its resurgence. Really? Linux has never been alive on the desktop. I worked in a lab that 100% Debian Linux in 1996, and it was dead then. But honestly if it makes you feel better if I say that Windows, OSX, Linux, BeOS, AmigaOS, and NeXT are all in the running on the desktop... sure.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  > Really? Linux has never been alive on the desktop. For some values of "alive" and some values of "desktop". And it doesn't make me feel better. It only makes me feel sorry for those who work in very boring Windows-only workplaces. That's really heart breaking, specially for a web developer like me.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Where desktop is a computer that is on your desk (or under) and where alive is at least 5% marketshare.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      There is a computer on my desk, but my e-mail is processed elsewhere, just like my paycheck, my corporate purchases, my calendar, my project management tools, my collaboration suite and a lot of the software I develop. My desktop computer hosts a browser, a text editor, an application server (more or less identical to the one that runs my applications - on a more or less identical OS) and, on occasion, an IDE and its own replica of another set of servers. If I weren't developing software, whatever is on my desk wouldn't be relevant, as long as it could host a browser. I can also tell you, for the traffic I get on my blog, that Linux is very well alive in the web development world. I am sure my posts won't attract the average VB6, corporate-drone, shirt-and-tie Windows developer, but, honestly, who cares? The worthy among them will evolve into something, given time. I don't care for those who don't.
      - kenjackson 16y ago
        Well then Linux is already the most dominant OS ever! Discussion over, because clearly I have nothing to trump your web logs. And lord knows that anyone who uses Windows is hardly human and the fact that we let them live is a testament to our lord Linus. But if you do wish to kill some of them tonight, no one could blame you. Right?
        rbanffy 16y ago
        Even VB6 programmers are people, Ken. And yes. Linux is pretty much alive and well in a lot of places. Face it: most of the world couldn't care less with what OS and browser they use to get to Gmail or Facebook. They don't buy OSs. Dell buys OSs for them.

rbanffy 16y ago

From where I sit, I see 6 Macbooks, 2 Windows and 9 Linux laptops, 1 desktop dual-booting Windows and Linux connected to a 50" TV (it's used for demos and presentations). Of the Linux boxes, 1 of them runs Fedora, one runs Debian and the rest run Ubuntu. The rest of the floor follows more or less the same distribution. There must be a problem, for I see dead OSs.

ugh 16y ago
One percent market share is dead, no matter what you are seeing.
kenjackson 16y ago
I see a bookshelf of technical computer science books. I guess Computational Linear Algebra from 1992 is makings its way up the NY Times best seller list. It must be, because its right here on my desk. Also, I just ran my program and it didn't crash. There must not be any bugs in it. Here's a hint, a little of bit of research will help you not make claims of things that aren't happening.
- eof 16y ago
  Presumably he meant that he saw people using those laptops, not just sitting there unused on a shelf.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  > I see a bookshelf of technical computer science books. I guess Computational Linear Algebra from 1992 is makings its way up the NY Times best seller list. It must be, because its right here on my desk. Straw man. I never said Linux is making its way up NYT best seller list. I only questioned your statement that it's dead on the desktop because, frankly, it's not. It's niche. > Also, I just ran my program and it didn't crash. There must not be any bugs in it. Another straw man. But remind me, just in case, to never buy any software from you. > Here's a hint, a little of bit of research will help you not make claims of things that aren't happening. The same applies to you. Linux is not dead on the desktop. The desktop will give way to other kinds of devices and, surprise, Linux is already pretty much dominant in that space. Dead? Hardly. And, even if they will no longer be called "desktops" I bet they will still be on desks.

eof 16y ago

Well except it's not. I use linux on my desktop and laptop and will continue to. It may remain niche; but 'move on' is a bit extreme. There are some things linux distros are inarguably better at; and will continue to be as Apple has no motivation for package management. Linux on the desktop will never 'win' because the desktop will die before it would have caught up.

rbanffy 16y ago
And yet, the PC may be doomed, but the servers that will hold the data and run most of the program logic for our "Post-PC" devices will probably run Linux.