>By "most people who like to use Linux" - realize that you are talking about 0.5% of the desktop population. The market could be a lot bigger if it were easier

>By "most people who like to use Linux" - realize that you are talking about 0.5% of the desktop population. The market could be a lot bigger if it were easier to find one's way. Your first sentence deliberately ignores my main point which was of course that Linux by and large doesn't care if you're a little too intimidated by the range of choices to try something new. In fact I would go so far as to say if you're a person who likes to have everything spoon fed to you and is not comfortable and/or does not enjoy doing some research for yourself when you encounter issues, then you actually are better off sticking to Windows or possibly a Mac. Linux helps those who help themselves. > And what about most of us who are not acquainted with anybody that uses Linux on a regular basis? a) Local Linux user groups. b) Distro forums. c) Mailing lists. d) Google. I also mentioned that these days, the choice for a newbie wanting to try Linux in general terms is pretty much made for them. You ignored that bit too. > If their goal is not being popular, then I would say they are succeeding. I never said their goal was not being popular, this is quite obvious to anyone who actually read my previous reply rather than skimming over it and trying to twist it into something that could be used to reinforce their existing beliefs. What I did say was that many distros see popularity as a low or non-existent priority when compared to others, such as quality of implementation. Debian has often gotten flak in the past for its long release cycle. If Debian devs are asked when the next stable Debian release will be ready, the usual answer is "When it's done." (though this is changing somewhat now) When the quality is assured, then it's released. It's not released when the marketing department says it should be just because they are trying to hit an artificial deadline imposed by some middle manager who's more interested in his coke and hookers. From the sound of it, I would recommend that you stay as far away from Linux as you can. You do not seem to have the required mind set that would make it an enjoyable experience for you.