6 ms·

The Linux desktop will never succeed as long as nobody can profit from it. As long as Microsoft prevents the distribution of Linux through tithes or threats of

The Linux desktop will never succeed as long as nobody can profit from it. As long as Microsoft prevents the distribution of Linux through tithes or threats of patent litigation, why would anyone spend a penny making the desktop look better? edit: sources http://www.informationweek.com/windows/microsoft-news/microsofts-new-cash-cows-linux-and-andro/231601809 http://www.informationweek.com/windows/microsoft-news/micros... http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090619161307529 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090619161307529 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2331462,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2331462,00.asp

stcredzero 14y ago
> The Linux desktop will never succeed as long as nobody can profit from it. There is a strong case for someone paying developers to create a free alternative to Windows to commoditize desktop operating systems, thereby attacking Microsoft's revenue stream. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html The problem has been that it's been too difficult to produce something easy enough to transition away to from Windows and Windows apps for this to work.
- cooldeal 14y ago
  >There is a strong case for someone paying developers to create a free alternative to Windows to commoditize desktop operating systems, thereby attacking Microsoft's revenue stream. See Ubuntu bug number 1. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1 Mark Shuttleworth is that 'someone'. >The problem has been that it's been too difficult to produce something easy enough to transition away to from Windows and Windows apps for this to work. Everytime a Linux distro is made one bit "easier" or simpler, the power users find it "dumbified" and quit that distro and move on.
  - rbanffy 14y ago
    I think we have enough developers now using Linux that UI nitpicking should have a negligible impact. On every conference I go, I see tons of Macs. Those developers are very unlikely to find Gnome 3 or Unity too constraining for their tastes.
    - cooldeal 14y ago
      >Those developers are very unlikely to find Gnome 3 or Unity too constraining for their tastes The problem is that most of those developers have already left Linux and would be unwilling to switch either because of the hardware they like or the Mac app ecosystem or toolchain they use (for example iOS development). I doubt a significant percentage would come back even with a better Linux.
recoiledsnake 14y ago
That's an extremely opinionated point and doesn't add to the discussion and comes off being on a witch hunt. MS couldn't stop Samsung, HTC, Lenovo etc. from shipping Android devices, nor all of them plus Acer, Dell, and hundred other OEMs etc. from shipping Android tablets. What about HP and WebOS? Dell still ships Ubuntu laptops. And almost all the big OEMs have a big Linux division beside their Windows server division on their server pages. http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers.html http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers... Where are the lawsuits against System76? If there really was demand, you think a company wouldn't start up and offer Linux? In fact there have been OEMs shipping Linux, but stopped or hid their offerings after the high rate of returns from people buying and returning them. And the tech savvy people who are the real customers can buy ANY PC out there and throw Linux on it(or just get a Macbook Air). There's not much money in it for the OEMs except high support costs, return rates and a whole toolchain to get Linux images(hard on thin margins). If there is real mass consumer demand, a company can ship Linux profitably, MS won't care about them till they start making hundreds of millions a quarter, at which point successfully fighting a lawsuit based on antitrust case precedent on PCs or paying a low amount per PC won't really hurt the manufacturer. So, stop painting MS as the bogeyman in this discussion, Windows' and Office dominance(due to Open/LibreOffice not being up to par due to various reasons including Office compatibility) is a well known reason.
- rbanffy 14y ago
  This strategy is very risky. Microsoft can litigate any OEM to the ground and the fees they extract from Android makers would eat away any profit margin in the x86 PC space. The fact they convinced Android OEMs to pay can be used to legitimize those patents on the PC space and many of their "licensees" already are PC makers (and thus will have a harder time litigating those patents).
  - recoiledsnake 14y ago
    Any shakedown by MS in the PC space extremely unlikely to fly given the terms of settlement in the antitrust case in both the US and EU and restrictions still in place in the EU on the browser choice screen, requiring network and document specs etc. Hell, B&N even tried the antitrust angle in the Android tablet patents cae.
mistercow 14y ago
> why would anyone spend a penny making the desktop look better? Why don't you ask Canonical?

stcredzero 14y ago

> The Linux desktop will never succeed as long as nobody can profit from it. There is a strong case for someone paying developers to create a free alternative to Windows to commoditize desktop operating systems, thereby attacking Microsoft's revenue stream. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html The problem has been that it's been too difficult to produce something easy enough to transition away to from Windows and Windows apps for this to work.

cooldeal 14y ago
>There is a strong case for someone paying developers to create a free alternative to Windows to commoditize desktop operating systems, thereby attacking Microsoft's revenue stream. See Ubuntu bug number 1. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1 Mark Shuttleworth is that 'someone'. >The problem has been that it's been too difficult to produce something easy enough to transition away to from Windows and Windows apps for this to work. Everytime a Linux distro is made one bit "easier" or simpler, the power users find it "dumbified" and quit that distro and move on.
- rbanffy 14y ago
  I think we have enough developers now using Linux that UI nitpicking should have a negligible impact. On every conference I go, I see tons of Macs. Those developers are very unlikely to find Gnome 3 or Unity too constraining for their tastes.
  - cooldeal 14y ago
    >Those developers are very unlikely to find Gnome 3 or Unity too constraining for their tastes The problem is that most of those developers have already left Linux and would be unwilling to switch either because of the hardware they like or the Mac app ecosystem or toolchain they use (for example iOS development). I doubt a significant percentage would come back even with a better Linux.

recoiledsnake 14y ago

That's an extremely opinionated point and doesn't add to the discussion and comes off being on a witch hunt. MS couldn't stop Samsung, HTC, Lenovo etc. from shipping Android devices, nor all of them plus Acer, Dell, and hundred other OEMs etc. from shipping Android tablets. What about HP and WebOS? Dell still ships Ubuntu laptops. And almost all the big OEMs have a big Linux division beside their Windows server division on their server pages. http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers.html http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers... Where are the lawsuits against System76? If there really was demand, you think a company wouldn't start up and offer Linux? In fact there have been OEMs shipping Linux, but stopped or hid their offerings after the high rate of returns from people buying and returning them. And the tech savvy people who are the real customers can buy ANY PC out there and throw Linux on it(or just get a Macbook Air). There's not much money in it for the OEMs except high support costs, return rates and a whole toolchain to get Linux images(hard on thin margins). If there is real mass consumer demand, a company can ship Linux profitably, MS won't care about them till they start making hundreds of millions a quarter, at which point successfully fighting a lawsuit based on antitrust case precedent on PCs or paying a low amount per PC won't really hurt the manufacturer. So, stop painting MS as the bogeyman in this discussion, Windows' and Office dominance(due to Open/LibreOffice not being up to par due to various reasons including Office compatibility) is a well known reason.

rbanffy 14y ago
This strategy is very risky. Microsoft can litigate any OEM to the ground and the fees they extract from Android makers would eat away any profit margin in the x86 PC space. The fact they convinced Android OEMs to pay can be used to legitimize those patents on the PC space and many of their "licensees" already are PC makers (and thus will have a harder time litigating those patents).
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
  Any shakedown by MS in the PC space extremely unlikely to fly given the terms of settlement in the antitrust case in both the US and EU and restrictions still in place in the EU on the browser choice screen, requiring network and document specs etc. Hell, B&N even tried the antitrust angle in the Android tablet patents cae.

mistercow 14y ago

> why would anyone spend a penny making the desktop look better? Why don't you ask Canonical?