Sorry, but I don't think Linux is ever going to threaten NT, or whatever they decide to call Windows. Not because I don't think Linux is great, but because it's still Unix. I've mastered at one time or another, several varieties of UNIX, VMS, TOPS-10, and a few others, and done a fair amount of assembler language programming, besides everything else, so I don't need this environment, but I think NT is going to capture the world.
Why? I've been working in IT more than 20 years. Nowadays, the average user can't even figure out what to do if they get an error typing in their password! Yet, most people need computers for their job, now, and that trend will only continue. Most people don't have the interest, and many don't have the smarts to master something like Unix, or Linux. So the choice is: a) they have a GUI environment on their desk, with lots of pretty icons and they have a fighting chance of maybe getting something to work, or b) they have an operating system where they have to rely on a guru for many tasks.
The real problem is there aren't enough gurus to go around. And the average user absolutely doesn't prefer a Unicoid over a Microserf. Quite the opposite. Most would rather rely on a well known company to help them, than the totally capricious help of their local guru, who often cannot communicate with them very well.
This is the soul of Windows success.
The problem is getting computers to work very easily for totally non-technical people. Linux, though wonderful for techies like us, doesn't help Joe or Jane Baggadoughnuts. And that's the bottom line, because Joe Baggadoughnuts ultimately spends most of the IT dollars.
JMHO
TWK |
