Linux still largely invisible in the marketplace

[Jamon Camisso]

Steve wrote:
> Jamon Camisso wrote:
> 
>> I can't remember where exactly I heard it (some linux radio podcast of 
>> some sort back in the summer) but the idea of coolness definitely 
>> enters as one reason that Linux is having a hard time catching on. For 
>> a lot of people (specifically friends, family, professors) who have 
>> upgraded to Windows XP, their first response was how cool it seemed 
>> comared to 98/2000. Mac users -- same thing. But apart from being cool 
>> within a rather closed (or small, whichever you prefer) community i.e. 
>> Slackware cooler than X distro etc., Linux is not regarded as 
>> something cool to use or do with your computer.
> 
> 
> I disagree. I am so tired of XP that I love when I boot into Ubuntu's 
> Gnome Display Manager, and am able to try so many different themes, and 
> modify the taskbar to show anything I please! :-)
> 
> -Steve.

As do I! I'm rather a fan of the polymer theme with glass buttons in kde 
myself. But my point is, though you and I as a part of an almost 
hermetically sealed community are aware of the neat effects that our 
respective WMs provide (look at the M$ ads on many Linux sites for proof 
of this), and the nifty apps available to us, for most users those 
programs, features, and effects are laregely irrelevant.

What I am suggesting is that it is necessary to *find* a way to make 
them relevant as one of numerous strategies to capture more market share 
of the desktop world. If Jobs and his team can do it for Mac, just think 
what our global group of geeks with a much more vast pool of resources 
(time and skill) can do.

I too am tired of XP, but that doesn't mean grandma or her recepies are 
-- she has no reason to be if she has no experience with anything els ;)

Jamon
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