[GTALUG] why reliable linux hasn't gained more market share?

[Steve Petrie]

Actually I'm REALLY GLAD that linux owns such a tiny share of the 
desktop PC market. This means that evil virus hackers have almost ZERO 
incentive to invest their time crafting attacks on linux desktops.

I would say that one reason for the lack of linux desktop dominance, is 
the huge barrier of the tightly integrated Microsoft app suite.

What business or individual person would want to wrestle with the 
challenge of trying to ensure linux app compatibility with the far 
larger Windows app world ??

Saving dollars by avoiding MS licensing fees would never justify the 
ongoing nit-picky nightmare of coping with app incompatibilities (word 
processing, spreadsheet, database etc.) between Windows and linux.

And where are the tens of thousands of linux specialists who could be 
hired to provide support to millions of linux desktop end users ??

* * *
* * *

My last Windows PC was / is an ancient Dell clunker still running WinXP. 
I boot up that creaker occasionally to fetch a file from my past. USB 
and email are my methods of WinXP / Debian connectivity.

It was when Microsoft told me I would lose compatibility with many of my 
WinXP apps, when I moved on to post-XP Windows, that I decided to become 
a linux rebel.

I've been a happy Debian desktop user for many years. But then I am a 
retired software engineer who enjoys messing around with linux.

I have been retired for two (2) decades and almost never need to share 
documents with Windows PC users. The Open Office suite does seem to 
offer pretty good Windows app file support.

We can be eternally grateful to the U.S. government for having blessed 
the world with the public-domain PDF standard. For me as a linux desktop 
PC user, PDF and email are the foundations of interoperability with 
other people.

For sure, GTALUG has been a vital source of linux advice. I'm impressed 
almost every day, by the depth and breadth of knowledge GTALUG 
participants demonstrate. Way beyond the walls of plain linux.

* * *
* * *

Ron / BCLUG has pointed out, the incalculable power of Windows as 
default.

Let's not forget the Google default, either. Go shopping for a tablet 
computer and you will invariably wind up using Android.

A friend of mine bought an Android tablet to replace her Windows 
notebook when that died. She has regaled me with stories of her being 
mystified / confused / maddened with Android weirdnes-es.

* * *
* * *

What amazes me about the latest CrowdStrike fiasco, is how TERRIBLY 
FRAGILE is the entire computing ecosphere.

How has it happened that we humans have configured our so very very 
vital software infrastructure, such that a single company can make a 
single mistake, and take down such a huge portion of the world's PC 
asset base ??

Steve Petrie

Etobicoke (Toronto), Ontario, Canada

apetrie at aspetrie.net

-------- Original Message --------

  		SUBJECT:
  		Re: [GTALUG] why reliable linux hasn't gained more market share?

  		DATE:
  		2024-07-23 00:45

  		FROM:
  		Ron / BCLUG via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

  		TO:
  		talk at gtalug.org

Karen Lewellen via talk wrote on 2024-07-22 18:44:

> crowdstrike makes news headlines, many Windows become blue screens

https://www.techspot.com/news/103899-crowdstrike-also-broke-debian-rocky-linux-earlier-year.html

> Amid the turmoil, it is instructive to consider a little-noticed
> event earlier this year when a CrowdStrike update caused all Debian
> Linux servers to crash simultaneously and refuse to boot. It took the
> cybersecurity provider weeks to provide a root cause analysis,
> revealing that the update was incompatible with the latest stable
> version of Debian.

This CrowdStrike incident affected Windows, but these types of issues 
can affect anything.

> it is evident that many people around still use Windows
> 
> according to some statistics linux has only 4% desktop market, 73%
> for MS, 15% for MacOS
> 
> why free OS hasn't gained more share even after 30 years of
> development?
  Because Big Box retailers don't sell Linux pre-installed on computers.

The power of being the default is incalculable.

Google spends ~$18,000,000,000 USD per *year* to be the default search 
engine in Safari (and on iPhones?) - that's how enormously important the 
default is.

Of course, in the server market, especially for internet (vs intranet / 
corporate internal) sites, Linux dominates.

Linux used to ship with WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator) for Windows 
compatibility.

Now, Windows can install WSL (Windows' Subsystem for Linux), which is a 
complete Linux-within-Windows environment.

Gotta keep the developers who require node.js, git, ssh, etc. on the 
Windows platform, even if it's Linux inside Windows.

Many a modern developer how-to guide will give instructions in bash 
instead of cmd.exe commands, as that's how things are done in 
"production".

MS is clever enough to realize that.

rb
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