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

[Nick Accad]

Are we talking Linux on the desktop, which I agree is a tiny percentage, or
Linux in the datacenter which is the dominant in every situation?

Desktop Linux is tiny because there is a lot of fragmentation and no single
unified system behind it. Linux in the DC is one of 4 or 5 choices, and
experienced sysadmins don’t care that much about distro wars anymore as
long as whatever they are using have enterprise support.

I disagree regarding the hackers statement, I have been dealing with
hackers in Linux since the early 2000s, their attack surface is huge due to
things like PHP, badly configured databases… etc. And the “quality” of the
attacks are getting better.

Which is the same for modern versions of Windows, you hardly ever attack
the OS, you attack services, the fact that Windows has a ton of deeply
integrated services makes the discussion complicated

-nick



On Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 10:47 Steve Petrie via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

> *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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