And don't let the door hit you on the way out

[Ian Chapman]

On 04/07/12 11:07, Fernando Cassia wrote:

> Linux purists answer that "that's not the way we do things in Linux"
> and that "users should learn their new OS rather than try to copy the
> way Windows does things". I think that is wrong and is precisely one
> of the reasons of desktop linux minuscule market share.

I think that has virtually nothing to do with it. It goes way beyond 
Linux not being a carbon copy of Windows. After-all, I wonder what the 
market share of ReactOS is? The minuscule Linux desktop market is 
because it's not the default operating system on virtually every 
"desktop" computer shipped. In the IT world, being the default is a 
powerful position and technical merit is surprisingly low down the list. 
Companies spend millions of dollars having their product there by 
default, right under the user's nose because they know that many users 
won't go looking if they have something right in front of them that is 
good enough. This market is backed by a massive number of OEMs which 
reinforce that market and the psyche around that. This just doesn't 
exist for the Linux market and trying to change that is like stopping a 
speeding freight train with your hands.

-- 
Ian Chapman.