The Irrelevance of Desktop Linux

"Can Google save desktop Linux? Or more accurately, can online applications? I have previously been skeptical about the potential for Linux to ever make serious in-roads on the desktop market. The problem as I see it is that desktop Linux is stuck in a Catch-22 situation where ISVs will not support it if they don't see support from major hardware vendors, and hardware vendors are not interested because there isn't the mainstream ISV support to drive demand.

"Throw in the fact that Microsoft provides the software that most consumers would consider necessary for desktop machines and which also drives the vast proportion of PC and laptop hardware revenue, and there is no economic incentive for any of the IHVs and ISVs to promote Linux in the manner that would be required for it to make a dent in the market..."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Ubuntu On The Road To Bloat(Sep 13, 2007)
• Mobile Linux: The Desktop Developer Killer(Aug 21, 2007)
• March of the Desktop Penguins(Jul 20, 2007)
• Who Copied Who?(Jul 20, 2007)