Nerdnet.com: Is the Linux Movement Suffering from Bad Advocacy?

[ Thanks to Joe Jenkins
for this link. ]

“Is the global Linux movement suffering from fragmentation and
bad advocacy? Are we running out of steam? Can we deliver? The
consensus I have picked up on lately from a lot of people in the
industry is that the pulse of Linux is creeping to a halt, certain
to flat-line and be forgotten all in short order.”

“Before I get flamed for this, understand the reasons for these
perceptions. For those of us who work in the computer industry,
specifically IT departments, there has always been a holy war of
sorts going on when it concerns specific computing platforms and
their associated operating system software. It is certainly easy to
advocate something when you work with it everyday and know it
intimately. As professionals, we can easily argue the benefits of
our way of doing things when compared to something unfamiliar.
Chances are also good that you work with several others that share
your views in the same environment. The problem that arises from
this is easy to understand. The more comfortable one becomes with
doing things a certain way, the more likely they are to shun
change, growth, or something better at all.”

“As I grew more familiar with the Linux way of doing things,
I became more confident in the Linux way of doing things, to the
point of being downright cocky and arrogant. What I failed to
realize at that point in time was that I made a lousy advocate for
Linux. Instead of showing people how I could increase stability and
reliability, I would chastise them for using things like Novell and
Microsoft products. These people were intelligent
professionals and naturally defended their own experience.”

Complete Story