Not long ago, Microsoft Windows seemed the only choice for the
desktop.
Today, Linux is offering an alternative. Linux is already being
used by an impressive percentage of the world’s computer users for
desktop publishing, office applications, web browsing, E-Mail,
games and education on the desktop side alone.
As a server, Linux has already established itself as the leader.
According to the Internet Operating System
Counter‘s September 1998 results, Linux is running on 26.3% of
the world’s web servers, making it the most popular web server
platform in the (known) universe!
There have been, and will always be, media sceptics who resist
change. Linux is going to force these nay-sayers to re-learn their
trades! No more lazy articles about Windows and it’s simple
features. They will either learn the new operating system, or they
will be replaced by someone else with the energy and ambition to do
so. Remember this as you read negative articles about Linux, and
you will understand the real reason behind the words.
I challenge them to provide to me a single and valid reason why
Linux is not going to be the OS of the future. Back it up with
facts, not speculation. And, please, don’t tell me “Microsoft will
win because of their marketing power.” Linux is changing the rules,
and that argument doesn’t apply anymore. The world is ready for
stable and open software, and Microsoft can’t provide that.
With every breath we take, Linux gets closer and closer to
becoming the dominant operating system.
Currently, CNet’s Shopper.com shows that Red Hat Linux 5.1 is
out-selling Windows98, listing Red Hat as #13 on their most
popular item sold while Windows98 is listed as #21. (Incidentally,
#1 – #12 are hardware products, making Red Hat Linux the most
popular software package sold on Shopper.com.)
Surcouf,
supposedly the biggest software retailer in the world, shows Linux
is overtaking Windows in their market as well.
But, we’re forgetting something! These numbers only reflect
people purchasing Linux. It’s free, right? What about
those 30 free Linux CDs I gave away last month? How many of those
were installed? How many of those were passed on to other people,
to be copied by CD-Writers and shipped to friends elsewhere?
Is it fair to say that for every purchase of Linux, there are at
least 10 other installations that go by un-noticed? I think that’s
a conservative number, actually.
What do you think?