A snapshot of Linux on the desktop

“The Linux desktop landscape is a diverse place. As an
open-source operating system, anyone can take the code, make
whatever changes they want, and release it as their own custom
distribution. A land of diversity, however, also has its pitfalls.
Mandriva Linux seems like the most recent candidate to fall, with
the company purportedly going under on January 16th if it doesn’t
receive an infusion of funds. The funds are being blocked by a
shareholder dispute, and it will be a sad story for the
once-popular Linux distribution.

How many Linux distributions have gone quietly into memory, and
which have stayed? What makes Ubuntu so popular? Let’s take a quick
look into the the history of Linux on the desktop.

Complete Story