Linux Doesn’t Cost Anything – But Maybe It Should

“Linux is easy to learn, highly capable of fulfilling a typical
computer user’s needs, and 100 percent free. So why is it that
Linux still has such a miniscule share of the overall desktop
market? Maybe its gratis nature has been keeping it down. It seems
that when consumers don’t know enough about a product, they judge
it by its cost — and “free,” at least on a subconscious level,
translates to “not as good.”

“Discussions, theses, theories and memes abound around Linux’s
inability to gain traction in the desktop marketplace. Some think
the Linux Desktop is too hard to learn (it’s not). Others say Linux
Desktop is deficient (it’s not). Linux elite (or 1337) say Linux
wasn’t really meant for the general users anyway (not true).
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) says Linux in general is evil (see the
Halloween Memo) (oh, and by the way, it’s not).

“I submit yet another theory: Linux isn’t expensive enough!”

Complete
Story