“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…”