“Linux will not become successful on the desktop unless
current market strategies change radically, and developers
correctly anticipate the needs of tomorrow’s users. That was
the verdict at last week’s Linux user conference in London.”
“Delegates heard that Linux has a valid place on the desktop,
but its success is being hampered by its own inability to sell
itself as a viable alternative to Windows. “The way to sell it [the
desktop] is completely the opposite way to the way we sold
servers,” said Craig Hunt, principal consultant at
Wrotethebook.com. … Users do not want the same qualities as
administrators, and will not choose to customise their
implementation of Linux as heavily, Hunt argues.”
“Linux is fairly hard to install, but so is Windows, and
Microsoft goes to great lengths not to sell users hardware directly
so that they don’t realise this complexity, according to Hunt.
Until Linux gets to the point where the hardware players ship Linux
as default, it will have a problem, he warned.”