Guillermo's opinions

My very personal blog

This was the year of desktop Linux (tag: Linux)

According to: http://www.danablankenhorn.com/

This was the year of the desktop Linux, how is that?

Here are his words

This is also the year where the definition of a desktop has changed. Apple changed it with the iPhone and, now, the iPad. Microsoft has failed to deliver in both these key areas. Linux has not.

Google gets the credit for that. As I noted yesterday Google Android has soaked up the excess demand for Internet hand-held devices that the iPhone left on the floor. My guess is that, once Chromium comes out, you’ll have the same experience there.

Linux has broken through because Google has the size to go toe-to-toe with either Microsoft or Apple, and push product through distribution. (Remember, there is a price lower than free.)

It’s the compatibility between Chromium and Android, based on Linux, which I think gives the old mouse-and-keyboard upright posture desktop Linux yet-another chance.

And I think he is right, Linux has improved a lot, and grown in the market also a lot, yes it got the help of big guys. Like:

  • Google
  • Dell
  • Canonical
Of course none could have been made without the hours and hours of work, that all the projects put on this. So thanks to:

  • Debian
  • Gnome
  • KDE
  • Linus Torvalds
  • lot more
Of course that small list is maybe the 0.5% of the projects involved in making Linux what it is now.

Going back to what Dana is saying:

Mint offers simplicity and a full application suite. It abstracts all the complexity of the command line, much as Android and Chromium do. Even our own Jason Perlow likes it (and he is hard to please).

What’s still missing is the financial wherewithal to push this through the distribution channel. But with the success of Google as a patron for hand-held Linux, are Microsoft followers certain one can’t be found for the old-fashioned desktop?

My larger point is it doesn’t matter. Either Mint and Ubuntu will gain desktop traction or Google will simply bypass them.

So I think yes, this was the year of dekstop Linux.

read the full story here: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/this-was-the-year-of-desktop-linux/7261#