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I've been sort of following the thread and it occurs to me that it has sort of spiraled out of context with Canonical and GPL compliance, etc. Stepping back to consider "ready for the desktop," I'm not sure what that means in any real sense. I've seen my 70 year old mom try to use her Mac. It took her a bit of learning of concepts and techniques to be able to use it. She was reluctant to switch to Mac from Windows, but Windows was something I was no longer going to deal with. (I have a life too.) Now she loves her Mac and can't believe all the non-sense she had to deal with on Windows. It occurs to me that "ready for the desktop" has nothing to do with any solid and quantifiable measure. Unless it is exactly the same as what you are used too, but better, there will always be resistance to acceptance. Any differences, regardless of severity, will be trotted out by people as reasons why "A" is better than "B" because one is used to "A" and perceives it as better. The second problem is compatibility, there will always be compatibility issues between different systems, especially when one vendor has a great amount of control over a large base. Again, if upstart "A" does not play nice with established system "B" the perception is that "A" is not ready, regardless if "B" is the problem. The last issue is pre-installation. Mom and pop aren't installing Linux any time soon. Therefor, I think that Linux, for all rational evaluation has been "ready for the desktop" since the late '90s. I have been using Linux exclusively as my desktop system since 1995/1996. The problem is the perception of Linux and more so the perceived value in adjusting your ways to a new system. The Macintosh is riding high now because Windows generally and Vista specifically are a disaster. The Mac is slick, clean, and has a great marking campaign. The image is carefully controlled and wonderfully portrayed by Justin Long. Linux has no such image or marketing. So, is it ready for the desktop? Yes. Are people ready for it? Not without some a likable face, a solid reason to switch, and an easy way to get there. I'm imagining an HP ad where someone like Robert Downey jr, as Tony Stark, says "You could use Windows... but I prefer solid engineering and reliability, that's why we use HP with Linux pre-installed at Stark Labs." -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
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