Do I want people to use #Linux? Yes.
But I'm also very aware of how much of a support network is needed if you are going to be using any particular software. Even companies with $$ to spend fail frequently by focusing on their software and not enough on their socialware.
#Windows problems: Like a friend who eats a terrible truck stop sandwich, the problem isn't my friend, it's the regulations that allow poisonous food to exist in the first place. For now: #sympathy.
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
Juank Prada Art
in reply to Martin Owens • • •it happens with every OS unless you pay for support?
Neither Windows nor Mac OS will guide your through troubleshooting anything except for whatever you may find on their support sites, which usually ends up being either a wiki or a forum with lots of answers that don’t match your case.
My experience: its usually easy to find the solution for a problem in Linux forums than in Mac OS or Windows ones
Also my experience: the solution in Linux tends to be more complicated
Juank Prada Art
Unknown parent • • •I meant to say, between windows’, Mac’s and Linux’s wikis I usually find the information clearer and more easily digestible in Linux’s wikis.
Regarding more people adopting Linux, I think ISVs need to start targeting the platform more.
As much as I love free software alternatives (and use them professionally as much as possible), there is a gap between the available software in Linux and what the current industry is demanding
Juank Prada Art
Unknown parent • • •I’m not sure if I would call it political but rather ethical, but I think I get what you mean.
And about ISV I think Steam and the gaming industry are doing it arguably ok. Not necessarily in the most ethical way but doing it nonetheless, right?
Juank Prada Art
Unknown parent • • •right , but hardly the core of their business and their platform is free software/open source. So they are building a whole private led software business on top of a free platform (Linux) without adhering to the Free Software ideals. They do contribute as you say. So in the rethoric of Free Software ecosystem, is private software acceptable as long as it contributes something to the free software ecosystem? 🤔
Why Valve is succeeding while Microsoft is not?
eshep
in reply to Martin Owens • •I think the single biggest problem with mass linux adoption is choice. Most people only want choice in the way of choosing one thing over another. When presented with a seemingly infinite platter of decisions, most are going to be too overwhelmed to want to make any choice at all. This is why many people are okay with all of their OS decisions being made by someone else; it allows them to communicate with others in a familiar setting. By having my UI look identical to that of everyone else I know, I'm presented with a level of comfort that linux is just not able to provide without (initially) limiting the freedoms we enjoy from it.
Linux as a mass-consumer OS is doable, but to do that, everyone needs to presented with a homgeneous experience. From there, people would then have the freedom to do as they wish. However, this presents us on the linux side with the biggest problem we could ever imagine... agreeing on what will be "the face of linux". In order to provide this initial homogenous experience, a single program (for every software choice any of us have ever made) would
... show moreI think the single biggest problem with mass linux adoption is choice. Most people only want choice in the way of choosing one thing over another. When presented with a seemingly infinite platter of decisions, most are going to be too overwhelmed to want to make any choice at all. This is why many people are okay with all of their OS decisions being made by someone else; it allows them to communicate with others in a familiar setting. By having my UI look identical to that of everyone else I know, I'm presented with a level of comfort that linux is just not able to provide without (initially) limiting the freedoms we enjoy from it.
Linux as a mass-consumer OS is doable, but to do that, everyone needs to presented with a homgeneous experience. From there, people would then have the freedom to do as they wish. However, this presents us on the linux side with the biggest problem we could ever imagine... agreeing on what will be "the face of linux". In order to provide this initial homogenous experience, a single program (for every software choice any of us have ever made) would have to be chosen as "the one" that will be presented as "linux" to the general consumer. Who makes the call on "what does linux look like"? Why should any particular program be chosen over another?
eshep
Unknown parent • •