Linux is awesome. It's a powerful, capable, flexible operating system with tremendous potential. But, it's never going to be a factor on the desktop, so don't even waste your time considering it.
Update: the author has responded to your comments here: The Linux Desktop Debate: Setting Things Straight
On the server side, Linux is kicking ass and taking names. An IDC report from 2010 claims that Linux made up more than 20 percent of the server market. I've seen some estimates claiming it could be significantly higher than that today. Recent reports claim that Amazon alone is using as many as half a million Linux servers in data centers around the world to power its cloud services--a strong indicator of just how established Linux is.
That's great, but on the desktop side of the fence Linux is a non-issue. Compared to Microsoft Windows, even Mac OS X has trivial desktop market share, but it's enough to put it on the radar, and Mac OS X has been growing strong in recent years. Linux, on the other hand, has never really been more than a rounding error. It is up slightly, but it generally makes up about one percent of the desktop OS market.
I spent a month experiencing Linux as a desktop OS. What I learned from the 30 Days With Ubuntu Linux experiment is that Linux is, in fact, capable of being a desktop OS. But, the whole 30 days felt like I was swimming upstream--constantly tinkering and finding workarounds to get everyday tasks done. Using Linux as a replacement for Windows takes more effort than it's worth, and in the end I was still left with a poor substitute lacking tools I rely on like Microsoft Office, or native syncing for my iPhone and iPad.
Granted, Linux is not entirely to blame. Microsoft or Apple could certainly step up and make products available and that would solve the problem to an extent. But, they haven't, and they won't because Linux is not a big enough player in the desktop market to warrant the attention.
To its credit, Linux has a phenomenal support system, and loyal, knowledgeable users willing to help guide you through the murky waters. Of course, it's often difficult to find them through the sea of self-righteous flamers who berate you for not knowing what you're doing.
Linux is an awesome server OS. If you're replacing or adding servers at your company I highly suggest you look closely at Linux as an option and consider the benefits of Linux servers. But, if you're in the market to refresh or replace your desktop OS, stick with Windows and Mac OS X. Linux will be more headache than it's worth.
I know there's an army of dedicated Linux hobbyists who will no doubt unleash a barrage of flames and tirades as a result of this article. They'll tell me all the ways Windows sucks, and all the reasons Apple is evil, and make exalted claims about how wonderful their lives are since they made the switch, and how they'll never go back.
Let me preemptively say, "That's great. I'm happy for you." It doesn't change the fact that you're part of a negligible market segment. It doesn't change the reality that Linux is not as intuitive or user friendly as it's rivals, or that it lacks the third party hardware and software support of its rivals, or that using it requires a learning curve and the dedication to dive into forums and learn to tinker. It's great for hobbyists and hackers, but not for an average user at a company.
So, move on. There's nothing to see here. The dream of Linux becoming relevant in the desktop market will never be realized. The desktop OS market is a two horse race between Windows and Mac OS X.
Besides, we live in a post-PC era where even Windows and Mac OS X are being supplanted by mobile platforms like iOS and Android. Android is a Linux variant so Linux fans can claim that as a consolation prize for the lack of success on the desktop.
Comments
Anubis said: I dont use Linux because its free I use Linux because its betterThats a load of rubbish Windows is much better than Linux because it has superior software and hardware support For instance I can run Adobe Photoshop SnagIt and Cyberlink PowerDirector on Windows On the hardware side Windows is compatible with my Canon printer Logitech webcam Linksys Wi-Fi adapter and iPhone None of these are supported under Linux but of course dont let these facts get in the way of your pro-Linux bias
Anubis said: Correct Linux is for pompous aholes with an irrational hatred for Windows
Stuartmarshall said: 30 days on ubuntu isnt experiencing linux Plus i wouldnt recommend ubuntu to anyone You should of tried something like LMDE Linux Mint Debian Edition as it is less bloated and simplistic to use Judging by your article you dont have much computing knowledge atoll As it may escaped your notice but google released their new linux based os witch is doing great and also andriod is the market leader for mobile operating systems One final point linux based have the largest user base desktop support there is so how is it dead You need to do some research before posting a narrow minded biased article when you have no linux experience
Matt Egan said: What does that make people who comment on such stupid stories
Nomail said: Those that can do those that cannot write stupid articles for PC advisor
nixard said: A lot of people are forgetting the massive amount of barely computer-literate type of desktop users out there in corporate land These people want Outlook and Word and giving them something else is going to cause hell Its hard enough trying to support a load of users griping about changing from Office 2007 to 2010 imagine trying to deal with them when switching from XP to Fedora and Office 2007 to Libre Thats a can of worms thats not worth opening So Linux will remain a niche desktop OS
Cantlos said: Macs are good but very expensive Windows seems designed to keep Microsoft supplied with funds while boosting the hardware market Every version of Windows seems to fix some problems with a previous version while adding many more problems of its own Also every version is more complicated and needs faster and greater hardwareA major problem with Windows is the blasted registry If you actually expect to use Windows then the registry fills gets corrupted and causes problems Added to this - unlike Unix and Linux - any program can meddle with it and add its own junk to itYes Linux has a learning curve and has little front line software - but it does have a tremendous amount of software for it and you can find most things you needSomething that neither Mac or Windows can do is to run on an old slow computer with obsolete hardware - and do it well Especially if you simply want to use your computer for basic things such as office programs and accounts then there are absolutely no problems and your basic cheap system will happily run files from MS office programs
Wilsr said: I can only agree with the article I have spent literally hours and hours attempting to install several flavours of Linux with little successThe last attempt is with Mint 12 both on a desktop and a netbook The desktop - no success at all The netbook from a bootable USB drive was successful the first time The second boot I tried Compatability mode which just produced acres of characters I tried again to boot normally and it once again produced garbage and then permission denied And so onWorks out of the box It may for some and Im very pleased for them But my experience shows otherwise and the helpful souls on various forums advise all sorts of command line entries which invariably get me deeper into unknown territoryBrowsing the forums shows me that I am very far from alone hundreds of folk who just want something to work out of the box find themselves heavily into geek dark matter as they try and sort their Linux out
Matt Egan said: You were so very close to posting something sensible
Matt Egan said: Thanks for the reasoned and interesting post For the record I love Linux and use Ubuntu all the timer I dont however think that Linux is the future of the desktop although Im not convinced its dead I dont think the article author believes so either The bottom line as far as I am concerned is that desktop is going to become a niche and I dont think Linux will ever be able to grab enough of that niche to make it sufficiently important Which doesnt mean the end for Linux far from it Even if you dont accept Android as a Linux OS and many do the very flexibility of Linux is its biggest strength Thanks also for your praise of what we publish I extend to you and indeed to anyone reading this the opportunity of writing an article entitled Why Linux on the desktop is very much alive We publish writers who have expertise and something interesting to say it doesnt mean we agree with everything they write Matt
Tallbox said: I have a small biz for last 10 years7 women staff only get to use ubuntu w open office firefox thunderbird amp default paint amp image app-maintenance free for about 3-4 years
Rocco said: What gets me is how people compare what is FREE to what you paid mega bucks for You can run Linux FREE on you desktop or you have to PAY for Windows Ive never met someone who complained about getting something FREE until this article You cant compare and if you wanted to the only thing thats missing on a linux desktop is MS Office And MS wont release a linux version coz they know that too many people will switch over to linux if they do coz that is ALL we needI have a desktop that came with windows but started using linux after i discovered how much better it was- video compression is about 20 faster in linux than windows- editing videos was much much faster than the paid for windows tools- VLC is sooo much better in linux- with linux I only had to install my video driverwindows drivers nightmare- linux boots in about 10 seconds compared to windows 3x longer boot time- applications start near instantly in linux windows is sooo slooowww- programs like pdf-shuffle just arent available on windows- and linuxs synaptic package manager is amazing installing all my apps with two or three clicks and auto updates are increadible with windows its like every app for himself and how many disks do i need to install my windows software I have dozensall i can say is next next next nextthat how windows rollsnext next are you sure you want to click next are you sure youre sure- who needs photoshop when you have the Gimp man gimp is amazing Yes photoshop is great but I can do everything on Gimp that I can on photoshop and i must say I prefer gimp moreits free free updates and it works on windows and linux- 15min to format and re-install linux 2hours to get windows to a usuable condition- linux can be backed up to a flash drive and you can put that flash drive in any computer and start it up as if you were right in front of your own computer- The terminal is AMAZINGI cringe when I have to use windows excuse for a terminal- and did I mention that ive been 2 years without an antivirus on linux my windows laptop gets viruses all the time - and system monitor is amazing windows task monitor is sooooo crap- and 3g dongles are plug and play with linux with windows you have to install all that vodafone crap- and dual monitor actually tripple monitor is terrible on windows on linux it is amazing there is no comparisonAnywayI think ive said enough Windows is a great piece of software but having gotten used to linux ubuntu kde and gnome3 with some mint added in there I must say that using a linux pc saves me about 50 of the timelinuxs windows managers just make life so much easier
Ynot_82 said: Ive always wondered where or more accurately when this figure of 1 comes fromLook at the stats of any general purpose site and its more like 4-5Case in pointhttpstatswikimediaorgarc
Samibok said: Linux is certainly not dieing on my desktops once in my dim distant and un enlightened past i was a windows user I knew no better But over the years as i begane to build my own PCs I gradually migrated them all over to linux I just keep one PC now that can duel boot Fedora amp windows 7 not for any reason other than i can All the rest are now exclusivly Linux in diffrent flavours but no matter the flavour they all generally outperform windows in most areas Would i ever go back to Windows A big fat not on your nelly I dont use Linux because its free I use Linux because its better
Reddish said: It seems that the big bully is scared because people is awakening and discovering that there are alternatives out there It sent out his shills to declare the death of Linux good sign that things are effectively changing and we may soon get out of the dark ages of computing
Matt Egan said: Robust commentary and sharing of opinions good Juvenile unfounded and defamatory accusations of corruption are not Keep it above the waist guys For the record Microsoft very rarely advertises with PC Advisor Certainly it advertises far less often than printer- and storage vendors whose products utilise Linux OSes But it matters not we would never influence what a contributor wanted to say on behalf of an advertiser Leaving aside the moral and in the UK at least legal implications it would be bad business for us We are the UKs best-read technology magazine and we would like to stay so If a sponsor is in any way involved in the production of content we mark the contentclearly as such Please bear in mind that this is an opinion piece an editor is making a reasoned argument some or all of which you may agree with as indeed may I For what its worth and I like and use Ubuntu regularly I think the rise in mobile computing means Linux is going to remain squeezed in its hobbyist niche as a desktop OS The opportunity is on the server side and in media-playing and -sharing via the cloud
Felis Silvestris said: I think you hit the nail very straight on the headOh - and re business software In large companies like financial institutions there may be a network of hundreds of batch jobs to schedule on various conditions There exists en excellent FOSS system to do this with the commandcontrol center running on Linux and controlling a large number of various kinds of servers I mention it because my last place of employment could have used it if they had known about it Sadly FOSS does not have a budget for advertising
inicholson said: I tried Linux Ubuntu on my desktop PC a few years ago Im not a computer geek I cant program However my PC had a virus which I couldnt get rid of so in desperation I reformatted the hard-drive and installed UbuntuPersonally I loved it To check emails and surf the web it was fine When I wanted to to anything more or experienced a problem the online network of Ubuntu users were friendlier and more helpful than any customer service Ive ever experienced from Microsoft or any PCsmartphone manufacturer Ive ever dealt withHowever I was forced to give up because Open Office now Libre Office seemed to have lots of compatibility issues with MSOffice - so every time I made a document for work or the kids did some homework and then transferred the file to a Windows PC the formatting was terrible Great fun when you have a Powerpoint presentation to give In addition online games just never seemed to work much to my kids frustrationI reinstalled Windows and for a short period had both OSs on the PC and I tried a similar arrangement on the new laptop I bought but nobody ever used Ubuntu It looked good was faster to start than Windows and did most of what we needed but the frustration of having to restart the PC at regular intervals so you could change OS made it pointless We all stopped using itAs long as PCs come with Windows installed or Microsoft make a student edition available for under 40 then I dont see me going back to LinuxI hope Linux continues to thrive and at some point in the future I might reinstall it making the PC do what I wanted was starting to develop into an interesting hobby - Id be fascinated to see if I could get it to work with my Squeezebox and ReadyNAS but only ever as a dual boot install or on a spareold PC
Arealist said: What an absolute load of Tosh Fedora and LibreOffice areall hobbyist softwareFor goodness sake we run a business with very clever powerusers for MS Office and NONE of the above are anywhere near good enough tocompetethats exactly why they are free to allI use Linux servers they are very good andextremely well priced but for goodness sake the mans talking about thebusiness desk top for the billions in business Not the hobbyist geek whotweaks and twists an OS is in its infantilism to work for them good luck toyou all who use it but dont knock the article because regardless of yourchoice of Linux the article has an awful lot of truth in it and the fact isthat Linux will never make the grade as a business desktop whilst it is a freeissue it requires direction and investment and sadly thats not going tohappen until its acquired by a development company that will design the systemfor a business purpose
cyteck said: The main reason Linux WILL definitely be a growing success on the desktop in the future is precisely because we are entering a so called post PC era And because windows 8 is NOT made for the traditional desktop and Linux will gain ground because of this Because there are many people who dont want or need windows 8 but still want a credible desktop OS I also think your wrong Ubuntu Linux is extremely user friendly and becoming more so over time too