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Has anyone else noticed a general trend towards Linux in devices (such as the EEE and other similar ones) but most of them do not proclaim that they run Linux? Some (like the EEE) even try to cover up it being any "different" by applying a Windows(ish) theme! I can see this in a year become very bad to Linux adoption on the desktop because although people know and have used Linux (In the form of the OSes for the EEE, N800, gPC, Etc.) but think of them not as "true" OSes but merely as "The OS for the EEE" much as how many people don't care/know about their phone's OS, thus when they go to buy a desktop (hopefully with a choice of Windows or Linux) they will go with Windows simply because Linux doesn't sound as familiar to them. Now while we as (mostly) geeks know that the EEE and others run Linux (that's why we bought them....) others who are looking for a cheap computer may not even know it is Linux that is powering it! Perhaps some will look at it and wonder what version of Windows runs so fast!

I can also see within various distros the lack of *Linux but just plain "Ubuntu" or others. This, I believe will eventually lead to the over-customization of Linux into not a universal platform but many different seemingly to the non-tech person distros. For example on the gPC the OS isn't listed as Linux (the OS family) or Ubuntu (the main distro it is based off of) but rather gOS! This makes it confusing to the average person what exactly it is, and makes it seem more as yet another lesser-used proprietary will-only-work-on-one-device operating system.

So what do you all think? Have you noticed it too? Or do you think that I'm overthinking things?

[Dutch_Master]

Unless Linux gains a significant marketshare on the desktop I don't really care how the avarage user names our favourite OS, just get it there first! In the 'grand scheme of things' Linux is too much of a niche-player on the desktop to bother about the origin, name or LSB-compliance of the distro involved. Yes, Linux is a significant player in the server, embedded and low-cost market, but in all that's just a fraction of the monetary rivers generated by the desktop.

But you do have a point, it's just too early to bother atm

[nelz]

The Eee's tabbed interface is nothing like Windows, it doesn't even have a Start menu! The N800 is very un-Windows too.

That is what is important, IMO, that people can see that it is possible to use a computer without Windows. The name of the OS in use is secondary to the lesson that Windows is not necessary for computing.
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Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

[Rhakios]

Absolutely. After all, it's GNU/Linux anyway
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Bye, Rhakios

[mdgreaney]

The thing that always surprises me is that people aren't always that aware that they're running Windows (I know someone who uses an iPod Shuffle, and doesn't know what an 'MP3' is ) So I think there'll come a time when the OS doesn't matter, especially as 99% of peoples' PC use is effectively identical on Windows and GNU/Linux. The only problem might arise if buyers get a new LinuxPC without knowing the differences between the two PC OSs, and get annoyed when they can't run the software they want (specific games or software packages). Perhaps Linux PCs will occupy a similar space to the Mac at present: a reputation for security and stability (deserved or not) with a niche of die-hard fans, plus an ever increasing more-general popularity.

[lok1950]

How many people understand how TV works it's just an appliance computers are going that way as well it's magic there is no need to understand just click the pretty icon.We are very much a minority we what to understand what's under the hood.

Enjoy the Choice

[ollie]

Computers are just "appliances", they are not the "end job". Computers are supposed to make it easier for us to receive, send, store and process data - the output being important! They should be treated just the same as a wheelbarrow is for a brickie, a tool that makes work easier.

The fact that Microsoft has trained the general public that personal computers crash all the time, get infected with viruses frequently, need constant and frequent updates, only work with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, only "paid for" software is any good, etc makes it hard for the general public to understand that there are alternatives. The Linux/FOSS community needs to make sure that external devices do "just work" and that it is important that Linux is supported by manufacturers.

My Eee PC has gone from the default tabbed Xandros to Windows XP (just to prove it could )to Ubuntu 7.10 to Linux Mint 4.0 and back to the default Xandros. The two months of playing makes me appreciate the rapid default boot times, the new upgrades available through Asus and the extra repositories recommended at Eee.com Wiki make this a very functional system. I can connect to networks, servers, browse the net, edit documents and just about everything in my day to day jobs. It won't replace my desktop system for storage and speed, or running alternate OS under VirtualBox, or extended use.

[towy71]

People know that I play with old computers and give me their old ones, which I clean up and install linux on then give away via freecycle,
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still looking for that door into summer

[janlulfh]

I tried alot to get my m8,s to move to linux but the bottom line is they r not interested unless they can point and click and the games or apps work for them ,,There loss i tried

[wyliecoyoteuk]

In the world that really matters, Linux abounds.
I have lost count of the embedded devices that use it,
Thing is, this is a market where MS were trying to make an impact, but WINCE and XPe have slow growth here, because Linux is replacing RTOS systems.

The desktop for home users is a small market.
The desktop for business is showing signs of movement away from MS, the main stimulant is Vista
These days, I see more new Mac and Linux installs, Vista is a real problem for business.
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The sig between the asterisks is so cool that only REALLY COOL people can even see it!

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[janlulfh]

imo vista is a piece of crap nothing but a system hogger i have know knowledge about pc,s i know nothing .nothing about scripts php html ,i quite believe you can install linux on anything if you know what you are doing ,and the linux os will get its point across in the end ,You have to take your hat of to the people that give there time to the linux os doing things for free gets to you at times but you plod on ,i switched to linux cause some MSCE gave me a knoppix disk and told me to bash my brains out (the parts that where not fried)and i was hooked thought it was outstanding and still do,i have written more stuff down on paper and taken more info in the past year since i got a linux distro than i ever did at school (the place i did not spend as much time as i should have)

[Deadly_Ernest]

Linux has always been a better OS than Windows, it just had three failings:

1. No major 100 million dollar advertising campaigns to get it before the dumb people who do nothing but watch TV.

2. It was slow in going from a basic installer to a fully scripted GUI installer - this really hurt during the late 1990s.

3. It was free and many people feel that the only things you get free aren't worth as much as those you pay for.

The publicity surrounding the SCO - Linux - IBM case put it before the public and so have some other major media reports, so people are starting to wonder what it is. May more wonder and investigate.
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Deadly Ernest
(all typos are the fault of the
server gremlins, not the writer)

[jjmac]

Have to agree with #2.

And i find that people do distrust the 'free' aspect ... or rather, don't understand it. But that's understandable.

I really think though, that the attempt to 'windowise' Linux is a bad move. Then we will slowly lose the Unix like aspects that make Linux so good. Resulting in ...


jm
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The FVWM wm -=- www.fvwm.org -=-

Somebody stole my air guitar, It happened just the other day,
But it's ok, 'cause i've got a spare ...

[Deadly_Ernest]

[ollie]