Why Linux Will Never Be a Factor On the Desktop
Posted: 29 March 2012 | Author: V. T. Eric Layton | Filed under: Linux | Tags: Apple/Mac, ComputerWorld, GNU/Linux, Linux, Linux servers, MS Windows, operating systems, Tony Bradley |4 CommentsWhy Linux Will Never Be a Factor On the Desktop
Tony Bradley expounds on the current status of GNU/Linux popularity (or lack thereof) and the future of the operating system.
The comment I left on ComputerWorld’s page for this article:
I’m a loyal GNU/Linux user. I parted ways with MS Windows (for the most part) nearly six years ago. I keep installations of XP and 7 on some of my systems in order to stay relatively well-versed in the the usage of those operating systems in order to facilitate my constant need to fix the computers of family members and friends (the ones I haven’t converted to GNU/Linux yet).
That being said, I’m not one of those GNU/Linux fanbois who is sitting at my desk with my Jolt in one hand and a joint in the other dreaming about LInux’s imminent world domination. I would prefer that Linux stay under the radar. If it ever managed to have the commercial popularity of MS Windows, it would wake one morning to find that same large target painted on its back for all the hackers, malware writers, and generally mischievous malcontents.
No, I’m more than happy to operate my little GNU/Linux systems in relative obscurity. Besides, once something gains in popularity, someone always steps in to regulate, tax, manipulate, restrict, or mutilate it in some way. Leave my GNU/Linux alone.
Like I say on my blogs and the tech forums where I admin/moderate, “Whatever operating system works best for you IS the one that’s best for you.”
Later…
~Eric, the Nocturnal Slacker
Read the article, tell me what you think about it?
~Eric
Nocturnal Slacker v1.0 
DITTO!!!! I whole heartedly agree Eric!
Journalists, leave Linux alone! …. Sounds like a song!
IMO, this is just more FUD…. Nothing to see, move along 😉
That’s a myth, Linux is secure because of the way it’s made, not because nobody attacks it, just look at servers, most of those don’t run Windows, they either run some sort of UNIX or Linux.
You are absolutely correct, Carl. GNU/Linux is secure by design. However, were it to suddenly be used on 99% of the world’s computers as MS Windows is, it would become more of a target that it currently is. And while it is inherently more secure than MS Windows, it is not perfectly secure. The more popular it is, the more the riff-raff out there would be trying to break in. As it is now, that riff-raff gets more bang for its buck by attacking the most popular OS in the world… MS Windows.
Thanks for stopping by and reading/commenting. 🙂
~Eric