by Drew Brumbaugh
I began dabbling with Linux ten years ago and then made the switch to full-time Ubuntu Linux almost four years ago now. During those ten years there always seemed to be the perennial question: “Will this be the year of Desktop Linux?” This of course refers to Linux making significant inroads into the Microsoft Windows dominated desktop/laptop market. I have my doubts as to whether that will ever really happen.
First of all, let me say that I have become an avid fan of Linux. I’ve always been philosophically attracted to Free Open Source Software (FOSS). The altruistic nature of community development and freedom to fork projects is a beautiful thing. In day to day practical use I love: the lack of mal-ware/virus issues, being able to freely download any extra software I want and an update manager that services the OS and your installed software. The list could go on and on, but that isn’t the point of this article.
The conundrum of desktop Linux lies in the fact that the people that would benefit the most from Linux are those that are least likely to know about it, while the people that are most aware and technically adept are the ones required to maintain a presence in MS Windows.
Let’s begin with the average user. These are the people whose computing needs consist mainly of email, web-browsing and various MS Office like applications. Linux offers all of this as well as stuff like Google Earth, Picasa and Skype. These people could easily accomplish everything they need, do it on mediocre/older hardware and not be troubled with spy-ware and viruses. Long gone are the days where Linux required a serious investment of time and a whole bunch of command line skills.
Then we have the power users. These are the people that require a few niche applications for which no suitable open source alternatives yet exist. Non-linear video editing that rivals the capabilities and usability of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere is one such niche in which Linux has been sadly lagging. Additionally, these “power users” may also be tied to Windows through the software choices of their employers.
However, in the meantime, Linux is gradually surrounding us in other areas. The Apache web-server has powered much of the Internet for quite some time, but recently we’ve seen the introduction of things like the Roku digital video player, the Ooma free home phone service, Google Android and Nokia cell phones. By off-loading some of the more processor intensive computing needs to embedded systems like Roku and Ooma, a good smart phone is fully capable of handling the remaining needs that the average user demands from a normal desktop/laptop computer system.
It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that “docking” a smart phone to an external “terminal” (full-size keyboard and monitor with added video card and Ethernet support) could very soon be the norm. The smart phone will be your working computer that you can take with you wherever you go. You’ll just interface with it differently depending upon your circumstances. If you can envision popping your smart phone into some sort of cradle in your car which docks it to an in dash touch screen and the sound system, then you’ll get an idea of where we could be headed.
So in the end, the year of desktop Linux may never arrive as it was once envisioned. In the brave new world to come, Linux still stands a good shot of becoming the dominant operating system. It just may be that most people won’t know it.