Linux is coming: Is Apple going to be left behind?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Noticed that Business Week is reporting that desktop Linux installations will be overtaking Apple's Marketshare. Darn.



I really could use some good 20th Anniversary news right now... an aggressive plan to increase market-share would be nice. Being number 3 is not cool at all.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    You can't beat free.
  • Reply 2 of 74
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    It can only be good for Apple.
  • Reply 3 of 74
    Quote:

    Linux, an open-source software package, has been steadily getting better and easier to use. It can be bought for moderate prices -- or downloaded from the Net for free. Sun Microsystems Inc.



    Sure I'd love for this to be true but just because Linux has improving low-cost Office Suite software means nothing. The .doc format is still going to hold sway because of the investment in Microsoft Technology.



    Quote:

    its StarOffice applications, a browser, and e-mail. The package sells for less than $100, while comparable Microsoft software for corporations costs more than $600.



    $600? come'on. If you're going to write an article at least make it somewhat factual. NOBODY pays $600 for Office on the PC. Pehaps the Mac(lol) but not PC. My school sold me Office XP for 6 bucks.



    Truth be told if Linux take a whack out of Microsoft that benefits Apple and anyone else vying for the top spot. Apples licensing is fairly cheap and offsets the premium in hardware. The only problem is getting your software into companies. Linux has been the darling of the IT industry but I'm hearing far too much talk. There's a large difference between "talking the talk...and walking the walk". Let's see Linux on the Desktop do a little "walking" first.
  • Reply 4 of 74
    It's kind of sad how many many many PC users, when they get ultimately fed up with windows, their first thought is "well, I guess I'm going to move to linux now"



    they never think "hey, maybe I should give apple a try"
  • Reply 5 of 74
    Linux came and went. We tried the whole linux as a desktop OS a while ago. This is just history repeating itself a whole lot quicker.
  • Reply 6 of 74
    Why not give Apple a try. Linux is way too hard for even the above average consumer user to use. Apple is the perfect solution. It's not free, but at least it doesn't suck like Linux.
  • Reply 7 of 74
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    Why not give Apple a try. Linux is way too hard for even the above average consumer user to use. Apple is the perfect solution. It's not free, but at least it doesn't suck like Linux.



    gnu/linux doesn't suq. infact, its awesome. but i suspect the real reason most fed up windowsers go to gnu/linux is because it means they dont have to drop more cash on a new computer. when you consider the possibility that many windowsers went that way to escape apple pricing in the first place, its clear that they would continue with the least upfront cost.
  • Reply 8 of 74
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Because linux can be installed on existing hardware, i.e. cost = $0, that is why people do not consider the Mac (and lack of experience with the Mac to invest $$).



    Personally I see linux's growth a good thing for Apple, for one reason, most of the linux users switched from windows (rarely from mac). Also, it seems that many linux users also get Macs due to the UI, and do not want to move back to windows. Finally, because of linux's growth, things like Office and other key programs become deWindowsfied and make it to linux, which in turn is trivial for a Mac version.



    But hmm, I tried linux on my (free) laptop (debian), and promptly installed XP soon after... (is it that friggin hard to change the screen brightness and monitor resolution in linux? geez... these things are mandatory on a laptop that gets 45min battery life, and for presentations).
  • Reply 9 of 74
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    Does the mess that is Linuxs' copy and paste behaviour(s) (application specific and the auotcopy selection in XWindows) annoy anyone else ?
  • Reply 10 of 74
    Good. Now it will be easier for those companies then to migrate to Mac OS X.
  • Reply 11 of 74
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    imho, linux in its current form, will not work on the desk-top

    non-geek people want/need a system that is universal, my winxp looks just like win xp / 2kpro at school, people want to be able to sit down at any terminla anywhere and have the same UI and software, and ease of use, sniker sniker nobody outside of geekdom wants to compile binary just to run office apps, untill a mac-like distro comes out, we will not see a mass linux rush outside of high security firms like wall street and defence contractors (who i hope cant touch windows under their military contract)
  • Reply 12 of 74
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    the bigger linux gets the better. that means more companies will be looking to design hardware, web pages, games etc. that use some kind of standard. OpenGL would be great if more people used it, but once DirectX got it's foot in the door, everyone else was screwed.



    the less marketshare MS has the better. the more marketshare a fanatically opensource OS gets the better.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    You also have to realize that apple could take advantage of this and move some of its programs towards being linux compatible which i would imagine would be a whole helluva lot easier than porting the same programs to windows.
  • Reply 14 of 74
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Stoo

    Does the mess that is Linuxs' copy and paste behaviour(s) (application specific and the auotcopy selection in XWindows) annoy anyone else ?



    Not at all... why? Because there is no copy and paste problems between applications... Copy and past is included into most window managers and X itself... This way you can copy across applications and xterms without a problem...



    Oh my setup, to copy a word I just highlight is with my mouse, draging the pointer from one side of the word to the other... That's all... Then to paste I just click my middle button where I want it... note that if you have a scroll wheel then pressing it down is your middle button. It's that easy! No right clicking then selecting copy/paste from a menu... I don't even look at my edit menu... it is just a two click opperation and I can highlight any text on any application even if it does not support copy/paste and I can paste it to any application including xterms...
  • Reply 15 of 74
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    imho, linux in its current form, will not work on the desk-top

    non-geek people want/need a system that is universal, my winxp looks just like win xp / 2kpro at school, people want to be able to sit down at any terminla anywhere and have the same UI and software, and ease of use, sniker sniker nobody outside of geekdom wants to compile binary just to run office apps, untill a mac-like distro comes out, we will not see a mass linux rush outside of high security firms like wall street and defence contractors (who i hope cant touch windows under their military contract)






    What the hell are you talking about??? Many linux distros do not require you to compile a thing... they come with pre compiled packages that install with as little as one click...



    And what do you mean "mac-like"??? Linux is very mac like... if the distro wants to be like that... The desktop environment Gnome is very "mac-like" that and add a bunch of GUI config tools like the ones red hat has then you have an easy to use desktop that is "mac-like"... But why copy? Linux can be anything you want to make it (os wise) so why make it like a mac? Users can feel confortable in a new environment as long as it is well plotted out...
  • Reply 16 of 74
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    Why not give Apple a try. Linux is way too hard for even the above average consumer user to use. Apple is the perfect solution. It's not free, but at least it doesn't suck like Linux.



    Question:

    If things suck because it is too hard for the above average consumer then why is it overtaking Mac OSX?



    Oh Yah... because it does not suck... and alot of people like it...

    I myself love it... and I am not alone. The Linux community is huge and very friendly... And while the "above average consumer" (maybe you were refering to yourself) finds it way too hard, the above average consumer can pick up linux very fast, and be happy with the results from a small amount of work learning. God... what happend to the good feeling of computing DYI style?
  • Reply 17 of 74
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:

    Not at all... why? Because there is no copy and paste problems between applications... Copy and past is included into most window managers and X itself... This way you can copy across applications and xterms without a problem...

    • Nothing except text copy + pastes

    • Autocopying the selected text is the real annoyance, especially if you want to paste over some text, (as is the way the copy buffer vanishes when text is deselected but I'm sure this can be fixed).

    • Applications don't treat the Mac/Win clipboard equivalent in a standard way (but it tends to be equivalent for packages from the same source)

    • The Gnome Window manager on Linux is the platform I have to use for development.

  • Reply 18 of 74
    This could be good and bad for Apple. First the good: the desktop share is growing because of business and office, not because of home users. This means that there will be many people using linux at work and windows at home, which might allow them to start to think of computing as computing and not just "using Windows", opening them up to possible alternatives in the future. Also it gets them used to a unix environment which will translate well to the Macintosh ("Oh, it's unix. Yeah, I know how to use that").



    The downside is that linux is an extraordinarily wretched user experience, compared both to the Mac and (to a lesser extent) Windows. If people begin to equate unix with linux, they may never consider the Mac, assuming that anything based on unix will have the same issues.
  • Reply 19 of 74
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    I don't think I've evern seen a single piece of software in a store for Linux. Might have seen a Linux distro once or twice in a Staples or something.



    DMB is right Linux sucks for a desktop. And it always will. It's not a hard concept: no company = no support phone number to call, no number to call to buy software. Duh? Still more Linux anywhere is a good thing because it's an easy port to Mac and it's Not MS.
  • Reply 20 of 74
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Stoo

    Nothing except text copy + pastes
    Autocopying the selected text is the real annoyance, especially if you want to paste over some text, (as is the way the copy buffer vanishes when text is deselected but I'm sure this can be fixed).
    Applications don't treat the Mac/Win clipboard equivalent in a standard way (but it tends to be equivalent for packages from the same source)
    The Gnome Window manager on Linux is the platform I have to use for development.




    Well there is a program from KDE that acts as a clipboard and if you use KDE programs all you can copy and paste between them (programs like KOffice, Kwrite, K-anything) But Gnome is a little bland for this...



    Also the copy buffer does not vanish when I deselect the text... It only gets replaced by the next highlight...



    I guess that could be annoying if you want to paste over text... but I have no problem with just taking out the text to be replaced then doing the copy. I am not annoyed by it... but maybe you should write Gnome about it... the more people who suggest a change the quicker it will happen.



    Which distro do you use with Gnome? I find that people like Gnome better if the distro writes GTK based GUI config tools for setting up everything and anything. I myself use Slackware Linux and dislike using Gnome because it sets a big contrast between using Linux on the desktop and configuring Linux within text files... So I use Windowmaker and KDE. Windowmaker because it is simple but it lacks a good WINGs based file manager so I use KDE to do some things...
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