Re: Can Linux beat XP in homes yet or NOT?

[Gordon Keehn <gordonkeehn@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mustafa Qasim wrote:
> Salam!
>            I want to ask all you folks there that we can see the 
> current advancements in Fedora and Ubunto distros. They've came onto 
> screen as an OS not only for server's operated by GEEKS but also a 
> much secure and user friendly OS for home users but still a large 
> amount of our home user's are still stick with XP(especially here in 
> Pakistan) . Do we need to create awareness at root grass level? Is it 
> due to the Installation,configuring softwares and migrating data or 
> other smiler issues that are the giant hurdle for home users? A XP 
> user is still satisfied with Spyware,Trojan,dialer,virus an many other 
> attacks but he didn't dare or didn't have enough guidance to get rid 
> of it by using Linux.
>
> I've tried to talk with my some friends about these issues but at the 
> end i came to know that they didn't need to listen the philosophy of 
> FOSS they just want me to practically prove that Linux is much easier 
> and secure then Windows. For them installing software from source or 
> concept of mounting a block device is much difficult because they 
> didn't have to do this in M$ XP :p.
>
> "What" and more importantly "How" we individuals can serve to make our 
> people at root grass level aware about the weakness and black holes of 
> their existing platform and the advantages of Linux over M$ XP?
   It comes down to utility.  I'm sort of a semi-geek;  I've been 
running Linux on my n-1 box since RH 6.  I will never be free of 
Windows, though, because I have two critical apps which I cannot run 
under wine, and for which suitable replacements (according to MY 
requirements) do not exist.  As long as that situation exists Windows 
will be the dominant desktop OS.  Will either of those apps be ported to 
Linux?  Probably not.  One is semi-orphaned, and the other is from a 
vendor who sees no advantage in committing resources to what they view 
as a marginal platform.  Add to that the fact that separate versions 
must be packaged for every supported distro and release, and the chances 
of a vendor who is, after all, in the business of making money, making a 
major commitment to Linux  approaches zero.
    I don't see this changing as long as each Linux vendor has its own 
architecture and packaging model.  It's great for providing geeks with a 
topic of conversation at Users Group meetings, but not so good for 
convincing the non-geeks among us that Linux is good for them, too.
   Cheers,
Gordon Keehn