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170 Comments
- josepablos, on 11/14/2008, -8/+66this is insane.. c'mon
1. how many webserver run under linux?
2. how many enterprise servers run under linux?
3. how many major database run under linux?
'amateur' competition MY ASS - dananimal, on 11/14/2008, -0/+20Most of the development of GNU/Linux is now undertaken by corporate users such as novell and IBM.
It's not an amateur project/OS/competition.
As mentioned above, fricken LAMP web servers dominate the Interwebs.
Tivo - now there's an amateur product.
Motorola - amateurs obviously.
The US Navy now there are some amateurs!
The Large Hadron Collider, now that's all been built entirely by weekend amateurs.
For peats sake according to top500.org - 427 of the 500 fastest supercomputers on the planet are run Linux.
Linux is not Ubuntu or the Linux Desktop, it's a whole lot bigger and it isn't amateur in the least. - DrLeePhD, on 11/14/2008, -1/+18rule #1.
Don't tell someone to install linux if you dont think they would be able to reinstall windows themself. - inactive, on 11/14/2008, -10/+25BSD = l33tfag
Linux = geekfag
Windows = gamefag
AmigaOS = awesomefag
Solaris = javafag
Mac = gayfag - jvincent08, on 11/14/2008, -0/+13Phew.. I thought I was the only one. What's going on?! :(
- hieveryone, on 11/14/2008, -3/+16"- how many people actually use Linux ? "
You just posted on digg. Digg runs on a linux server, therefore, you use linux. Servers, netbooks, desktops, notebooks, the numbers are increasing.
"- how much better support Linux offers for new hardware ? "
Ah yes, the common complaint. No OS offers support for new hardware. The hardware manufacturers have to provide drivers for the hardware, otherwise it won't work. Try installing cutting edge hardware on Windows or OS X without any drivers.
"- what's so good about it ?"
Oh, where to begin...free distributions, good community support, stable, customizable, can do everything the other operating systems do, etc. - marshallpeck, on 11/14/2008, -1/+13Wouldn't that be reason #1 to install linux?
- DanBoodro, on 11/14/2008, -12/+23��������}�rɑ��QļC �Jqo�H-ER#yua��e���n�-�pw�����wO�>�>�>�����$��e���Ueeeef�^�f��y �tToQ��6Hq��3�/}�o��1��[:j@�%oCb����X���Иm5��i�r�n����������Ld�@z��86g&$�VEV�t?�8Z��S���������!�*]j�Y����FO�@�$z� �6C��ek�� �;�'���c�6G%�:л�K����b�k���չ>ǝ ��V� ���Ut�vN��l=a�X�$ �{���UTXUD�+�o3���d,5w������n��&���#�RX�T�V"/��G$�.��";��V�cΌ��������>�m}���H� h���/��]��
again...wtf? - inactive, on 11/14/2008, -10/+21WAT YOU STILL USING IE LOL UR SUCH A NOOB AND VISTA LOL WORST OS EVER ANYONE WHO DOESN'T USE LINUX IS A MORON
- doubad, on 11/14/2008, -2/+12I'd rather keep Linux to myself. I just laugh as windows users waste time and money on virus and malware scanners.
- hieveryone, on 11/14/2008, -0/+8Actually, the security of Linux, BSD, Mac, etc. is derived from OS design, not from obscurity. Sure, obscurity helps, but Windows just doesn't have the same security by design.
- DrZmobie, on 11/14/2008, -2/+9haha your gay
- therumster, on 11/14/2008, -5/+12This applies to Mac fanboys as well.
- shotgunefx, on 11/14/2008, -0/+7Marketshare of which Market? Desktop users? Servers? Data warehousing? Embedded?
And no, it's definitely not an amateur. Maybe an upstart on the upstart or underdog on the consumer desktop. And it's really not a competition, MS has specific financial goals, OSS doesn't. - DrLeePhD, on 11/14/2008, -1/+8It doesn't say we can't bash people who aren't using firefox! :)
- GarrettGrimsley, on 11/14/2008, -1/+8For those of you it rendered wrong for:
What does using Linux mean to you? Do you simply use it because it works best for you? While at its heart Linux itself, is nothing more than a software kernel, to many people it is much more. It is a mission, a mission to show the big industry players just what the common user can do without their help. On Ubuntu’s Launchpad Bugs page, bug #1 to them has long been that “Microsoft has majority market share”.
And who wouldn’t love to see the likes of Microsoft toppled by seemingly ‘amateur’ competition? Just like a street team for a band, or this very blog, or any other kind of promoter, as Linux fans we’re often keen to do our very best to get Linux out to the masses. But as with most things, there are good ways and bad ways to go about it.
One of the more pronounced problems I’ve noticed among the Linux community is that of over-enthusiasm, and in some cases, zealousness. I’m sure we’ve all had to deal with this kind of thing before – when a person mentions something that’s new to you, it’ll pique your interest, but if they’re shoving it down your throat at every available opportunity, it’s more likely to kill it instead.
Preaching Doesn’t Really Work
Let me ask, how often do you welcome an impromptu call from telemarketers, or a visit from door-to-door salesmen? While I’m sure everyone has their own ways of dealing with them, a prevailing response seems to be to hang up or close the door respectively, with an optional dose of enthusiastic profanity layered generously on top.
One of my more profound experiences of this kind of thing was my casual interest in astrology; for most of my life I’ve been very much skeptical of the whole thing, and the community-at-large’s penchant for promoting it in a very cheesy, pseudo-science, pseudo-magical light, was doing more to repulse me than attract me. For a long time, I’ve considered it nothing more than a silly hobby for lonely single women, and it wasn’t until one day I’d decided to look into it a bit more that I realized there may actually be some merit to it.
Long story short, the lesson seems to be that waving something in someone’s face is more likely to come off as rude and nagging, instead of capturing their interest as you hope to do. While trying to spread the perks of Linuxis a totally legitimate and an encouraged pursuit, one can’t expect to have too much luck with it by decking passers-by in the street with LiveCDs and harassing colleagues with stories of how perfect Linux is and pouncing to point out Vista’s flaws every time they encounter UAC asking for their permission to do something.
How You Can Really Help
The best way to promote, is to go about it in a manner that will raise awareness without getting in the way. Remember, no distro of Linux is without its flaws, no operating system ever will be. Linux is not perfect by any means, but it may be just what some people want but aren’t yet aware of.
If you work in an office, try coming in one day with a LiveCD or LiveUSB of your favorite distribution and see if you can get the day’s work done with it. If someone asks what that is you’re using, tell them, in an objective manner.
Wrong- “What do you mean? Can’t you see, it’s Ubuntu! It’s a Linuxdistro! They should put this on all the computers in this office, why they keep XP in here is beyond me, that hackneyed pile of fail! Look! This doesn’t get viruses and it’s free!”
Right- “It’s called Ubuntu, it’s what I use at home. I can burn you a CD if you want to try it, it’s free to redistribute.”
If they’re interested enough to ask you more about it, go ahead and tell them. But keep in mind that your goal is not to convert them, but to simply inform.
Let Linux Speak For Itself
The best way of promotion, is to not talk Linux up into seemingly more than it is, but simply let it do the talking. If you’re a graphic or web designer, why not add some kind of ‘Made with Linux’ watermark? Macintosh encourages this kind of thing themselves with their ‘Made On A Mac‘ initiative, there’s certainly no reason we couldn’t do that. Linux-oriented badges and stickers can be great to display on your laptop in the place of the ‘Built for Windows’ ones we see on computer store shelves.
There’s also the classic methods of promotion; If you’re serious about it, print yourself a Linuxshirt, promote it in your forum signature or avatar, print out flyers and put them up in your neighborhood. Be active! It’s all about raising awareness, not necessarily trying to convert people. That part, they must do themselves.
When Linux has the chance to show off what it’s capable of, that’s when heads start turning.
PS: Almost a year ago, Rami shared with us his experience on this subject in a tongue-in-cheek article titled Howto Convert A Friend To Linux. - heartsblood, on 11/14/2008, -2/+9Amateur compared to what? Linux has it's niche and it fills it with very little competition. Is it easy to use? No, but neither is being a surgeon.
- LordBacon, on 11/14/2008, -1/+8Can you fuc*ing speak English dumbass ...... /s
- jvincent08, on 11/14/2008, -2/+8Commercial software deployment is dependent on the commercial software companies, not the operating system. Its not Linux's fault if a company only wants to offer their product to Mac or Windows.
- coldkill3r, on 11/14/2008, -0/+6newfag = ?
- LordBacon, on 11/14/2008, -1/+7@jvincent08 : /s = sarcasm.
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -3/+9Linux...amateur? Right.
- Stonekeeper, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5Apache Vs IIS - There, I totally destroyed your lame argument.
- int19h, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5I thought you could get better FPS in WoW with Wine? But, what do I know. I avoid WoW like the plague in fear of wasting two years of my life on nothing.
- Skooma714, on 11/14/2008, -2/+7I like to spread linux with a knife.
- kinseyincanada, on 11/14/2008, -1/+6i would completely disagree that it lacks innovation, what it lacks is that its not that user friendly, you have to know a little bit about your computer if you want to use it properly.
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5/b/
- jvincent08, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5@LordBacon
Ooops.... Sorry :(
I dug you back up! :D - VileTimes, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5So are you whining about Linux or the terrible job the developers did with Ubuntu? You do know that there's a difference, yes?
- gcnaddict, on 11/14/2008, -1/+5Let me add two more examples of totally un-userfriendly bits in *nix which need to be scrapped (came up in a discussion with a much more *nix-proficient friend of mine when he saw my comment):
Configuring a wireless connection (assuming you've got working, legit drivers) is unintuitive.
CUPS? Ditch that, please.
As for me being dugg down, that's fine. I jumped into a pit of wolves, and I didn't expect anything better from this crowd. You guys prefer shouting HERESY rather than listening. - Joh739, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4I play WoW on Ubuntu with better FPS than I did with Windows XP, the main reason is because Linux is a lot less resource humming. And my FPS go like crazy when I ditch Gnome and play with "start x "wine wow.exe"".
- nourkah, on 11/14/2008, -2/+6Linux just isn't ready for the masses yet. The bulk of PC users aren't super 31337 digg users, who know, or at least think they know, everything. I just gave my grandma a new computer that I was going to put Ubuntu on, but went with XP instead. Linux would have been perfect for what she needed, but the dial-up service in her area doesn't work with Linux; or at least I didn't feel it was worth my effort to get it to work. I'm all about Linux, and use it on my own laptop; it's just not where it needs to be yet for everyone to use it.
- gcnaddict, on 11/14/2008, -3/+7"2. how many enterprise servers run under Windows? NONE"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Directory
You should read that. Just about every corporate network with >50 users is using it, and since using it requires a Windows Server license for the # computers or # processors on the servers handling the directory... yeah. Where have you been, dude? - jvincent08, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4Thanks :)
- boobsbr, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4security by obscurity is a myth.
- jsffive, on 11/14/2008, -4/+8I think it's important to just spread the simple truths about Linux:
It's free, so you have to spend a lot of time customizing it to get your desktop and other settings just right. But it IS far more customizable than Windows machines, or Macs.
The mistake that people often make about Linux is that, where you save MONEY using Linux, you LOSE time trying to figure it out. And with a command line list topping over three thousand commands, there's practically no end to the time that a person can waste, just PLAYING with the damn thing...
I swear to you, the first time I learned how to use the "man" command, I went off on a two week tangent. Come to think of it, I may very well still be on that tangent three years later, since I can't remember exactly WHAT drew me to the "man" command in the first place...
I don't kid anyone when they ask me about it. Linux is advanced computing. A C++ compiler, to Windows' Basic Interpreter, if you will.
Most of the more polished distros are pretty much out-of-the-box ready for MOST computers. However NONE of them beats Windows in that category, as one would expect with licensed software. If I have a problem installing Windows, it's usually fixed by pulling a RAM chip.
I learned my Linux chops on an old HP Pavilion, with an i810 chipset... That's no walk in the park my friends. - Stonekeeper, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4You are describing my linux experience from 10 years ago. Catch up.
- clockdist, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3@ryanspeck: I appreciate the explanation, but we also know that monopolies are illegal--so I am obviously using the term monopoly in the new-age sense; i.e. any business with enough of a command in a marketspace where they can strong-arm their influence in key areas enough to make competition is almost impossible.
- SniperZero, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3Cruise control :)
- clockdist, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3elite
- Biznarie, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3hieveryone is right, also i would like to add there are many people fixing bugs on linux, most security bugs are fixed very quickly.
- javaroast, on 11/14/2008, -1/+4SSH into your box... oh wait you can't you are running Vista. I'll wait while you find some ssh server software. Ok well now we'll set up a small scale web server that will have about 20 sustained connections.,.. oooh that's right you are on Vista and are limited to 10 inbound connections. I'll wait while you purchase and install Windows Server to get around that.
Sarcasm aside... different strokes for different folks. You are a gamer, I like toying with servers. For my needs linux fits the bill for yours Vista fits the bill. Simple as that. Now quit being an ass. - jvincent08, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3I'm not asking anybody to do anything. I understand Linux isn't for everyone, but there are a lot of times when someone just refuses, out of pure laziness, to learn something new even when they aren't comfortable with what they have (this goes for a lot of things in life, not just operating systems). Take my girlfriend, for example. Everyday she complains to me about how the anti-virus and firewall I put on her laptop is slowing everything down and Windows keeps locking up on her, etc. But she's too damn stubborn to try Linux (or Mac, for that matter), even though she'd be able to handle it after the initial learning curve. There's a difference between people like her and people like my grandma who doesn't know what Windows is to begin with.
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -2/+4internet memes? = stupiderfag
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -1/+3Just use whatever the ***** you want.
- z0manifest, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2Think I will start burning Ubuntu CDs and giving them away for free, only if one asks about it. Also I have suggested a free operating system when someone cannot afford one, and I always suggest Ubuntu first. When I burned 8.10 bootable, I did give away my Ubuntu 8.04 CD to help me aid them resolve their virus issues. Basically showed them how I was able to boot into Linux grab some anti-virus software, copy it to NTFS system and reboot back into XP. Oh I fixed their machine from 2 trojans and a virus.
- Heywoodj, on 11/14/2008, -3/+5Don't just hand them a cd and walk away that never works.
Walk them through the set up in person if you want it to stick. Don't forget to add Compwiz goodies and Amorok.
I've had some success and allot of free beer plus the odd free meal for my time.
Just my feeble attempt to give back to the community.
Want better hardware support? Show them numbers.
I've had the best luck with Mint and PC Linux. - asgardshill, on 11/14/2008, -1/+3Die spamming scum!
- bitbytebit, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2umm there are hundreds of dial up clients out there .. you do know you don't HAVE to use the netzero client right?
- jamesmcm, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2Our Lord who art in Boston, Stallman be thy name.
Thy year of the Linux desktop come, thy scripts be done on Earth as they are in /etc/X11.
... you get the idea - someone finish this please :P -
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