I am not a computer pro, just a common user who began with CPMs and DOS prompts many years ago. I now work almost exclusively in Linux thanks to a resident 15-year-old Linux expert who counts as one of his greatest achievements the weaning of his family from Windows. Linux is the topic of a special report in Business Week this week.
First, the Linux business model increasingly threatens Microsoft.
Put it all together, and Linux has become the strongest rival that Microsoft has ever faced. In servers, researcher IDC predicts Linux' market share based on unit sales will rise from 24% today to 33% in 2007, compared with 59% for Windows -- essentially keeping Microsoft at its current market share for the next three years and squeezing its profit margins. That's because, for the first time, Linux is taking a bite out of Windows, not just the other alternatives, and is forcing Microsoft to offer discounts to avoid losing sales. In a survey of business users by Forrester Research Inc. (FORR ), 52% said they are now replacing Windows servers with Linux. On the desktop side, IDC sees Linux' share more than doubling, from 3% today to 6% in 2007, while Windows loses a bit of ground. IDC expects the total market for Linux devices and software to jump from $11 billion last year to $35.7 billion by 2008.
A related article speculates that companies with few software requirements will adopt Linux before home users. Every day Linux resolves more and more Windows compatibility issues. In my view, the main drawback to Linux is that the Linux packages available online that we tried simply were insufficient, and failed to perform all the tasks I required. I have a great system because my resident computer geek manually installed and compiled each component. My son is working to create a Linux package with the (macros, batch files, I don't know what I'm talking about) that can be installed and compiled by anybody.
How many Kossacks use Linux, or have tried Linux? What are your experiences? What needs to be improved. I'll start. OpenOffice.Org (the word processor) lacks the ability to count words in a document. When I need to count words, I open the document in the Windows partition. I have to use the Windows partition when i want to use the scanner on my all-in-one printer. What do Kossacks want to see?