The future of Linux

[Jayce]

but with the increase in popularity do you think major distros like ubuntu will sell out, for lack of a better word, and bring in advertisements on the desktop programs or commercialize some of the programs and features. I know the Kernal is safe and will always be free and open source but what of the desktops and other user features?

It's certainly possible for this to happen, but the popularity or success of one distro does not constitute the entirety of Linux in general. Heavyweight distros have come and gone, and still Linux is pushing on and far better today than what it was a few years ago. Ubuntu recently has shown signs of doing this with their default-on Amazon shopping lens, etc. On one hand, Mark Shuttleworth has invested a truckload of his own personal cash into making Ubuntu what it is today, so it's difficult to fault him for anything that he decides to do with Canonical, who endorses Ubuntu. Years ago people criticized Mandriva for advertising its PowerPacks, which were add-on packages for a vanilla Mandriva system to give you more functionality and paid-for software and codecs. Ultimately, Mandriva went belly up, largely due to poor management, and out came Mageia - a distro who has been founded by a lot of the original Mandriva developers.

Linux will never die. It can't die. It has entirely too much momentum behind it and far too many users. Certain distros may come and go, but Linux as we know it won't be going anywhere.

Personally, I love what Ubuntu is doing, but some of their actions are a little questionable. It doesn't make me despise them, I applaud their efforts in many ways, but I also have a few "what the?!" thoughts as well. Currently I'm using Ubuntu GNOME and extremely happy with it. The more Unity gets features and lenses crammed into it, the more attractive Gnome Shell looked, so here I am. At the end of the day, you have to use what works for you. That's the beauty of Linux. You can pick a desktop environment on a distro that best suits your needs. You cannot do that on any other platform.

Overall, I guess my point is this. Ubuntu can flat out die, and Linux will live on. Ubuntu can be super successful, and Linux will live on. No single distro constitutes the entirety of this arena, which is really, really awesome. I want nothing more than every distro in existence to be incredibly successful. The more exposure we have, the sooner we can see Microsoft's shares dwindle.

 

[Reckless]

Distros will come and go and others will be born,.

I began my journey into linux with Fedora Core and then BSD, Debian, CentOS and now my laptop is on Kubuntu.
I have a working copy of BackTrack and Pentoo in a VM for pen testing tools also.

Linux is everywhere, people simply choose to ignore it.

The only thing I am really not liking is the new look of gnome.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Android is incredibly successful in the consumer market but traditional Linux distros are pretty much in the same place they always have been. The real issue is the things that keep linux for becoming more popular are things that most current linux users would be unwilling to change, the current package management systems for example. It's not a coincidence that the only version of linux that is a success in the consumer market, Android, threw out tons of libraries, X, and the package management systems used by other linux derivatives.

 

[Reckless]

I agree Puddle. If they simply made it available with two package managers or even provide the ability to install a different package manager.

 

[Jayce]

Android is incredibly successful in the consumer market but traditional Linux distros are pretty much in the same place they always have been. The real issue is the things that keep linux for becoming more popular are things that most current linux users would be unwilling to change, the current package management systems for example. It's not a coincidence that the only version of linux that is a success in the consumer market, Android, threw out tons of libraries, X, and the package management systems used by other linux derivatives.

You make some good points, but there is one thing that I disagree with, however I think I may have a different interpretation of what you were getting at.

Android is incredibly successful in the consumer market but traditional Linux distros are pretty much in the same place they always have been.

Linux distros may not constitute a majority share by any stretch of the imagination (at least on the desktop... on the server side it's monumental), but Linux as a whole has progressed incredibly faster than any other operating system out there. The beauty of Linux is the amount of power you have and the amount of choice you have. If you want a distro with no need to tinker, there are distros for that. Likewise, if you want a distro to manually fine tune everything, there are distros for that. I have a feeling that your comment may have been directed at the level of marketshare Linux has, which admittedly has not undergone a monumental change over the years, but Linux in terms of progression is hands down the fastest moving operating system in existence when you consider features, refinement, scalability, and innovation. Every once in a while I fire up a virtual machine of where "xyz" Linux distro was only a few years ago, and it astounds me at how much nicer things are today.

That being said, as software gets continually worked on and new software comes to Linux, things have the potential to change. I understand some people still swear by Photoshop, but Gimp can do far more than what most users may need. Steam is here and porting games in a fierce fashion. In fact, Steam's intense interest in Linux while simultaneously showing disgust in Microsoft is something I thought I would never see, but damnit, I love it. System76 is seeing more sales than they have ever seen as some users are realizing, wow, I need a computer and I know I want full compatibility - bam, System76. Nvidia just dropped the bomb with a ton of updated drivers and features for Linux just days ago. I guess the power of the finger coming from the right hand is all it takes - I think we can thank Linus Torvalds for that.

On the flip side of the coin, some people have sworn that the fragmentation in Linux has held them back. That may be true, but if certain forks did not occur, we'd have so little choice we might as well be in a Microsoft or Apple world. If Unity didn't fork from Gnome, there would be no Unity. Love or hate it, it's a fantastic desktop environment that is relatively powerful and easy to use. If Cinnamon did not fork from Gnome, there would be no Cinnamon, something many users prefer these days. Just like that we have more desktop environments available, which means more choice to the end user. More confusion? Maybe, that's always a strong possibility, but I'd rather have choice and be content than no choice and want more. Then again, I may be a slightly different type of end user, but that's just my 2c on the matter.

No matter how you slice it, the potential is there and the future is bright. I'm anxious to see how things pan out.

 

[steve10765]

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