Click here to
learn why Linux will never be a viable option for the average home user.
I have
been using Linux since around 1990. I spent four years as an HP-UX system administrator,
so I have learned a great deal about Unix.
Linux is a great operating system, but it is very lacking in some areas. Here
are the areas that need improvement before it could replace MS Windows on the
desktop.
- Easy to use GUI environment. The Mac Plus was an incredible computer. Macintosh
lost the operating systems race because it was not scalable. Steve Jobs was
an greedy and only wanted to sell the whole computer package. By selling
the whole package, he restricted his operating system sales to the sales
of the hardware. If the market is demanding 1,000,000 copies of a new operating
system, who can supply it faster? Somone who has to build a machine for each
operating system they sell, or a company who has to make another copy of
a CD? It took Microsoft until Windows 2000 to have a GUI based OS that was
as good as the OS on the MacPlus back in 1986.
- Standardized dialog boxes - When you click File > Save, or a prompt
pops up, it should always look the same. It is great that Linux offers the
flexibility
for each programmer to create their own File > Save window, but it is
hell on the end user. The end users of an operating system want consistancy,
not something different in each application.
- Installation and configuration of programs needs to be simplified. Double
clicking a file to install is a lot easier than typing a bunch of commands
to get a file installed. Clicking on menu options is much easier than
using vi to edit a configuration file. Linux needs to have a total GUI environment.
To install a program you have issue a dozen commands (as root or a regular
user),
then use vi to edit a configuration file. In Windows,
you just double click an icon
and
answer
questions
in a wizard. Once EVERYTHING in Linux can be done via a GUI that has
a standard
interface for all programs, then Linux will be ready for the desktop.
Until then, it will remain an operating system for programmers.
For what they are worth, here are my install documents for Redhat Linux. They
are long, and only contain
some of the information that I used to get my Linux machine configured. Maybe
someone will find some use from them:
Redhat Guinness 7.0 install
Redhat Valhalla 7.3 install
Redhat 9.0 Shrike install
Redhat 9.0 Shrike DST 2007 update
Linux mirror RAID 1 setup with Redhat -
My Redhat 7.3 raid setup. I tested it, and I can boot from either disk if the
other dies. Very cool, very difficult to get working properly. One of the hard
drives has been making knocking noises for several years, so I figure that
it is on it's way out.
KnoppMyth Install