The Members Forum

Nice to see the competition......

According to Canonical head honcho Mark Shuttleworth, Windows 7 presents the ideal opportunity for Linux to gain significant inroads into the desktop market. He said so in an interview with InternetNews. While I certainly do hope so, an eerie sense of deja vu creeps up on me: isn't this like the 923298th opportunity where Linux is supposed to make inroads into the desktop market?

Shuttleworth explains that the big opportunity for Ubuntu (and Linux in general) comes with Windows 7 and netbooks. "Windows 7 for us is a level playing field where we'll be competing with a new version of Windows that can play on netbooks, which has a price attached to it," Shuttleworth explained, "We think we can deliver a very compelling value proposition up against that."

So, let me get this straight. Linux was supposed to make inroads into the desktop market when Windows Vista proved to be a flop. Linux failed. Linux was supposed to make inroads when the netbook market emerged. Linux failed. Linux was supposed to make inroads once KDE4 came onto the scene. Linux failed. Linux failed to compete with an operating system from 2001, and it failed to compete with an operating system with a reputation about as bad as it can get.

And now, Shuttleworth believes Linux can compete favourably with an operating system of which the beta release has been met with nothing but universal praise? I use Linux myself, and I enjoy it very much, but I find this a very odd train of thought, and I can't help but be extremely cynical about it.


Windows 7 and Linux