The problem with Slackware is not everyone wants to learn about computers...and they shouldn't have to. Should it be a requirement for you to know how to tune your engine in order to drive a car....some automobile gurus may want to know how to, but grandma just wants to get in, turn the key, and drive. And thanks to distros like Linspire and Xandros, Linux is now capable of satisfying people with these wants.

Is it just me or does Bill Gates contradict himself a lot. He states that Linux will go the way of OS/2....and then a couple of paragraphs later he states that in 10 years it will be a Linux and Windows game....it would be kind of hard for both to happen hey . Mr. Gates always amuses me. Also, OS/2 didn't gain the widespread acceptance that Linux has nowadays...so the chances of it going the way OS/2 has gone isn't very likely. That would be like saying that the Mac is going the way of OS/2.

hey cool! Thanks for looking that up

LOL.

Theres always 3 things linux with have windows will never have... (Ill back this to the death, anyone to flame/fight? Im up for it)

1. Being either cheap, or cost absolutely nothing.

2. Having thousands of open source software at our very feet.

3. Freedom

actually, the release of longhorn and the digital rights management that microsoft is going to be implementing (they are, right?) will be one of the biggest boons to linux since the average geeks general hatred of MS.

While DRM will certainly drive people to linux, the biggest boon to Linux would be a major company (IBM perhaps?) releasing computers with Linux pre-installed with everything else pre-installed and configured so that if grandma wants to look at the power point her grand daughter sent her all she has to do is the exact same thing she had to do in Windows. (Yes, I know Wal-mart sells PCs with linux pre-installed, but the interaction with the OS is still slightly different.)

Linux will never gain a significat desktop market share as long as people have to install it themselves. Even with the (relativly) cheap price of x86 hardware these days, mom, dad and gramma don't want to have to install an OS becaues their scared they'll some how destroy that $500 piece of equipment.

Most desktop users only use their computer to check e-mail, browse the web and perhaps use a word proccessor. They don't want to have to "learn" how to use the computer. Thats why most Dell/Gateway advertisements feature the words "easy to use" "anybody can use" "simple" etc. Despite the fact that installing most distro's today is very easy to do the average joe considers easy to be pushing the "on" button.

HP is leaning more towards desktop linux for the home consumer than IBM is. IBM seems to be out of the home consumer business almost entirely lately....all I ever see in stores anymore is HP, Sony, Compaq (pretty much HP but cheaper ) etc... Oh, and I'm sure Joe Blow would adapt to Linspire fairly easily. What is it with the people on this site???? Every time someone says desktop Linux they imagine everyone running Slackware or Debian on their desktops....ever heard of Linspire or Xandros????

The day you have grandma hacking her kernel and issuing commands in a terminal emulator.....you let me know . Linspire is easier to use than Windows. It is easier to install on a computer...and it is definately easy enough for home users if it comes pre-installed. Eventually, Microsoft will piss people off enough that HP will see potential for desktop Linux for the masses and they will make it happen. Who knows...maybe Sony, IBM and Dell will follow suit. The only reason I say HP is they are further along than any other company in this department. (by any other company, im talking about the big ones)

What Linspire needs to do is get encrypted DVDs to play out of the box...even if they have to raise the cost of their product a litle bit to cover licensing and all that crap. I personally don't like their system, but I doubt many home users would like Slackware

Point take. I've never used Linspire or Xandros. I wasn't basing my point on Slackware though. I was basing it more on my experiance with RH 7 - 9 and Mandrake 9 & 10.

Follow the Demon... And You find the truth...

Seriously.

Linspire and Xandros kick the shit out of Mandrake 9-10 and anything Red Hat has ever released when it comes to ease of use. Trust me, you can use these OSs for a year and never touch the command line once...all the while installing different linux apps and doing all the basic things most linux users do (other than things like recompiling kernels...etc)

Realy...I got to wall mart all the time and I have never noticed that


LOL...maybe when the schools start to actualy offer classes about system administration and linux in High School that could become a reality


Oh, about Linspire and Xandros....they are starting to sound like another Lindows clone....i'll have to check it out.

Walmart.com sells Linux computers and has for quite a while now. They sell ones with Linspire (formerly Lindows), Linaire, or Sun JDS. you can also get a PC without and OS and install your own. Xandros predates Lindows, but has had less press.

mmmm...well i have heard nothing good about Lindows and I heard it wasen't the most stable

Oh well...maybe they got better with their new name.....

Most distros have stable releases. Its just how you use it. And, I think having Linux on a Walmart computer is really neat. Mass Tux-appeal! Woohoo!

Just letting you know, Lindows and Linspire are the same thing. Lindows won their case against Microsoft in the States, so MS turned around and sued them in 10 different countries at the same time, and Lindows didn't have enough money to keep fighting, so they changed their name to Linspire. Linspire is definately not for seasoned Linux users...but for the grandma mentioned above...it is an ideal alternative to Microsoft Windows.

with linspire and xandros, can you use apt-get or urpmi or some sort of rpm manager that handles dependencies and will get stuff from online? and do they have the berlios wireless driver and/or the kernel sources installed?