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Linux.
Love it or hate it, there it is. Even the most uninitiated of internet users
have probably stumbled across the name somewhere, though most are unlikely to
have any idea what on Earth it refers to. It's been only the last few years
that the world at large has become aware of the idea that there is something
unique about the software that their computer runs before they ask it to do
anything else. With the growth of Apple's market share, users are slowly
maturing in their comprehension: they have noticed the operating system.
Poor Linux.
And I mean that both as an expression of my sympathy and a description of
quality.
You see, Linux and all the related software are developed by volunteers. When
it comes to that, 'volunteer' is a poor word for what any developer of free
software does. When I hear the word, I think of the pre-veterinary student at
the pet hospital who 'volunteers,' and is directed to clean cages, walk the
clients' pets (and pick up their poop,) and mop up hairballs. He shows up and
is told what needs to be done.
A free software developer does whateverthehell he feels like working on. Sexy
technology gets attention from these guys. What you have to understand is that
there is a society of fame within the free software world. If you work on the
next big project and everyone in the Linux community starts using it - people
know your name. You get a Wikipedia page. People pay you to talk at their
conferences. It's the geek brand of fame.
What this has brought to the free software world is an abundance of geeks with
plenty of time on their hands, all eager to tackle the next sexy project. Many
of these guys use Linux exclusively and cannot fathom the unwashed masses who
would resort to using Windows or Apple's OS series. Off they go to write their
new programming language, protocol stack, or hack away at the Linux OS to
squeeze a few more points of performance out of it... without ever stopping to
really attack priorities.
With insufficient altruism in the Linux and free software world, the poop never
gets picked up.
What are the priorities of Linux and free software? Well, the one dream I have
heard from free software developers more than any other is this: "Free Software
will take over the world."
Bull Excrement.
Microsoft has spent billions of dollars studying how people interact with
computers. Billions. Most free software developers slap an ad-hoc
configuration mechanism on their software and call it done. If you have
problems setting it up, they are likely to be caused by a situation that the
developer was unable or unwilling to test. You're on your own.
This does not work for the home user. It never will. Ever.
I speak in brutish terms here because I'm an ex-Linux user myself. Ten years
ago, my list of complaints with Linux had grown long enough that I gave up and
switched to an OS that I knew would just work. Yes, Windows software pukes on
me from time to time, but my hours lost to fixing those issues has been trivial
compared to the time it took me to manage my Linux machines. And, if I need a
piece of software to do something..... I know I can find it. Linux: unlikely.
The nail in the coffin for me with Linux as a desktop system was brought back to
my mind just a few minutes ago, plain as day. A post on slashdot.org (a blog
for geeks, though thoroughly tilted in a pro-free-software direction) pointed to
a writer who enumerated his chief complaints about Linux as a potential entry
into the everyday desktop world. The issues therein have been the same since I
gave up Linux a decade ago. In other words, Linux has made little progress in
this domain in ten years.
Despite my home use being entirely Windows, I have run a number of distributions
of Linux during these last ten years. The best stride they have made so far,
that I can see, is that they do run a Graphical User Interface right out of the
box and many configuration options can be tweaked there. I applaud the effort.
Unfortunately, the last time I found myself using it, I was informed that I
would have to get beneath the covers and edit configuration files to solve my
problem. This is not acceptable to a home user. I'm a geek, I had a job to do,
I got dirty and edited. As I said, this is not home-user-caliber software.
I'll close my argument here with an address to the opposition view. The most
popular web server in the world at the time of this writing is 'apache.' It is
a free project, in development since the mid nineties. It has been the most
heavily-used web server in the world since 1996 and until 2006 showed no signs
of flagging popularity. BUT apache peaked out at about 70% of the servers
online, and has dropped - in just three years - below the 50% mark. Who is
stealing their thunder? Microsoft.
I've dealt with apache servers before. They're fine for simple applications,
but expert-level familiarity is required to get it to accomplish many tasks. I
once spent two hours on a plane trying to get an apache server on my laptop to
simply serve CGI applications (a trivial task with most servers.) My battery
died before it was working reliably. I have since done the same task with three
other web servers. None took me more than 5 minutes.
If apache wants to maintain its position, it needs to appeal to the new
generation of web administrators. It is unfriendly, unwieldy, and difficult to
debug when failures occur. This has been an axiom of free software for too
long.
The free software community needs leadership that isn't afraid to set the
priorities in unpopular directions: fix the sound system, fix the UI, fix
package management, fix X (the window manager - it's damn slow.) Provide a
unified front with which large corporations can negotiate so you can get first-
class drivers, and, GAMES. Most computer users play games now. I work in the
games industry and have no associates who do Linux games or would even consider
it. (Ask me for the details if you're interested.)
-rbarry
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