The Year of Linux

Well first I guess I should say it's been awhile, like I posted a long time ago, I won't bore with my life stories but sometimes life does get in the way of things that you are passionate about, and this is what happened to me. You're not hear about that though, your hear about Linux.

One of the biggest open source community chants is "The Year of Linux", or also known as the year that the open source community dominates the market and triumphs over giant corporations such as Microsoft and Apple. I have heard this chant for at least 3 years now, and even as Linux has made progress by leaps and bounds in the desktop environment, is it ready for the prime time?

To answer this particular question is very tricky, because Linux on the desktop is very capable of handling users needs on a day to day basis. So what is holding Linux on the desktop back? The answer is simple and sad really, companies that design and code software for niche reasons usually only develop their software for Windows and sometimes Mac OSX. Why? There is a stigmata around open source software that money cannot be made in that sort of industry, so why develop on a platform that is free to use. This couldn't be further from the truth, many users of Linux are more than willing to pay for software, sometimes even if it is not open source. That is opening up a whole other topic though and I will cover that in another post.

I think, and this only one persons opinion, the main disadvantage that Linux has is lack of marketing. Companies like Microsoft and Apple have marketing departments that can rival most Fortune 1000 companies. They leverage this advantage very well too, while the Linux and Open Source community sit back and say let Linux speak for itself. My question though is how Linux going to speak for itself when the general population has no idea that it even exists. There are some large corporations like Red Hat and Novell that make profits hand over fist on their Linux implementations, but don't ever leverage the power of marketing to expand their reach of Linux. Then you have a company like Canonical who focuses their energy into making a usable desktop for every type user from beginners to old time hackers, and yet they lose money every quarter, yet they keep innovating new technologies to create a more enjoyable user experience.

Linux has enjoyed leading the way in the server industry and being the backbone of the Internet, but even this has tapered off and Microsoft has made a severe dent in the server market as well because of their marketing strategies. If only the three powerhouse companies that the Linux community champions as leaders of the Linux community could get together and form a marketing company that brings focus to the Linux desktop to the general public then I think Linux could have the year that everyone hypes about.

Now this probably sounds like I am giving up on Linux, again this couldn't be further from the truth. I have completely dumped any and all Microsoft and Apple operating systems from my home. I still have to use them in professional life but this is not by choice. I have even starting to introduce Linux as backend platforms in my organization with great success, of course this were Linux has always flourished, sitting on a server. I have even gone as far as buying a Sony Playstation 3 over the Microsoft Xbox 360 solely because it is running Linux under the hood. Of course it is locked down system and very proprietary, but the gaming industry has been and always be this way. Again this is a post for another time.

Linux has all the components to be the greatest operating system and desktop for the general public and to accomplish its goal of being the "The Year of Linux", but until some monetary effort is put behind Linux this will be a dream of the Open Source community. Until then we will have to keep spreading the word via blog posts and word of mouth and picking up a few curious users along the way.