It's statements like this that worry me for the future of Ubuntu

[Anthony Papillion]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 10/30/2010 6:41 PM, Liam Proven wrote:
<snip>

> Linux has failed to take over the desktop, and the desktop is now
> going away. Soon the only reason Linux will make inroads on desktops &
> notebooks is that nobody will care any more.


I don't know that I fully agree Liam. Sure, PC and laptop sales have
flattened while smart device sales continue to rise but I think that has
more to do with saturation that dying out. There are still many places
just in the USA where you can't use most mobile phones or devices due to
major coverage gaps and 3G hasn't even come close to saturating the
country like it needs to to make replacing the PC with a smart device
even seriously considerable for many people.

I think Linux has failed on the desktop because of its own misguidance
and poor marketing. We were too sanctimonious for too long and we've
scared people away. It's only within the last year to two years (largely
thanks to Ubuntu) that one can even have a 'Linux is failing' topic on a
mailing list without all the fan boys chiming in with 'screw Joe
Average! I don't care if they use Linux. If they're too stupid to do x,
we don't need them!'

In my opinion, *that* is what costs Linux the desktop and I think that
Shuttleworth and company have a unique opportunity to recapture that
market. But I think that, before we go after the device market, we
really need to make sure the desktop, even if it's not the primary
market, is stable. Too many people *still* have trouble with wireless,
audio, and video on pretty average desktop and laptop machines.  We need
to fix those issues before we do the "oh shiny new thing!" trick and go
after a new market. This 'oh, the PC is dead' has been something that's
come and gone many times over the last 20 or so years and it's never
proven to be true. Abandoning the desktop or serious focusing on another
platform would be a huge mistake and one I think Connonical would regret.

Just my $0.02,
Anthony


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)

iQIVAwUBTMzCz4eUq9QAeLbkAQIM7w/+NYpXINisWfeDQk8Ug3Fb7jcsmwkjtlex
niZgvY7u3KJgI62nltp75AlkBxiiv4Xz2F6VVqdluiSssUwW2T2N59LVKW0f9Nub
AQvB9waT4FKk9ITLLzQ2LQC9SguKWvbfilhCOdyIg/fWrhjiQ1+Y7iNX6LisxNzZ
KK6f19LNcPowM5AqMhpoYttWYuYcF3Wa343UOBzcPtTYq8WKWLMsKhC6ffnTE9Fd
XPR08BbQ/J0OTYM3J9Heun65cxRNOBs4fta4MNv0Edojb+CmCS0zuiIVz9LxfJZ0
IH3S4yHdcf/WdfYuooIsM/x6HU6pTv1xRW4B1g7O3tqg/pcQxz8gXKeEuk2TSis4
nbHTE32Yiyh6buCsUqC91tRwRdjZQC6VqcHwq0+iq+W6Lqjxzrj4qTGrQ5lJvWHd
YLC825xDw9UxlDf8nc7dZeL0RTGTzsKIhxY03rEh6TLONp2nu+mrLZcsCe/6+cxc
YwD6566yChUW6MKlMnG5CWfEkTYVhLlN/ENHdImfE02e1L6v7qiVUiZTiH+qiVyE
W5ef+g5EIujt8H1td5YStcoqbcBGuZNRRhEof0rwfL2PHQXgSt7AM7NxnFFw0PLq
By/5muIN7R/JQiIKxRqD5a1mCisjvCiwzp/I9Vi5L/57reE1+HV4Z9Hhib+pZ6kF
jYreXduDu4M=
=H4Th
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----