Is Linux a desktop operating system?

[Tom Adelstein]

On Wed, 2005-05-25 at 08:45 +0200, Gábor Iglói wrote:
> Of course Linux is a desktop OS! I use it as a desktop OS! My friends
> use it as a desktop OS! My collegues use it as a desktop OS! And even
> my mum and my brother and my girlfriend use it as a desktop OS!
> 

This topic could start a religious war and I got "muy mas" grief on this
list responding to someone about startup times. So, let's not go there.

This is my favorite mailing list because Ubuntu is for Human Beings and
the respect level here for others is remarkable. 

<ducking in the event of shrapnel>

I'm the author of a book on the Linux Desktop and I have studied,
tested, tweaked and broken more desktops than anyone I know. I even have
a weekly column on Linux Journal about it. I've used every desktop
around and worked for IBM on the OS/2 Warp project, every Microsoft
project since before DOS, Apples, Wang, DECs, TI's, most flavors of
UNIX, etc.

Linux has been suitable for desktop since Netscape ported their browser
to Linux in 1998 - at least. But, I don't think that's the question. 

The question seems to me to need restating. I would ask: "is Linux
Windows"? That sounds more precise given the context in which the
question is framed. 

The answer today would definitely look like this: Linux can do
everything Windows does including run Win32 applications either
internally or as a terminal server client. It fits like a glove in any
Windows enterprise: connects to Active Directory, Exchange, etc. and we
can even get GDM to accept and replace expired passwords.

Of course, to make Linux do that requires expertise. I can do it and
others can do it. Can the average MCSE or CNE do it? Probably not.

For consumers - I don't believe that comparing Linux to Windows is fair.
Now, you can use MoveOver from http://resolvo.com and (they have their
migration tool open-sourced and free on sourceforge now) and migrate
Windows to Linux and it will definitely convert your Windows personal
directories to Linux. You can use WINE or a derivative like
http://codeweavers.com Crossover Office to run Windows applications on
Linux. 

Linux in its own right is a remarkable desktop operating system. The
applications are available to do most anything and you probably have
more applications than those from Redmond. In some specialized areas,
you don't have the same functionality. But the same goes for Windows, in
specialized areas it cannot do what Linux does.

In a point by point comparison - Linux is irrefutably the better
desktop. But, then again, it doesn't really make much sense to compare
it. 

My wife is a beautiful woman. But, when it comes to computers, she's as
lost as anyone could be. I bought her a Mac with OS 9 and then OS X and
she got along OK. Then I gave her a system with Windows XP because she
had to use it at work. I even got her Mac keyboard, mouse and Studio
Monitor to work with XP. I installed Linux on the the same machine to
dual boot. She asked me to make Linux boot up by default. For some
reason, she prefers Linux. That's just her. She thinks Linux is the more
user-friendly desktop. Go figure.

I know people who have never used Windows and have only used Linux and
they find Windows the difficult desktop OS. 

Is Linux a desktop OS - in my experience, yes. Irrefutably. Is it
Windows? No, it's Linux.

My apologies if I offended anyone.

Tom Adelstein