Linux Still Not Ready for Desktop Prime Time
Thursday, May 31, 2001
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Long considered the computer operating system of the
pocket-protector set, Linux recently seemed on the verge of becoming a
desktop competitor to Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS.
Improvements now allow users to navigate folders through elegant graphical
interfaces rather than arcane command lines. Companies distribute Linux with
nearly idiot-proof installers. Word processors, spreadsheets and other
programs are readily available.
Because Linux's code is free, available and can by modified by anyone,
improvements have been quick and constant.
But that freedom is a double-edge sword that also forces users to deal with
complicated setups and configurations.
As a result, Linux last year captured only about 1.5 percent of the desktop
PC market, which remains dominated by Microsoft Corp.'s Windows, according
to International Data Corp.
And Eazel Inc., the most promising company trying to bring Linux to the
masses, went out of business last month after failing to attract investors.
"We were probably trying to do too much too fast. Frankly, we still have a
couple years to go before Linux catches up with Windows," said Bart Decrem,
an Eazel co-founder. "The reality is that Windows is good enough for most
people."
Eazel couldn't promise profits quickly enough for skittish investors focused
on immediate returns, said David Patrick, chief of Ximian Inc., which is
developing a Linux desktop environment.
But Linux desktop development is far from dead, he said. Even if it's not
ready for consumers, there is considerable demand from businesses that
desire Linux's low cost, flexibility and control.
"We don't even talk about the consumer market," Patrick added.
In other words, there's no need to fear that "Tux," Linux's penguin mascot,
will become an endangered species.
Development on improved desktops and other components of the operating
system will continue in the freewheeling Linux tradition.
"What customers are looking for is control of their computing environment,
which they do not have (with Windows)," said Matthew Szulik, chief executive
of Linux distributor Red Hat.
Linux's first appeared in 1991 when Finnish college student Linus Torvalds
developed an operating system that could run UNIX-based applications on his
desktop PC. He posted the kernel, or core program, on the Internet and
required that the operating system and any software developed for it be
freely available.
Because the source code is free, thousands of developers around the world
continually work to improve both the core operating system software and
programs that run on it.
While most Linux elements can be downloaded for free, Red Hat, SuSE, VA
Linux and other companies have bundled the operating system with popular
components that have fairly intuitive installation programs, into packages
sold in computer stores.
Most of these companies hope to make money by offering training,
documentation and support services.
Developers are focused on creating and improving desktop environments,
moving far beyond Linux's initial command line interface.
Two major efforts emerged - the K Desktop Environment and the GNU Network
Object Model Environment, or GNOME. Today, both KDE and GNOME have similar
features, many of which resemble the Windows and Macintosh interfaces.
Eazel, whose founders included developers of the highly praised Macintosh
interface, contributed the Nautilus file manager, which put a file
navigation system on top of the GNOME graphical user interface.
"Eazel had really strong people, brilliant technical development talent, but
building an economic model around a file manager is a very difficult thing,"
Szulik said.
Eazel found $11 million in funding when it started in 1999, and hoped to
make money selling Web services and various subscriptions. But without a
second round of financing, it had to shut down on May 15.
A pretty face does not a consumer operating system make, said IDC analyst
Dan Kusnetzky.
"If we look at what drives people to select an operating system, it's not
the operating system," he said. "Almost always, the things that drive them
to select something is the availability of their chosen applications."
There simply are not enough popular applications written for Linux,
especially games. Computer stores generally do not have Linux application
sections.
Because Linux is its own operating system, programs designed for Windows or
the Macintosh will not work without emulators, which slow computers
considerably.
Some headway has been made in creating Linux-based productivity suites
similar to Microsoft Office. Sun Microsystems, for example, gives away the
StarOffice suite.
It's a different story for servers, the muscle of corporate and Internet
data distribution.
Because of its flexibility, reliability and low cost, Linux was the
fastest-growing operating system on servers last year, with shipments
increasing 24 percent compared with 20 percent for Microsoft, IDC said.
Linux also is increasingly found in high-tech gadgets such as Sony's
PlayStation 2 and the TiVo digital video recorder, where interfaces are so
closely controlled that users are often unaware they're using a computer.
On the desktop, however, Microsoft does not face an immediate threat from
Linux.
Most computer users don't want to worry about compiling programs before
running them or writing their own device drivers - operations that take
place under the hood in Windows but sometimes rear their ugly heads on Linux
systems.
"Customers understand what they will get for their money," said David
Martin, product manager for Microsoft's Windows 2000 Server. "We make no
secret about the fact that we charge for an operating system."
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