Who Linux is and is not for
To continue a thought. . . .
I expect to get some push-back (that’s OK) from people who know and feel differently, but I feel confident that desktop Linux is not right or not ready for some people.
These include:
- avid gamers, because few games are ported to Linux
- most new-to-Linux laptop users, because of scattershot hardware incompatibilities
- people dependent on a particular piece of obscure or specialized software
For most everyone else, there is probably a Linux solution for you.
Indeed, I think it would be ideal for
- schools, community centers and libraries, where browsing users are prone to find viruses online
- those who use — out of necessity or hobbyist or environmental interest — very old hardware
- those who prize community involvement, participatory governance, subsidiarity and sustainability among their core values
- or all of these, in sum, nonprofits or do-gooders who need a full-featured, stable, laterally-developed and non-stolen operating system and software
Linux isn’t going to work for everyone, but I suspect my regular readers are a better fit for it than the general public. Month by month the “start-up costs” of adopting Linux for non-tech people is dropping.
15 January 2007 at 4:39 pm
You miss the most important sector: those who would love to get rid of Windows (and Microsoft in general). ;-)
23 January 2007 at 12:33 am
Scott,
This is a great list. To the list of those Linux is not for: those committed to using very new hardware. Forget about syncing the latest palm/treo, the newest printers, the fastest new video cards, etc. The drivers take time to reverse engineer, and very few hardware vendors ship drivers for Linux.
23 January 2007 at 10:27 am
And, given my latest travail, it seems you may have to shop around for the distribution that gives you the easiest time with those new, new bits of hardware.