Linux Can't Kill Windows
Today when reading slashdot, I was referenced to an article that so eloquently states what I've been thinking for some time now:
You can quit proclaiming Linux the Windows killer.
Linux is established and has a niche that, as various pendulums swing, will grow and shrink. Show me charts and stats and benchmarks that prove Linux superior to Windows in every measure and I'll not argue with you. But no matter how much money and dedication is poured into Linux, it will never put a dent in Windows' mind share or market share because Linux is an operating system, a way -- and probably the best way -- to make system hardware do what it's told. But you can't turn Linux into a platform even if you brand it, box it, and put a pricey sticker on it. |
I really like open source Unix. I also agree that while it serves a purpose, it fills a different need than the Windows platform does. The only area in which I would disagree with the author however, is in the Web Hosting space. I'm not saying that Linux is going to kill Windows in the web hosting space, but the hosting world is very different than enterprise. In general, you have much smaller companies. For years, hosting companies have pretty much been packaging their platforms. While I agree that Windows integrates tools better with the OS, there simply aren't as many web-based tools in the Windows space like there have been traditionaly in the LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) world. Due to the greater number of freely available web-based applications, there are basically more legos in the bag on open source Unix than there are for Windows. Hopefully that will change soon. Microsoft realizes this weakness and is moving to address it. You already see Windows-based web applications like DotNetNuke and Community Server gaining more popularity. Hopefully with the success of these apps and more community involvement, we'll get more web-based applications available for the Windows platform to even out the playing field a bit.
