For several years now, many people involved with computing and the Internet have
harbored hopes that Linux might become a viable end-user operating system for a
broad population. There has been great frustration with problems and limitations
of commercial offerings, especially to the extent that the original goals of
computers as tools of empowerment for individuals seem to have lost momentum. In
turn this frustration has fueled the wish for an alternative which could evolve
through the inclusive and open-ended dynamics of open source development.
At the same time, it is an undeniable truth that while Linux-based server
software has matured to become an integral and vital component of the global
information infrastructure, as yet Linux on the desktop has remained on the
periphery. Recently, I initiated a project on behalf of OSAF to take a careful
look at the state of Linux on the desktop, and asked Bart Decrem to spearhead a
short-term research project to assess the current situation and trends.
As you can read, while we do not believe a revolution is in the offing, there is
a great deal of good news about what has already been accomplished, and even
more about what is very likely going to be happening with adoption of desktop
Linux, especially considering the situation outside the U.S. A further piece of
good news is that, by and large, there do not appear to be intractable obstacles
to the
continuing growth of adoption of Linux as an end-user OS.
I hope readers will find this report timely and valuable. I encourage your
feedback, which may be sent to desktop-linux-report [ at ] osafoundation [ dot ] org.
...
www.osafoundation.org/desktop-linux-overview.pdf
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