So where is Linux on the desk top going? Well, it's
getting there, gradually. There are a number of issues,
some of which have been pinpointed by other commentators
- both hostile and friendly, there are no neutrals in
this one! Lets have a look at some of them.One of the
advantages touted by the pro-Linux camp is the choice of
desktops - mainly KDE or Gnome, but also a host of lesser
known ones. The anti-Linux camp maintain that this is a
disadvantage, and in this I have to agree with them. I've
met this problem myself with my Age of Adventure game.
The original client was a mass of configurable windows
that handled all the different aspects of the game.
Would-be players took one look, screamed, and demanded a
single window that didn't require any choices on their
part.
I like having choices, but I'm a techie, and I have
the underlying knowledge to make informed choices. Faced
with a situation with lots of choices where I don't have
the knowledge to judge the outcome of a choice, my
reaction, like most people's, is to say 'forget it'. The
situation is improving, however, as all the major
distributions come with a default desk top (Gnome for Red
Hat and KDE for SuSE, for instance). The other desktops
are still available if you know what you are doing, but
the defaults protect those who don't know from having to
make choices.
Another perennial favourite is that Linux is more
difficult to install than Windows. Frankly, this simply
isn't the case, and hasn't been for several years. I have
on a number of occasions had to install/reinstall both
Linux and Windows on various computers and I can tell you
that Linux is far, far easier to install than Windows. To
give an indication, I normally allow a couple of hours to
be back up and running if I'm doing a Linux install, a
couple of days if it's a Windows install.
This debate really misses the issue, though. The fact
is that most desk top users don't install Windows, it
comes ready installed. Not only that, if something goes
wrong that requires that level of fixing, they tend to
take it to a local supplier to get it fixed, just like
they would with a stereo that went wrong.
In order to get on to the desk top Linux must be there
when the machine is sold. And to do that it must find a
way to overcome the pressure that Microsoft puts on
computer manufacturers to only package Windows with their
machines.
There are other more minor issues that get raised, but
interestingly enough, there are two issues, one of which
I consider paramount, which never seem to get raised.
The first, lesser issue, is, surprisingly enough, that
of fonts. You may find it difficult to believe, but the
lack of high quality free fonts is a major factor in
making open source desk tops look much uglier than their
Windows counterparts. Some progress is being made,
though, with the recent purchase by Red Hat of several
sets of high grade fonts to be put into the public
domain.
It's significant that Microsoft took the extra fonts
they had on their web site for Windows users off the web
earlier this year. The fonts were increasingly finding
their way on to individual Linux machines.
But even that pales before the most significant reason
dragging desk top Linux back from taking a larger share
of the market. That reason is what I can only describe as
a lack of everyday Linux evangelists and problem solvers.
I can hear people saying that's ridiculous, the web is
full of people who are eager to help - post a problem
description and you get dozens of replies. Not only that
but loads of Open Source companies have evangelists to go
out and tell people all about it. To which my answer
would be - Yes, but they're all in the wrong place!
Take a step back. I want to talk about Fred the
office. I'm sure you all know a Fred (or Frederika). Fred
is not a geek. But Fred is the repository of the office
wisdom on anything to do with computers. Fred handles
anything from local printer paper jams to telling you why
you can't access xyz across the network. Fred's official
job has absolutely nothing to do with computers, but he
is the one everyone turns to when something goes wrong.
And Fred is, almost inevitably, an expert on dealing
with the irritations and wrinkles of Windows. Fred knows
which 40 menus you have to go down to get rid of the
talking paper clip, how to install new fonts, and which
files it's safe to delete when you run out of disk space.
It's likely that Fred has the latest version of Windows
installed on his computer at home, and will tell you how
much better it is that the old version on the company's
computers.
Fred isn't paid by Microsoft, but he is, to all
practical intents and purposes, a very effective
evangelist and problem solver. He is the person you
consult when something goes wrong on your home machine.
And, of course, he is the person you ask for advice on
what to buy when you buy a computer. I don't think I need
to tell you which operating system he will suggest...
For Linux to become a desk top of choice for home
users we need to have a Linux oriented Fred in every
office!
You may well be thinking that this sounds like a
chicken and egg situation. Without an expansion of Linux
on the desk top there will be no Freds to push Linux and
fix the inevitable problems. But It's my belief that
there is light at the end of the tunnel.
To understand we need to turn to a term that is
frequently used by bean counters in large companies:
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). TCO is a recognition that
the cost of a company owning a PC is more than just the
cost of buying it. To find its true cost you also have to
add in the cost of hardware and software upgrades,
maintenance, technical support and training of staff to
use the computer and its software efficiently.
Webopedia
indicates that TCO for a PC is usually considered to be
between three and four times the actual cost of the PC.
Until recently companies have tended to feel that the
cost of retraining staff to use Linux machines, and the
productivity hit while they are doing so has outweighed
the benefits of cheaper initial cost, maintenance and
technical support. And, of course we should never
underestimate the effects of sheer inertia!
Microsoft, in an effort to keep up their profits up,
recently introduced a new licence which does two things.
First, it directly increases the cost of Microsoft
products. Second, it mandates an update cycle which is a
lot more frequent than most businesses are accustomed to.
This has the effect of substantially raising the TCO for
business PCs.
Apart from the obvious extra cost of the licenses,
there is also the fact that each successive generation of
Microsoft operating systems requires the purchase of new,
higher spec, machines to run the new software, thus
pushing the TCO even higher.
And finally there is the problem of Microsoft viruses.
From a security point of view many Microsoft products are
like Swiss cheese. Even the much vaunted security
initiatives of 2002/3 seem to have had little effect on
the Microsoft software quality. Windows Server 2003, the
first product of this initiative, proved to be just as
vulnerable as earlier products. A number of large
business were effectively taken down for hours or longer
by the Slammer, MSBlaster, Welchia and Sobig.F worms and
viruses. This all costs money and frustration.
The combined effects of spiralling TCO and viruses are
forcing big companies to look more closely at Linux on
the desk top. Many of them already have Linux servers, so
they know about its reliability and resilience to viruses
and worms. Now that companies like IBM provide support, a
number have already made, or are in the process of
making, the jump to Linux. The most high profile case
recently is the decision of the City of Munich to switch
all its desktop computers to Linux.
As more companies do this, then the Freds of this
world will start to become more familiar with Linux, and
will start to become Linux experts - but not geeks - in
the same way they are now Windows experts.
And then Linux is in with a strong chance.
Alan Lenton
26 August 2003
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