The growth of Linux

From: Tony <vze2jy85@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed Sep 06 2006 - 07:32:38 AKDT

Hi Folks:

The growth of Linux OSes.

Tony

***

Linux wins over new fans

September 5, 2006

Linux is shedding its hard-core techie image in a bid
to woo ordinary human beings seeking an easy-to-use
operating system that can be downloaded for free.

While it is hard to estimate how many everyday users
have defected from Windows or Apple software to join
the open-source movement, Ubuntu (pronounced
oo-boon-too) has emerged as one of the Linux desktop
packages of choice for those looking for a basic
desktop alternative.

Open-source software generally refers to programs such
as Linux and Firefox where the source code can be
modified upon the request of users or other
developers.

Researcher IDC recently surveyed more than 5000
developers from 116 countries, and found the use of
open-source software to be "pervasive, used by almost
three-quarters of organisations and spanning hundreds
of thousands of projects".

Government IT departments looking to cut costs
associated with proprietary packages software are also
being encouraged to embrace open-source software and,
last week, India's communist-run Kerala state
announced plans to reduce Microsoft's dominance in
schools by promoting the use of Linux.

Popular flavours of Linux include Red Hat and SUSE
and, while these are gaining traction at the
enterprise level, a strong belief persists that the
operating system is not ready for ordinary desktop
users.

To set itself apart, Ubuntu markets itself as "Linux
for human beings" and, while those who have joined the
movement praise its easy installation and the range of
pre-packaged software, James Dumay, a member of Sydney
Linux User Group, said it hadn't always been the case.

"Until recently Linux desktop applications were not
ready for consumption by the general public because a
lot of people were writing a lot applications to do
various tasks and these didn't conform to any one
standard. This caused problems with usability and
inconsistency across applications," he said.

However projects such as GNOME have introduced new
guidelines to ensure consistency across common desktop
operations, he said.

Ubuntu can be downloaded or shipped in disk format
free to users. Also bundled with the OS is the
OpenOffice software suite (which includes word
processor, presentation and spreadsheet applications),
the Firefox browser, email and instant messaging
tools, media player software and support for a wide
range of peripherals such as webcams and printers.

However not all popular applications are available out
of the box, especially when it comes to graphics and
gaming. Although users can choose from an enormous
range of applications for the OS, such as
image-editing program The GIMP, or Cedega for running
PC games on top of Linux, these must be sourced and
downloaded individually.

"Ubuntu doesn't try to give you everything; it just
gives you sensible defaults," said Mr Dumay.

Mahyar Goodarz, a government policy adviser from
Victoria, said he switched over to the operating
system from Windows XP about two weeks ago.

"I am really your granny user. I only use my computer
to do things like accessing the internet and word
processing," he said.

He said the system had proved straightforward to
install and found the OpenOffice applications similar
in functionality to Microsoft Office.

"The one thing that didn't work was my mobile phone
syncing software, but I didn't have a problem with my
two printers, or my digital camera. I didn't have to
install anything myself - it automatically just asked
me if I wanted to install them," he said.

Despite being happy with the system, he admits he did
hit a bit of a bump in the road when he installed a
new release of the operating system that caused his
own system to crash.

However he said instructions to fix the flaw were
promptly posted on the community website and the
system had since been working well.

Web designer, Dave Green, has been running Ubuntu for
a few months and said he had found it easier to
install than Windows XP.

"OpenOffice 2 is a little bloaty but it can do stuff
that Office can't and is just a lot more user
friendly. It doesn't include a lot of hardcore
functionality but for web surfing and email it's very
easy to use," he said.

Melissa Draper, a member of the local Ubuntu
community, said the number of local users was growing,
with 169 people now on the Ubuntu community mailing
list.

While this group was made up of mainly technical users
and capable early adopters, she said: "We have seen a
growth of low-end users who need basically email, web
and office applications that have turned away from
proprietary OSs."

Source:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/linux-wins-over-new-fans/2006/09/04/1157222061911.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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Received on Wed Sep 6 07:32:52 2006

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