But wait, what’s this?

As a search page should be quick, secure and efficient I agree you should use Linux, but I never saw this one coming!
Other searches for microsoft results in different linux hosted services beneath the microsoft.com domain.

wb.dlservice.microsoft.com
search.microsoft.com
vista.gallery.microsoft.com
social.microsoft.com
fullproduct.download.microsoft.com
silverlight.dlservice.microsoft.com (This one is even hosted on Ubuntu)

I know the saying: “Keep your friends close, but your enemy’s closer” (not sure who came up with this slogan), but this is way too funny!

Most hackers I’ve encountered on the internet or IRL are cat-owners.
Most of the linux/mac users I know tend to read more books or articles on IT/science than they watch TV.
They’re most of the time, relatively young people (<45 years old) and tend to live in smaller apartments.
This group of people is also more daring. They’ll change whatever is needed when it could benefit them.
I wonder if they have a cat, because they tend to have the same characteristics?
They are very loyal, don’t let themselves get ordered around, and they’re smart.

Whereas dog’s are also loyal, they’re like puppets. They’ll do whatever you’ll command them, as long as you give them food.
All dog-owners I know, have no interests in computer related stuff.
They tend to try live the perfect picture.
Having a job they can’t take home, a house with a garden and a nice little family.
They are usually the types of people watching a lot of soaps and reading local newspapers.
This group has also a higher average age.
These people are also less daring, they prefer to stick to the known and won’t try to change whatever they’re used to.

This is no offence to dog-owners, they just seem to have a verry different life-style.

I tried a number of distributions and could not decide on any one. They were great systems in their own right. It
wasn’t a matter of right and wrong anymore. It had become a matter of personal taste. With all that choice available,
it became apparent that there would not be a single system that would be perfect for me. So I set out to create my
own Linux system that would fully conform to my personal preferences.
To truly make it my own system, I resolved to compile everything from source code instead of using pre-compiled binary packages.

Whenever I have some spare time…
But for now, I’m quite happy with my Ubuntu.

Let’s go on a journey with someone eager to start using Linux (without a live cd).

Let’s say this is one of the wonderfull people informing themselves before they actually start doing something.
Then this user would trigger a search query on his favorite search engine for the value Linux.
Linux.org is probably the first link that will be hit, as the first result has a 42% chance of getting selected.

On Linux.org he/she’ll be learning a little on the principles of linux and the GNU licence.
After a bit of reading, she’ll know how wonderful linux is and appreciate the idea of openness.

As our imaginary person has a simple old spare computer that can be used to testdrive linux, he/she is convinced and ready to download her own copy.
But there is the first problem: Which linux distribution?

On the linux.org page, there are currently 220 listed distro’s to choose from.
So now he/she can start reading all 220 items, but that’s just not done.
The most probable way to get around the pile of different distro’s, will be asking around witch one is the “best one” to use.

After some garbage talk that start with “You should use…” and ends with a discussion bestween some people fighting around to convince eachother that their distro is better, someone will probably point out to the ditsrowatch pages.
In the best case, our user will pick one of the 10 distro’s listed there as the major distributions.

Ok now, this was one of the most idealistic ways for a user to find his/her first linux distribution.

But this is not the end of our journey…

The user will most likely switch distro after time, as the grass is always greener on the other side
In the end, after already having used different distro’s the user will most probably start filtering his choises on package management system.
Then there are the most common choices I didn’t even mention such as: Window Manager, Proprietary codecs, standard apps, …

This is quite a more complex way of choosing your distribution compared to the situation where you’re standing in a shop and having 3 options.

A problem you say?

Whether this is a linux problem or not, depends on the individual user.
This long process of learning and filtering was one of the things that got me interested in linux in the first place.

But if I think about the masses, I guess this is one big draw-back for linux if you compare it against Microsoft Windows or in particular Apple’s.

There is this Paradox of choices – Why more is less speach by Barry Schwartz that will convince you of this.

The Live CD’s from Ubuntu can solve this problem a little bit.
Just by giving people a live cd, with only one version/OS, they will be limited by the direct choices they have.
Thus rendering their mood to become more statisfied.
If someone asks you to give them a Linux distribution, it’s most likely for them to use one if you give them only 1 instead of 220 listed on a page, ready to be downloaded (even for free).

Conclusion

Yes the wide range of different linux versions are a drawback for Linux. And in my opinion, keeping the masses of adopting it.

Well, to be honest with you, the idea for article is a straight rip-off from Jeff Waugh’s blog.

But I guess we can go a little further in analyzing this chart.It is nice to see a growth in the Ubuntu string, but disappointing to see it’s on the cost of other main-stream linux distro’s.
Why the Ubuntu line is going up could have a lot of different reasons, which I’m not going to discuss (yet).

I like this chart better:

Few people know that they do not have the right to reinstall the OEM windows version on other hardware.
It’s a single install license, which doesn’t allow another operating system to run on the hardware.
Scott Hacker wrote a nice article on it: “He Who Controls the Bootloader“.
And don’t try to return you windows because it is broken… there’s no product warranty on the software. (Only on the installation media)
To prevent this post of getting to a flame against MS, I’ll stop it here. I suppose you can still google?

But all of this is already accepted as normal by the widespread users. But how about people who don’t want to use Windows as their OS?
Do we have to pay for something we’re not going to use? Do we have a choice? It’s hard. All mainstream system-dealers sell only pre-installed Windows machines.
Dell has launched its N-series in the US, which was largely applauded by the Foss-folks.
But when will they do the same for europe?
Or can we get to the manufacturer and ask for a refund?

For now, I’d like to keep it with a simple vote on Dell’s Ideastorm page to sell OS-free computers all over the world.
It’s not that I’m having a problem with the loss of money, as I never actually paid for my MS products (myself), but this way of marketing is not the most respectful way to treat customers.
Try to sell Washing machines without warranty, only on it’s boxes. And restrict your customers of moving it to their new home, as they got it together with their first smaller apartment.