mackil's Journal: Asa Dotzler on Linux

Asa Dotzler (of Firefox fame) recently posted on his blog his perceived problems with Linux. He said these things would have to be fixed if Linux was ever to become "mainstream". My question is, do we want Linux to become "mainstream"?

Asa's problems with Linux consist of the lack of migration tools (from Windows to Linux), too many unnecessary options, the complexity of Linux, and some of the stark differences in the Linux GUI compared to Windows.

There is not a single issue there that I can deny. Every single thing he talked about is something that would have to be changed if Linux was to become the dominant OS. The question I want to pose is, do we want Linux the dominant OS? Do we want to give up all the power that we have with Linux so that your typical computer user can use it?

I use both Windows (2000) and Linux (FC4) on my desktop. Would I like games to be developed for Linux so I can get rid of my partition? You bet I would. But if it means castrating a lot of what I love about Linux, is it truly worth it?

To be truthful, I do not know the answer. Merely asking the question. There is a way for Open Source Software to survive out there in the real world with real users. I just hope it doesn't have to be emasculated in order to do so.