@Mark : Though your tone is rather degrading to Linux, I'd have to argue that the reason people "don't give a shit" is that it's not commercially marketed toward them. People are consumer whores. I've met tons of people that think Windows and Mac are the only options that exist. Period. In all honesty, most people could be using Linux with no problems whatsoever. I switched my parents over to it because all they do is use the Internet (and that's a stretch because it's basically just Yahoo mail, games, etc.) and I get no complaints. In fact, my mom likes how the menu is organized better. She always hated that the company that made the software was how you had to navigate in the Start Menu. She could never remember which company made her software.
The truth is probably closest to "no one has heard of Linux". The Linux community still seems to think that "word of mouth" will be sufficient and it's nice to see that some computer manufacturers have met them half-way by actually selling computers with Linux installed. But without actually marketing the product to potential customers, showing why they should switch and the benefits that Linux will give over their current computer, the platform really isn't going to move much. Microsoft is utterly entrenched in the market and Apple are absolute masters in marketing - the current approach by the Linux community simply can't compete.
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I'll have the BUST, please.
I'll take the ability to play games, thanks.
The title of this article should be changed to, "Lenovo Drops Linux and Says 'Hail to the King'"
Yeah, i'm prepared for the low-rank.
This just goes to show that techies aside no-one really gives a shit about Linux.
Sad but true.
@Mark : Though your tone is rather degrading to Linux, I'd have to argue that the reason people "don't give a shit" is that it's not commercially marketed toward them. People are consumer whores. I've met tons of people that think Windows and Mac are the only options that exist. Period. In all honesty, most people could be using Linux with no problems whatsoever. I switched my parents over to it because all they do is use the Internet (and that's a stretch because it's basically just Yahoo mail, games, etc.) and I get no complaints. In fact, my mom likes how the menu is organized better. She always hated that the company that made the software was how you had to navigate in the Start Menu. She could never remember which company made her software.
@Mark Anderson
The truth is probably closest to "no one has heard of Linux". The Linux community still seems to think that "word of mouth" will be sufficient and it's nice to see that some computer manufacturers have met them half-way by actually selling computers with Linux installed. But without actually marketing the product to potential customers, showing why they should switch and the benefits that Linux will give over their current computer, the platform really isn't going to move much. Microsoft is utterly entrenched in the market and Apple are absolute masters in marketing - the current approach by the Linux community simply can't compete.
...and there's also the misconception, following most distros around from the early releases, that it's so overly complicated and difficult to use.