Linux On The Brain - Should Windows Users Even Care?

Wow, what a long, crazy weekend that was! I am still pounding away at Linspire here on my PC, and thus far, I have much to report. I am not however, ready to report it. Still have some notebook and Wi-Fi tests to complete. So until I am ready, I have to keep a lid on most of those details.

What I am going to discuss is why I have all of this interest in Linux from a technician’s standpoint. But wait, if it’s anything like the Mac, are we not shooting ourselves in the foot by giving them what might be (speculative thought on Linspire if I like it) the best OS for newbies? Well, without giving away too many details, I will say that I can guarantee you two things:

1) Linux as a desktop OS is just getting warmed up in the marketplace.

2) Assuming the perfect distro does comes about, one that is set up and never needs attention again, techs certified in Linux will still be of much value in meeting the needs of both office and home users.

See, what will eventually happen once desktop Linux is ready, is techs from across the land will be hired for training, software support and networking needs. The cool part is that they have the option of being free from spyware removal, explaining away blue screens and dealing with lost license keys. To be fair however, I believe that MS Vista will also be addressing these issues as well, which is great news for Windows fans.

Please understand now, I am not trying to take a jab at Microsoft. They have done things with their OS in recent years that would take most companies lifetimes to match. Besides that, they have Robert Scoble. And that my friends, gives them one heck of a great guy to represent their company. Scoble rocks in addition to having my admiration and respect.

OK, now that this out of the way, let’s get back to it, shall we?

So is there room in the world for both Windows and Linux? Can Linux meet the needs of all Windows users? Is Windows better than Linux or vice versa? Well, no to all of the above. Each person out there has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to a good OS. I know people that will remain Windows users forever, even if a Linux-based company was willing to giving away free money! It’s simply a matter of preference.

During the course of this week, we will be looking at Linux in the office, Linux in the home and Linux in the schools. While I have no desire to convert anyone, I do believe that having some idea what is happening in this area makes good business sense. Especially for those of you that are looking to increase your revenue streams. Just some food for thought. You can never learn too much, right? Even if you hate the OS, you can’t deny that having some basic Linux skills would not come in handy when doing a Knoppix based recovery, setting up a Linux file server, and so on. Think about it.

[tags]windows,microsoft,linux,open source,linspire,scoble[/tags]