Why hasn't Linux caught on?
View PDF | Print View
by: Paul
Total views: 23
Word Count: 297
Windows has been the dominate OS since its inception. There have been many competitors waiting in the wings but none has been able to make a dent in Windows dominance. Linux has been touted many times as the successor to Windows, but it has of yet to get any significant amount of Windows market share.
For a long time Linux was not ready for mainstream. It had compatibility problems, installing programs were a pain for anyone not familiar with it and having to decide on a GUI was confusing for most new users.
With the latest distributions (such as Ubuntu) almost all of these problems have been overcome. So why isn’t Linux gaining on Windows? It comes down to one thing, MARKETING!
Linux has always depended on word of mouth to market it’s OS’s. Hoping that offering a lower cost (often free) alternative would be enough of an incentive to get people to make the change. While it’s a good way to get your foot in the door, it’s fairly obvious that it is not going bring Linux into the mainstream.
Linux is fairly popular among the geekier crowd, but the vast majority of users don’t know it even exists. Those few non-geeks that know of Linux think of it as something just for geeks to play with. Most people use what they are familiar with; to get them to change you have to first overcome their fears.
If Linux wants to compete with Windows it has to use aggressive marketing tactics to do so. Only through mainstream advertising and marketing can it hope to get the name recognition and overcome some of the misconceptions. Until someone at the Linux community learns Marketing, it will have no chance of taking a bite out of Windows dominance.
Paul
About the Author
I am a member of Usingyouros and consider myself fairly knowledgeable on various subjects relating to computers. That doesn't mean that I consider mine the only opinion or even the right one so I welcome opposing views.
Rating: Not yet rated