>[Running windows apps on Linux is] like vegetarians who crave meat and eat meat-"flavored" tofu burgers instead. Again, what's the point?

That's a better analogy than the author apparently realized. People sometimes go vegetarian not because they hate meat. There are plenty of other reasons. Many don't eat meat because they hate how animals are treated and killed to get it. I love pork, but I stopped eating it because I'm not comfortable with abusing and eating such an intelligent creature.

People don't use Linux because they hate Windows applications. In fact, they probably love the "taste" of Windows and its applications. People use Linux for lots of reasons. Maybe they have moral issues with Microsoft and Apple. Maybe they're low on cash and would rather tinker with programs than pay for Windows. Maybe they're highly-technical users who actually enjoy it.

I agree with the author's key point, though. Linux had an opportunity when Mac was flagging and Microsoft hatred was in full fury, but those days are gone. Linux needs better software, but no one's about to make the next big investment in a software environment where no one wants to pay for anything.

Linux still has a place for custom hardware with niche applications. Aside from that, I see a future of trying to get software designed for Mac or PC to work reasonably well. That doesn't spell doom for Linux - it's just the current and foreseeable reality.

Most people that complain that Linux isn't ready for the desktop are complaining about not being able to run specific applications, so it's not ready for mainstream use. Who cares? I use linux on MY desktop because it's an amazing programming environment. Multimedia people use OSX (or at least used to) because it is great for multimedia. If spreadsheets are your thing, use Windows. I dont understand what the fuss is about, if it doesn't match your needs, don't use it. I use Linux on my desktop and I couldn't care less if you do or not.

Right. It's hard I think for people to remember that Linux distros are just another program -- even more so, now that we've developed virtualization tools. I spend most of my time in a Kubuntu Linux VM within Windows because my workplace coordinates via Windows applications (Outlook and Spark) but my actual work is strongly enhanced by scripting, ssh, text editors with good grepping and syntax highlighting (usually Kate but also vim from the command line), and a bunch of version control work.

Speaking as someone who uses Kubuntu also as a day-to-day Linux environment at home, Kubuntu will do about 90% of what you want to do. I've not had problems with browsing the web, handling network drives, seamlessly connecting to bluetooth, taking a picture with my webcam, calling for hours on Skype, writing an office document and distributing it via email as a PDF, or drawing on a PDF with my touchscreen and saving those annotations for later use. KDE also makes things like screen captures and configuring your toolbars and such really easy, and creating a button to make Chromium open in Incognito mode for day-to-day less-tracked browsing was not too hard.

Most Linux environments will do something astonishing which Windows doesn't do: you tell it to install something and it will handle the details of going out and fetching it and installing it on your computer (i.e. an app-store). You can just say one day, "hey, I want lighttpd running on this computer so that I can share this image with a friend without putting it on an image-hosting site," and it'll be rapidly accomplished and ready for your use.

What it will not do, includes Microsoft Silverlight (hence Netflix).

> Most people that complain that Linux isn't ready for the desktop are complaining about not being able to run specific applications, so it's not ready for mainstream use.

I complain because Linux on the desktop keeps going backwards. The Gnome 3 transition is probably the most recent example of this. For me, Linux is actually further away from being a useful general purpose desktop than it was five years ago; the desktop development process seems to be to make progress then oooh squirrel.

If spreadsheets are your thing, by all means use Windows (I understand it is rather user friendly), but don't for heaven's sake use Excel -- it cannot accurately calculate a standard deviation: http://www.npl.co.uk/mathematics-scientific-computing/numeri...

Well, the article is from a website that runs on the original ASP... just saying.

Honestly, I'm not surprised. It's been a long time coming.

The mental burden of having to learn something entirely new (without much guidance) can be frustrating - especially if you're forced to make the switch. Think about the last time you learnt a new programming language that was very different from what you're used to. E.g. going from a C style language to a LISP, or to something like Scala from C with no background on the JVM.

For most people, the thought of installing Ubuntu or whatnot would not cross their mind if their PC/laptop came with Windows. Nevermind that the average user just knows how to turn a PC on/off and use a few programs/websites. One reason why I think the LiMux revolution didn't sit too well is that the precedent for user experience nowadays are set on mobile platforms where everything is extremely convenient and require little or no configuration - it just 'works'.

Linux systems on the other hand tend to require a lot of intervention/hand-holding (e.g. chmod) and rarely come with wizards to simplify processes (e.g. try installing an unsupported USB WIFI adapter). The world would be a different place if kids grew up using Linux instead of Windows :). For that reason I vowed to teach my son some Linux basics and a few programming languages when he becomes older.

I'm sorry if this is negative of me.

1. Linux is a kernel. It is not the user land necessarily and really that's all this post seems to be about. * Him being unable to run Skype and do his dumb Windows things. 2. I feel sorry for people who try to convert to Linux or Mac and try and keep the same applications; and the same workflow. * Do you like driving your Pinto like it's a Tesla S Roadsters? if so you might like this blog post.

I agree with @tarminian that pcmag.com has run out of time and this post was a waste.

No, pcmag.com has run out of time. Linux will continue.

Shhh. For God's sake don't tell my desktop and laptops. They've been running Linux (and UNIX before that) for over 20 years.

Right. It's dead. Everyone stop using it. Because the author's wife needs to use microsoft office.

Clickbait article is clickbait.