The year of Linux – When will it be?

Every year, there is talk of how Linux is poised to take the world by storm, and after close to twenty years of existence, Linux is still waiting for this day. I have always wondered; when is the year of Linux going to be? Most fanatic Linux proponents seem to get some consolation in believing in such a day when Linux will overtake Windows in terms of market share. Well, in as much as I am a Linux proponent, I am not blind to the hard facts on the ground.

Windows is the dominant desktop OS for a reason. Despite its massive flaws, millions of people still cling to it with all their lives. Why? Because Windows was made for such people- the granny, the pregnant woman, the plumber, the guy who just got his first computer- it is to such people that Windows was made. The developers of Linux distros have got to seriously define to which segment of the market they are making their systems. If they are making it for normal people like me and the other one billion people out there, then they seriously have to focus on usability.

I know distros like Ubuntu and Fedora have done alot in terms of usability, but even those distros still have a long way to go. There simply cannot be a year of Linux when the terminal- the very nightmare of a lot of people- still dominates the Linux desktop.

There is never going to be such a  year as the year of Linux until Linux developers come to terms with the fact that they have got to make Linux for normal people. More and more people want an alternative to Windows, that is a fact, but Linux just does not seem to know how to take advantage of such shift in tastes.Until these five simple but very serious hurdles are cleared, I am afraid to say there is not going to be any such year as the year of Linux.