Linus Torvalds still wants Linux to take over the desktop

jeremy · 08-13-2016, 12:28 PM

Quote:

We all know Linus Torvalds doesn’t like keynotes. This year was the first time he kind of delivered a keynote at the Embedded Linux Conference. It took the form of a discussion with friend, fellow scuba diver and chief Linux and Open Source Technologist at Intel, Dirk Hohndel.

Here are some of the most interesting things Torvalds said during that discussion.

25 years of Linux

Torvalds announced the kernel back in 1991 and this August Linux will turn 25 years old. Hohndel asked him that at what point in these 25 years Torvalds realized that one day “you would use your Linux phone to connect through Linux based routers to a high powered Linux based data center when AI helps you pick which Linux based device to buy next?”

Torvalds replied that "it didn't happen overnight. There's no single point where I was surprised, really. The surprising hardware is from 15 years ago when people started using Linux.” He noted that about 15 years ago, or slightly longer, we started seeing these odd embedded uses. The first one he remembers was a gas pump that was running Linux. “They wanted to monetize their gas pumps by showing commercials on them. It was running Linux. That made me go, 'Whoa.' Then everything else, all the other Linux uses, have been very gradual, and a lot of them have been completely invisible. There's a lot of Linux uses that even I don't at all see, and I'm not aware of.”

Failure of Linux on the desktop

While Linux pretty much dominates almost every walk of our lives, even on the consumer devices like smartphones and smart TVs, it has not had the same success on the desktop. What does Torvalds think about it? Is Linux a failure on the desktop? Not really. “The desktop hasn't really taken over the world like Linux has in many other areas, but just looking at my own use, my desktop looks so much better than I ever could have imagined. Despite the fact that I'm known for sometimes not being very polite to some of the desktop UI people, because I want to get my work done. Pretty is not my primary thing. I actually am very happy with the Linux desktop, and I started the project for my own needs, and my needs are very much fulfilled. That's why, to me, it's not a failure. I would obviously love for Linux to take over that world too, but it turns out it's a really hard area to enter. I'm still working on it. It's been 25 years. I can do this for another 25. I'll wear them down.”

More at CIO.com...

--jeremy

rokytnji · 08-13-2016, 02:49 PM

My take is Gnu/Linux took over the used Desktop market. Mostly outside of the USA.

You would be surprised at the retirees I have converted over. But I need to be the one to do
the install and make sure their hardware is recognized and is functional.

Then after that . They are rabid fan boys like some teenagers are. It is funny once a person has everything working and they pick up the basics. Then the whole tune they dance to changes.