I think some things just need to be said:
@mrprogguy said:
Some bullet points:
* Linux (and indeed, Unix, Solaris, and all the other variants) are OSes for people who like to get their hands dirty. That wouldn't include my senior-citizen parents or in-laws. That doesn't include most people.
This I think is manifestly false. The desktop user oriented distrubutions (SuSE/Redhat/Ubuntu) are as easy to install as Windows (i.e., my grandmother cannot do it, but anyone at least marginally skilled with computers can), and as long as you are "www and internet are the same thing, right?" kind of user, you won't notice any significant differences in usage.
@mrprogguy said:
* Having so many different distributions of Linux simply confuses the marketplace. Having 25 brands of clothes-washing detergent is okay because all the brands operate the same; pour detergent into washer, add clothes, close lid. Unfortunately, all those Linux distros are not quite so interchangeable. This causes low adoption among the potential consumer base. (It ain't all about the code, kiddies. The world of commerce is larger than that.)
This would be true, if all the different distributions of Linux were aimed at the same kind of usage. However, you want different things from a distro you would place on your grandmothers computer, from the one you use as your desktop, from the one you would place on mission-critical servers, from the one running your cellphone, ... Of course, there is a lot of choice even if you decide what you want, but that is unavoidable. I agree that this has some unpleasant consequences, although I still prefer the fact that the competition makes the things move forward.
@mrprogguy said:
* The drivers still aren't where they need to be.
In last three years, I did not have a problem with getting drivers for linux (in fact, most of the things worked out of the box, the only exception being that I had to download drivers for wifi separately). Although I agree the drivers problem is far from solved, there certainly have been much of progress.