Will Linux ever be a popular desktop system? Take the poll, Sep 30, 2009

Linux versus Windows has been the subject of debate for quite some time, but will it (Linux) ever achieve the status of a popular desktop product that we’ll have to support? Share your opinion and take the poll.

Commercials take products and make them desirable. No matter what the product. Think about how many bad products have been sold by good commercials. The right commercial can get the public to buy a steaming pile of poo and think they have purchased gold.

Some users believe that Windows is the best netbook OS. But others - such as Jack Wallen - think Linux is a much better fit. Check out his reasons and see if you agree.

If you had to pick just one area that Linux could improve on and get the most bang for the buck, so to speak, what would it be? What would really get people’s attention or persuade someone to take a closer look at migrating to Linux?

What would it take to create a “definitive manual” for new Linux users migrating from Windows? There is one issue at the heart of the creation of any single “definitive manual” for the Linux operating system. That issue? Too many choices.

Recently I had a bit of a run-in with my daughter’s high school. She was undergoing an eShool class over the summer titled “Computer Applications” and it turns out the class only actually “covered” Office Suites - namely Microsoft Office. Now in our household we do not own a copy of Microsoft Office. Instead we use OpenOffice and have never had an issue - that is, until now.

In what looks to be an unprecedented and generous move, Microsoft announced on July 20 that it is providing 20,000 lines of code for the Linux kernel in the sum of three drivers. This is the first time Microsoft has sought to place code in the official Linux kernel, which makes this a pretty big deal. Or does it?

An IBM-sponsored survey of 1,275 IT professionals around the world asked for feedback on their experiences making the switch to Linux in their organizations.

You don’t have to settle for an OS that’s a bad fit for your netbook — there are numerous alternatives, some of which can provide a near-laptop experience.

Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst thinks so.

Ubuntu has brought Linux to the masses better than any other Linux distribution. And with its recent 9.04 release, Ubuntu has not only continued to create one of the most user-friendly operating systems available, it has made it faster and more reliable.

There’s no shortage of Web-centric Linux tools — the trick if figuring out which ones are best for your needs.

Now that you’ve decided to try Linux, you might be wondering what applications are available to perform all the tasks that you used to do on a Windows or Mac system.

A new netbook processor is in town and it promises to tip the scales to favor the Linux operating system.

Linux is a great development environment. But without sound development tools, that environment won’t do you any good. Fortunately, plenty of Linux and/or open source development tools are available.

Recently Red Hat has decided to go on the offensive with their patent strategy. With this patent Red Hat is attempting to patent “Method and apparatus to deliver messages between applications”.

There are a variety of package managers available for different Linux distributions. Mandriva uses urpmi; Debian and Ubuntu use apt. Fedora and Red Hat use yum, while Gentoo uses portage. Some distributions provide support for more than one package manager as well.

A new battle is playing out in the Linux desktop arena. This new battle? GNOME vs. KDE.

What does Linux really needs to do in order to finally reach the masses?

Here’s some guidance to the most common Linux desktops.