I am not a programmer. Sometimes I've wanted to get a T-shirt made saying this, because--as an author of Linux books--it's always assumed I am. But I'm an impostor. The last program I wrote ran on a ZX Spectrum in 1988, and then it was only to make "Keir is cool!" scroll across the screen.
What I am is a journalist and author. In other words, I'm an end-user. I'm a very good end user, as it happens. I might even be called a professional end-user. I wouldn't be able to write my books otherwise.
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I've spent a lot of time "reverse engineering" the culture of Linux. I'm so good at this that I've had conversations with programmers where they think I'm one of them. But I'm not. I can speak their language. I can apply a patch and tweak source code. But I've no idea how to make sense of that source code. I know it involves the word DEFINE a lot, and square brackets. And something called MALLOC, which sounds like a character from a Terry Pratchett book. But that's it.
I didn't study Computer Science at college. I studied literature, mostly, and bringing the (ahem) "skills" of a literature graduate to the world of Linux has been interesting.
Studying literature is all about criticism. This word has a slightly broader meaning than in the outside world. Literary criticism isn't a negative thing. To critically study a book is to take it apart--to explain its methods and meaning, in order to better our understanding of the world. It's not about being positive or negative.
Of course, value judgments can be an important part of criticism, and is seen daily in newspapers. The proponents are known as critics, and their goal is to tell you whether something is worthwhile--whether it's worthwhile seeing the latest movie, or reading the latest novel. It's a valuable service.
What's interesting about the world of Linux is that there aren't many critics within the community (there are many critics outside the community, of course, such as Microsoft people).
Most of the time the world of Linux tends to be anti-critical. If anybody in the community dares be critical, they get stomped upon.
I've made a handful of blog postings recently that have been critical of Linux (in the sense of pointing out perceived failings), and people hate it. If they explain why, it's usually a variation of the following: "Linux is free, so why are you complaining?"
The statement is an interesting one. It implies that Linux is inferior to commercial software because nobody pays for it. It supposes that the end-user of Linux just can't have the same expectations as with software he or she has paid for.
It also categorizes my comments as "complaints" when they're actually criticism--offered in good faith with the hope of making things better. There is a very important difference between a complaint (negative) and criticism (positive).
"You smell!" is a good example of a complaint.
The following is criticism: "Your body odor has become unbearable--it's clear your deodorant isn't working."
A complaint is offensive. It's a verbal attack. Genuine criticism is intended to help and often hints at a solution (get a better deodorant, dude!). Criticism might be blunt. It can be harsh. But it has genuine intentions.
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I am writer and Open Source developer (see my tutorial site TheOpenSourcery ") and I am more than in partial agreement with you. If you go to SlashDot or some of the other Linux forums - group-think reigns. This means that says no major questions about Linux development can be raised unless you rank among the anointed. Yes, you can question very local issues as to why Adobe Flash player does not work properly in a distro or what is the solution to a JavaScript error in Konqueror. But when speaking in general be positive - very positive. Apple and Microsoft observers have a derogatory name for these Linux users - Linux Fanboys - implicit is that Linux defenders are fanatic, immature,and prone to be uncivilly foul-mouthed to anyone that would dare question their OS.
Now this is not to say that there are not excellent, frank and balanced writers and Linux experts. All one has to do is go to read say Linux-Watch or Linux Journal to see major views that question the guts of Linux itself, its tools and its directions.
Yet there is one recent event that has gnawed at Linux users - the fact that Microsoft has put out on the market the worst major operating system in Vista a)among all the desktop OS currently available and b)the worst in an unfortunately long line of ungainly versions of Windows that include Windows ME, Windows 1, 2 , and 3.0 (but not 3.1) - yet Windows continues to dominate desktop OS market share losing 1-3% points to MacOS and none to Linux.
To add insult to injury, the Netbook marketplace which started with 100% Linux usage has this past Summer in 3 short months yielded back 80% market share to a resurrected and stripped down version of Windows XP on Netbooks. Now this is significant because Netbooks at 29 million units this year and growing at 60% rate stand to be the major desktop/client hardware by 2012-2014 depending on which research house you want to believe.
Now this is by no means that final word on Linux vs Windows on Netbooks as Google, Ubuntu with Remix and Intel MobLin have entered the fray - see here for the latest score sheet. However, if the Linux community and leadership is not able to be frank and honest about both the strengths and weaknesses, marshall their lean resources with some degree of priority, Microsoft will be able walk over the Linux community like Tom-Toms with divide and conquer tactics.It would be such a waste - so much good OS client software in Linux defeated by such a poor OS but backed by so much money and associated "monetary inducements and persuasions".
Linux distros have to be ready, knowing their strengths and weakneses well to take on this foe that defeated Apple's superior OS technology, DEC's superior OS technology, IBM's superior OS technology, Pen and Go's superior PenOS technology, etc. And Linux distros have to be prepared to hold sway over a huge multi-billion dollar Redmond bankroll that will be unleashed on co-marketing, legal challenges, and 3rd party development and support funds that will make the current billion dollar "I love my PC" campaign look like peanuts. If there is one thing that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows and relishes it is street fighting over OS market share. Linux vendors, sponsors, suppliers, and supporters should be prepared for an all out attack from Redmond to wipe out any take-aways of their desktop OS market share (and Netbooks still represent that Redmond vulnerability) or they should plan to stay on the sidelines and watch a very good OS get bypassed again.
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