FC21我的观点
As someone who follows the comments posted in Planet Ubuntu (http://planet.ubuntu.com/), Slashdot (http://slashdot.org/) and Digg (http://digg.com/), I notice a continuing and rising trend of Linux experts deriding PC users who mention that they run Ubuntu. They correct the Ubuntu users by saying that they run Linux instead. Educating people is one thing; pushing new users back to Windows is something else. Even developers from other distributions have jumped into the fray and voiced their frustration that Linux is not just Ubuntu[1]. The backlash from the general Linux community is surprising and disappointing. Are they all afraid of success and going mainstream? It seems that way.
What they all fail to understand is that having a popular distribution spreading virally all over the Internet via news stories, advocacy and even blogs is good for Linux and not just for Ubuntu. If Microsoft has taught us anything, it's that the most important thing is mind-share, not stability, security or usability! When people use a computer, they almost universally have an expectation that it's going to be Windows -- it's taken for granted. Why is that? Could it be because Windows is nearly ubiquitous, and isn't that the problem?
As Microsoft's market share is eroded by market stagnation, apathy and the lack of innovation, we should be converting people to Linux, not standing in the wings, watching people flock to Apple's Macs. We should not be standing by, watching the erosion of one monopoly with the creation of another!
All this useless infighting within the community over Ubuntu's success is energy better spent advocating FOSS. If non-Linux users are drawn into Linux by Ubuntu, then isn't this a good thing? What made Ubuntu popular? I will tell you it is accessibility and support -- the one thing that has drawn in the users. Nothing will make someone run back to Windows quicker that a condescending 'expert' who belittles them. Make no mistake, no matter what the propaganda says, there is a steep learning curve between Windows and Linux, especially if you want to do more than browse the Web or use OpenOffice.
Canonical's 'humanising' of Ubuntu was a stroke of genius. Branding a complex piece of open-source software as accessible and providing a free and extensive network of hand-holding was its killer app. This is its message to other distributions: our methodology is not patented by Canonical; if you want to compete with Ubuntu, emulate don't denigrate! And here is a message to expert users everywhere: if someone asks “Do you know of a good paint package for Ubuntu”, the answer should be GIMP and not a lecture explaining that Linux is not Ubuntu. You are not educating the person by correcting their comment, you are marginalising them by highlighting their lack of knowledge.
The Linux community has been given a golden opportunity by Canonical that shouldn't be missed. If the price it pays is that the general population confuses Ubuntu with being Linux, then so be it. If Ubuntu 'embraces and extends' in the Linux community, isn't this something to be commended? The FOSS community is consolidating. This is as natural as forking -- don't fight it, push it.
Linux is widely seen as difficult, fragmented, server-only, and above all niche, an operating system for geeks and hackers, not suitable for your home PC. Let's prove them wrong.
