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Posts in Dreams
At the beginning of December, I asked you to submit your dreams for Linux. Yesterday I announced the most popular dreams for Linux. They were quite predictable, but that just shows there are certain issues that are important to a lot of people (and also that they are difficult issues to change.) However, there were also some unexpected dreams in the mix. Those ideas make up today’s list of the most interesting dreams for Linux.
It should be noted that I did not take into consideration whether or not the following dreams seemed realistic or probable.
- A Commercial Distribution with an End-User Focus Submitted by Petros Koutoupis. The majority of commercial Linux distributions focus on the enterprise and server areas, rather than on the end-user desktop. The biggest exception is Canonical, but Petros Koutoupis believes they have “spread themselves too thin.” For example, a Canonical-like company focused on education could be ideal for furthering Linux on the desktop.
- Dual-boot PCs Straight from the Manufacturer Submitted by valmorel. Valmorel proposed that, since many people initially dual-boot their PCs in the process of transitioning, computer manufacturers start selling computers that dual-boot Windows and Linux out of the box.
- Training from the Computer Manufacturer Submitted by Sn3f3ru. Dell offers computers with Linux, but they are so hidden that it almost seems like they are doing it grudgingly (or Microsoft is allowing it grudgingly
.) Sn3f3ru’s dream is that computer manufacturers would take a more active role in training the user about Linux. - Linux for PDAs and Phones Submitted by Eddy. Linux on phones and PDAs has been rapidly gaining attention, particularly with Google’s Android. Still, you can’t easily install Linux on your existing phone. Eddy’s dream is to be able to replace whatever software comes on your phone with Linux.
Well, those are some of the dreams I thought were the most interesting. Feel free to point out the ones you find most interesting in your comments.
Forty-some responses (they got split up) and nearly a month after initially asking for your Linux dreams, it is time to look at the most popular dreams made in 2008 for 2009.
Let me once again clarify: these are not meant to be realistic or probable. They are simply dreams. Every time I ask for dream submissions or discuss the top dreams, someone, invariably, has to point out that one of them is totally unrealistic. You have been warned.
And now, the most popular dreams for Linux are…
- More Games! What were you expecting?
- Better Hardware Support Seriously, what were you expecting?
- More Software for Linux. Now that’s a shocker. Amazingly, the top request was Adobe software. Never heard that before. (</sarcasm>)
- and finally… More Adoption of Linux Wow. Didn’t see that coming.
OK. So thre was nothing suprising on that list, but I think that makes a point. The most wanted things for Linux aren’t crazy, strange features, but simple compatibility issues. Really everything on this list comes down to the last one: more adoption of Linux. If more people adopted Linux there would be more software, better hardware support, and more games. The basic lesson here is that bringing more people to Linux matters and that the way to do that is to make Linux more user friendly and generally better. Those are not criticisms, just goals that every operating system should always strive for.
Reminder: Submit Your Linux Dream – Deadline: 2 PM on Thursday (Eastern Time)
Don’t forget to submit your dream for Linux! The deadline for submission is 2 PM Eastern time on Thursday, January 1st. (If your late, go ahead and submit anyway, I wouldn’t really close submissions until I get around to printing them out.) Submissions will be looked over and the most popular and/or interesting ones will be featured in a post.
As a reminder, please submit your Linux dream.
Today I wanted to share my top five dreams for 2008. Once again, if you didn’t read the original post (see above), these are not supposed to be realistic, just dreams for the future of Linux.
- Better artwork in Ubuntu and other distributions. Artwork may not be the most important thing in a distribution, but it definitly makes an impression and contributes to your experience using your computer.
- More solid options for computers pre-installed with Linux. We already have Dell, System76, and ZaReason, but more would be even better. Ideally, every major OEM would sell machines with Linux.
- Perfect WINE support for Windows applications. I would love to be able to install and use any piece of Windows software easily. This would also be great for users migrating to Linux.
- Stabler, less buggy Linux. Linux is already very stable and generally works quite well, but when something does mess up, it is very annoying. I would love to see a bug-free Linux.
- More mainstream attention to Linux. Linux already gets a little attention in the mainstream media, both tech and non-tech, but it would nice to see it covered just as much as Windows or OS X.
Those are just my dreams for the coming year. You can submit yours here.
A few days ago I asked for your dreams for Linux in 2009. At the time I promised to invite you to share your ideas for implementing some of the dreams shared on the original post. I have already received a fantastic response to the original post, so I decided to go ahead and offer the first sub-dream opportunity.
Petros Koutoupis suggested this as part of his dream in response to the original post:
“As a good example, the foundation of the Microsoft Windows platform rests on three unstable pillars. If one were to fall, the rest will follow. These pillars are: (1) Education, (2) Productivity and (3) Multimedia related. The easiest and more influential to go after initially would be education. Not only would it be cheaper for a school to deploy and run the Linux Operating System but the students come out with familiarity in the platform. By the time they go into their respective careers, the seed would have been planted. It also would not stop a student from purchasing a Linux-based PC for their home computing seeing how they would be familiar with it at school.”
The question for you today, then, is how would you like to see Linux expand further in to education?
Just leave your idea for how Linux could succeed in education in a comment below.
Considering that I have been writing daily posts basically without missing a day for around a year now, there is obviously a lot happening in the world of Linux and open-source software. The question is: what do you want to happen in this upcoming year? Last year I asked for reader’s Linux dreams, and received a great response, so this year I am doing it again.
If you don’t remember from last year, the idea is to see what people would like to see happen in the upcoming year (related to Linux, of course). The “dreams” do not have to be realistic, specific, general, or anything, although they can be. The only rule is that they must be something you would like to see happen to Linux in the next year. To get an idea for this, check our the most popular dreams from last year.
This year, though, I am also adding another component. Throughout the process, I may pick out specific dreams/ideas and ask for broad ideas of how this could be accomplished. If this all sounds complicated, it really isn’t that hard. Here is an example:
A commenter responds to this post says “I would like to see more netbooks running major LInux distributions, not lesser-known distributions.” I might then pick that wish out and put it into a new post, asking for suggestions of how this might happen. Another commenter might come along to this new post and suggest that every major distribution should contact one manufacturer and try to get on their netbooks.
For now all you have to do is leave a comment with whatever you would like to see happen to Linux in the next year, realistic or not. The deadline will be around the end of December and will be announced when we get closer.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Most Popular/Interesting Wishes for Linux in 2008
A few days ago, I asked readers to give their wishes for Linux in 2008. (Realistic or not.) Thank you very much for all the thoughtful responses. I read through them all and came up with this list of the most popular/interesting ones.
- Better hardware support and certification for Linux
- A standardized and easy to use system for installing/uninstalling software
- Get rid of the terminal and editing of text config files – perhaps “get rid of” is too strong, but make it hidden
- A consistent and pleasing look and feel across the entire distro
- An easy to use and powerful video editing application for Linux
- More/commercial games available for Linux
- Every program ported to Linux (I never said it had to be realistic.)
I would have liked to see some less standard ideas, but perhaps it is best that all the attention be put on the most important issues. I certainly agree that all of these would be great (well, I don’t care much about the games, but that’s just me.)
Thanks again for all the responses. If anyone has additional ideas/wishes for Linux, please put them in a comment. I am always interested.
Just a quick reminder: Later today I will go through all the comments on “Our Linux Dream” and come up with a list of the most popular/interesting wishes. If you have not yet said what you want for Linux in 2008 (realistic or crazy), you still have a few hours, but you better get started.
In the coming year, I can guarantee that a lot will happen. What I want to know, though, is what you want to happen (related to Linux.) While everyone is making predictions for 2008, I decided to create a list of what I want to happen, not what I think will happen. Please leave a comment saying what you want to happen in 2008 (related in some way to Linux.) it does not have to be realistic at all, but it can be. Later this year, I will compile the most popular/interesting ones into a list. Here is what I want in 2008 as an example:
- An easy way to tell if a piece of hardware is compatible with Linux – This could be a website or a “Certified for Linux” sticker on the box. I don’t care how it works, I just want it to work.
- Microsoft Office for Linux – I don’t even use Office on Windows, but many people need perfect compatibility and, for those people and those who are just used to Office, being able to use Office on Linux natively could help them transition to Linux.
- Great photo/video editing programs for Linux – They don’t have to be professional-grade software, but something for the casual to advanced user.
- Legal codecs bundled with all/most distributions. – I don’t know how it would work, but I would love to have legal codecs bundled with most distros, not just commercial ones.
- A fresh start on the desktop – I would like to see a group of people get together and forget how people use computers and start from scratch to come up with a completely new alternative to GNOME or KDE.
Tell me what you want for Linux in 2008, so I can create a big list of the most popular/interesting ideas at the end of the year!