Go to:

IT Jobs

The maturing expectations of desktop operating systems have given Linux a better chance than ever of denting the desktop - even as they have helped down Windows Vista, says Linus Torvalds.

In a recently published interview with the Linux Foundation, Torvalds said he believes desktop operating systems have become far more stable than in the 1990s, even as the capabilities of hardware continue to expand dramatically.

Desktops changed dramatically during the 1990s, mainly because of the Internet boom, but since then have become more or less a known quantity, in Torvalds' view.

Ten years ago, it was difficult for Linux to make any headway against Microsoft, because Microsoft was able to keep "moving the goalposts" in a period where people expected new features to be added to the desktop.

But the situation has become more stable now, which has contributed to Vista's adoption troubles, Torvalds said.

"One the reasons people are having issues with Vista now, is that it’s much harder to – for one company - to kind of change the market and when the market has matured," he said. "People today are not probably using the desktop all that differently from what they were five years ago, which didn’t used to be true."

At the same time, this could give Linux an opening, because it puts the open source operating system on a more level playing field against Microsoft, Torvalds argued.

"Now you can’t have one company that kind of tries to move the goal post, because if it keeps trying to move the goal post, that’s just going to irritate that company’s own constituents," he said.

Linux is best known as a server operating system, but surprisingly, Torvalds said he has never personally been interested in Linux on the server.

"I have never, ever even run a Linux server and I don’t even want to; it’s not what I’m interested in," he said. "The Linux desktop is why I got into Linux in the first place. I mean, I have never, ever cared about really anything but the Linux desktop."

Indeed, in Torvalds' view kernel developers often have the desktop as their top priority - or at least the features of it that are necessary to developers.

"Maybe servers is a huge market, when you actually look at developers, what developers interact with all the time is their workstation, their desktop," he said. "That's the area where you really eat your own dog food and where you really end up seeing the fruits of your labour."

Torvalds also revealed that he is highly competitive, and is personally motivated by competition within the developer community.

"I work weekdays, I work weekends, I work 52 weeks a year," he said. "I don’t want there to be any question of who’s the best maintainer."

Latest White Papers

10 key actions to reduce IT infrastructure and operations cost structure
>> Download whitepaper

Using managed services to reduce costs and sustain growth in mid-sized organisations
>> Download whitepaper

Unleashing the power of iLO, IPMI and other service processors
>> Download whitepaper

Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

% of Techworld readers agree with you

Yes

TBC

No

TBC

What tasks can your smartphone do that would have traditionally been done on a laptop?

Tweet your answer here...

Twitter account details

Username: Password:

Don't worry, your login info is sent through the secure Twitter API and is not stored.

119 characters remaining

Follow the conversation at @SmartphoneFocus