What's Holding Linux Back?

Difficult Installation of the OS and Applications

Installation of the core OS has become a breeze compared to the early days. Again, Corel was fantastic here, but Mandrake 8.x is not far behind. Red Hat and others are also improving installation routines for the OS, so I don't see that this is going to be a problem. I do still have some serious concerns about hardware identification and configuration, however. KDE may have improved things a bit, but they still don't give end-users as much help as they may need when they first get started in Linux. I would like to see something akin to a fully-functional device and system manager in every distribution. Again, Mandrake is working towards some improvements, but you should not have to resort to running LinuxConf and Xfree86config to get the job done. The management should be in a single dialog and as bullet-proof and simple to use as you can make it. There should be no need to drill down through six different levels and execute a variety of different configuration utilities. When I can control minute details of my video system, sound system, storage system and network hardware from a single interface that actually works 100% of the time, I will be able to look Windows people in the eye and tell them that Linux has something better.

Individual application installation could be done better, but I think it is also headed in the right direction, just not as fast. Packet managers are getting stronger and easier to use all of the time, and update utilities are making it easier to get "point" releases and bug fixes. However, there is still the need to manually gather and compile various libraries and programs in order to get the most out of your system. If you want to expand the Linux user base to include Windows folks, you have to make it easier to do.

When I first downloaded Star Office, I was impressed with how simple the installation was. In fact, it reminded me of installing a program on Windows or the Mac, and I thought to myself "Why can't every Linux program be this easy to install?" While those well versed in Linux may laugh at my ignorance, I assure you, convenience should not be under-rated. I am a command-line hack from way back, but even I love simplicity when it comes to the basics. I'm capable of opening a console, firing up Midnight Commander and editing the configuration files manually, but why should I have to now that I've been spoiled by GUI installs? That, I'm afraid, is what many users will be thinking. They want to be able to pop in their CD, have it auto-mount and have the thing install with a few configuration options thrown in for good measure. I don't think they want to go grab some "install.c" file and take care of business the old fashioned way...