Why the Linux Desktop Just Won't Work! and why Linux depresses me

Why having Linux on the desktop of Aunt Tille is a myth.

I've had a few trials running over last year, set up at family members. New computer? Let's install Morphix on them (I had used both Gnome and Light installs) and see how far you get. The users weren't very technical, on the contrary even. I regularly went around to their places, updated their boxes and sometimes switched applications (Mozilla for Firebird-Firefox for example). They all gave it their best shot, however at the end they prefered to have Windows back. I didn't drag them into this, and they gave Debian a fair shot. In the end, it just didn't work out.

- the pro's They were thrilled at the start of the trials that they didn't have to worry about virusses. Mostly being threats that they were only half-aware about, it gave them a peace of mind. Spam still was an issue, however this was just a minor annoyance that everyone deals with.

My users were able to quickly get used to their new interface. Gnome or XFCE, it didn't really matter. I did set up the systems that they only had to click a single icon for the most-used programs, but they quickly were able to navigate the menus and enjoyed trying out various other applications (especially the Gnome games).

Email and instant messaging was a no-brainer. My users easily got used to Gaim (although setting up new accounts was rather complicated for them), and Evolution and Thunderbird proved to be good subsbreastutes for Outlook Express.

Both OpenOffice and Abiword were useful enough. Although there were problems importing and exporting Word documents, all in all word processing wasn't a hurdle for them.

- the con's What was the main issue haunting my users? It came from an unexpected direction: incompatible websites. All users noted this as the main reason why they wanted to switch back. Even though Firefox usage has been increasing quite a lot lately, there are zillions of websites that are still being made strictly IE-only.

Why was I surprised? Well, because I don't use these sites. Being a geek, you traverse only the websites that work for you. You don't depend on IE-only websites. Other people do, however. Banking, Dating, community and chat sites, MSN. Sites that geeks like me don't depend on, however for my users this was totally different. They were part of their social lives, and even the slightest annoyances are still annoying, and can become unacceptable.

Banking websites are even more critical. In this case the Rabobank's site has been the biggest a turn-off. Thanks to a collection of weird Javascript and ActiveX, my users were continuously annoyed at not being able to depend on their internet banking service. It did work... sometimes. When it comes to finances, 'sometimes' is not good enough. I've personally contacted the Rabobank a number of times to ask them about their support for Firefox and Opera, and ask (no, beg!) them to adhere to web standards, however this hasn't lead anywhere. VerizonWireless is yet another site that will not work with Linux and firefox or konqueror. You can browse the site but you can't pay your bills online. It lets you in but when you submit it you are bounced back to the original screen and you don't even know if your payment has been accepted (it hasn't).

Where there more con's? Sure, there have been issues with photo cameras, burning CD's and even a filesystem corruption. But these were all fixable. I came around every 3-4 weeks, fixed a few small issues, and they were content again but only until the next problem which didn't take long to surface.

Yet, in an age were everything is done via the web, people depend on web services. People depend on being able to book their holiday via the net. People depend on being able to upload their photos or read web mail. And people depend on IE-only websites. This is reality, and there's not much to be done about it.

For this reason, and for this reason only, is it important for Firefox Opera-using visitors seriously can Linux really take over the desktop. Everything else is fixable locally, except for the dependancy on ye ol' Internet Explorer. For this reason, and for this reason only, does Microsoft want to remain in control of the web browser. And for this reason only will John Doe not accept Linux on his desktop at home. Depressing, but true.