I might not be able to throw in fancy developers arguments in the discussion, but has anybody tried the last PCLinuxOS or the last Ubuntu on "normal" hardware (not the latest hotest thing)... and then connected with wifi, browsed the web with firefox, opened media files, used OpenOffice, print something, scanned something, entered some contacts in evolution, etc.... All fairly normal stuff (and some more… all for free)? I mean, I've been able to install PCLinuxOS without touching anything on 4 different machines (2 laptops, 2 Desktops). The most I had to do was to look for binaries for an ATI (X1400) card. Experiences will vary, of course., but that's not much worse than installing windows.
I am not talking about bleeding edge hardware - I have GeForce 7300 cards, Soundblaster Audigy 2, Canon pixma ip5000 printer, Canon 3200F scanner. I have yet to find a single version of Linux that can install fully operational drivers for any of that hardware. My printer is 2-3 years old (and now obsolete), likewise the scanner, Audigy 2 is old hat and GeForce 7300 is hardly cutting edge!!
WiFi seems to be a pretty universal problem unless you specifically downgrade to a few ancient adpaters that linux can cope with (and you would probably have to scour eBay to find one).
While I am on about this (yet again) I have had about 5 printers over the last few years and CUPs has signally failed to do a good job with any of them - and I have used various HP, Canon and Lexmark printers during attempts to get Linux working - non 'cutting edge' and all pretty main stream. About the best I could achieve with any of them was to specify a non-native print resolution, select a paper size (but still get it poorly aligned). Photo printing was very poor even on my best printer.
Until these issues are taken seriously Linux is not fit for purpose for the majority of people with the majority of hardware. There is growing pressure to supply computers without an OS so that Linux can be installed - almost by definition any PC purchased off the counter today will not work properly with Linux.
Finally while any operating system requires users to go into console mode with very limited documentation and tinker with cryptic commands - each with hundreds of switches, using utilities that are scattered to the four winds by competing distros it really can only be described as a geek's heaven.
My big issue is that Linus is largely written by geeks, for geeks and they want it to stay that way - it certainly isn't aimed at people who find it difficult to format a hard disk and install Windows (which is by far the majority of users).
What does Linux need? IMO: time, patience, work, more big corporations’ commitment (e.g. : Novel, IBM) and also countries-governments’ involvement (Turkey, China, India, France… you name it : http://www.news.com/....html?tag=st.ref.goo ). Seems obvious, maybe, but I don’t see how better drivers, better software, etc. ALONE can really make any difference… they now have to be backed by strong leadership (important and influential figures), big money and big populations. Yes, Michael Shuttleworth is in it for the money, So is Novel and Sun, and since they’ve been involved with Linux, it has progressed more quickly.
Without better drivers and software availability how are these goals going to be achieved? You certainly won't get a big user population - which has a negative effect on company commitment. Novel and Sun have an axe to grind - they are both out to shaft Microsoft at almost any cost (mostly because they feel they have been shafted in the past).
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