Regarding ease of use

I used to use both Slackware and Gentoo distros, and indeed, while not really hard there was some work to be done to get them working.

Eventually I decided that, no matter how much I liked maintaining my system, it was more important that it got working fast. So I tried Ubuntu.

It installed itself with a dual boot in less 30 minutes, with only seven steps being one of those "Importing user data from Windows XP" in case you wanted it to, the other ones usually had very helpful defaults. Now after 6 months with my system running I've already let my pc on for several days without any kinds of errors or breaks. Updates are available daily, but the system respects me and doesn't install them behind my back. If I ever need a program on anything, I can just Google "Linux program 'thing it is supposed to do'", and I usually find a comparison of available Linux software to do it, which can all be readily downloaded from a simple interface tool like synaptic (without any internet scavenge hunt of any sort). Also I can run Office or any other Windows tools I might need via Wine, so that's not really a problem.

My Windows XP however, was installed on the same day, and crashes somewhat often. It's installation took a few minutes longer (not much), but had many more configuration steps. When the installation was done, I had to install a bunch of drivers (of things that weren't plug'n'pray) or update them. There were incompatibilities with my hardware which I read to go through some forums to work out, and now it works, only crashing twice a week or so.

Concerning business: Linux and FreeBSD dominate the server market. M$ and DOS software can be run in Linux (DOS software even running better on Linux than on Windows), so this statement "That is why Linux cannot become a big player in the market yet." is false. What it lacks is acceptance.

What I believe should happen in years to come is, some people will start accepting that GNU/Linux is a better alternative, considering cost and stability. Usability is constantly being improved, and I already know many non-programmers who would rather use Linux over Windows any day. But that's because they took a shot at it.

Those are my thoughts anyhow.
lkt153