Linux losing stability?

[Jason Spatafore]

On Thu, 2009-09-03 at 21:38 -0700, Dazed_75 wrote:
> On the other hand, I tend to agree with most of what he says taken
> literally.  IOW, it is NOT Linux that lacks stability (I think the
> title was intended to provoke).  And while it would be ideal if the
> ever changing AND improving desktop experience is hugely beneficial,
> the missed details do not help us gain mass acceptance.

The desktop market that Linux is entering into is definitely not stable.
Many packages on the desktop platform are in the 0.x.x phase, meaning
they are not full production releases (take compiz for example). So,
compiz is a 3D desktop and people think "AWESOME!". And it's really
cool...when it works. BUT, it is not stable. Many pieces of software
designed to enhance the user experience are very much in beta phases but
are included in full releases. 

Linux is being hurt by this because people will come to know it as
unstable, which could bleed over to the server market. Look at XSane in
Ubuntu 8.04...release version is 0.995. However, works great for me. But
does it work great for thousands of others? Why is it not full
production release yet after it's been in development for over a decade
now?

Then you got people "jumping the gun" on production releases, such as
the network manager problem people have quoted. We're at 7.x and it's
still not stable? 

But there's another argument that is all too good. You didn't pay for a
Linux distro...you paid for others, and the stability is equal. So, when
you take all that into account, you're not *paying to be a beta tester*
with Linux distros. And that's the key difference. But that excuse will
only last for so long. Remember, Linux has a huge shortcoming on the
Desktop: Gaming. Until gaming is embraced in Linux, the home user is out
of reach. (Although I do remember seeing an advertisement for a
Diablo-like game that is coming out soon. Forgot what that was.)  

That's my take on the whole thing. The author is right..there is
instability. But the author didn't take into account that even on the
desktop, Linux is just as stable as Windows and Mac. The same problems
plague them all. 

And I didn't bring viruses into the discussion yet for a reason. :)