Why do we not use Open Source OS such as Ubuntu instead of windows?

Question

Open Source software has been around for a long time now and it pretty much in a stage where it rivals windows in many ways, there have been tons of articles about Ubuntu,Fedora,Suse and many other distros. So why do we use windows and keep paying Microsoft for crappy OS? Ubuntu for example is way easier than windows to use and comes with tons of free software.

http://www.ubuntu.com

Answer 1

It is a sort of cycle. Since most other people have Windows, to get full advantage of our computer, we install Windows too to make sure there are no incompatibilities. Since we have Windows, other people also buy so that they don't have incompatibilities.

Answer 2

Open Source is definitely taking over. But trust me friend it has a long way to go.

5 Years back if u can say u can install Linux u are considered as a Hardware Guru. The same days when every one installed windows very easily.

Open Source OS have improved a lot since then and now are as easy to install as windows.

But when you talk about in a Production Environment people prefer Microsoft because of the support available from Microsoft.

There are no open Source OS that offer the same level of support.

And the other reason is go with the wind. 90% of Computers are running Windows, so industry is following the trend.

Answer 3

I keep seeing this kind of question pop up... and I always ask - Why would you want to transfer from something you have paid for (meaning it will be of higher qulity) in favour of a free open source OS (being free, meaning it's going to be a lot less user friendly, smooth running, compatable'ness)?? But, to actually answer the question - All I would say is that it can take time depending on how much you know. The less you know, obviously it's going to take more time. If you are willing to put in those extra hours to learn how to use it properly, or to simply get things to work, then yes, all for it! Just be sure you do want to make the switch though - there are somethings that will need quite a bit of tampering to get working. Beside all that, there is a very active and helpful online community for Linux distros. They will help you with anything you can't figure out yourself - granted that you have actually tried to solve whatever problem has arose yourself first.

Answer 4

The problem is that sometimes when you make a decision, then it becomes very expensive to change it.
In regional economics that's called "path dependency" (why a firm, a town, a productive center.. established itself in this -now questionable- place instead of in this -now would be perfect- location?). In ICT the same phenomena is called "vendor-lock-in".
20 years ago there wasn't any other viable alternative, so people has been started to use Windows, MS Office and Visual Basic.
Driver has been wrote for Windows users, documents has been created in MS Office format, and programs has been developed using Visual Basic.
Even if now there are much better alternatives, switch to them is very expensive, both on a single company point of view and on a whole-society p.o.v..
This is also why developing country have higher share of open source software. They have "less lo loose", so the vendor-lock-in effect in that countries have much less effect.

Answer 5

Most people believe Windows is better, because they haven't tried Linux lately. They also still believe there are lots of compatibility issues, not true anymore.

If they would only try a free Ubuntu / Kubuntu LIVE CD, they wouldn't be so quick to judge.

Maybe they enjoy removing virii, trojans, worms, spy ware, etc. more than actually using their computer productively.

I'm a Windows tech support guy ONLY because that's where the money is.

Answer 6

Several reasons:
1. Hardware support is not there yet. This is especially true with Hardware Accelerations (graphics) issues and wireless adapters.
2. Software is still somewhat unstable at times, depending on the manufacturer. This also applies to updating/patching software packages. This process is far from streamlined.
3. Lack of support. This not only refers to distributors (many only have online forums, etc), but also to real people who know/work with open source software on a regular basis.

Answer 7

Because most users, don't want to leave their comfort zone. They are afraid to change, as windows was here earlier than Linux. In my experience you can not convince users to change their working environment to Linux or Open source over night you got to make their transformation by phase or step-by-step. Say, first make them use and familiarize in using Open office instead of MS Office, coz this is a software that most ordinary users use. Then you can make them transform gradually to Linux, be it Mandriva 2007, Ubuntu 7.04, Fedora 6 or any Linux distro u want them to use. I still remember in our LAMP group (Linux, Apache, mySQL, PHP/Perl) that one of our strategy to make Linux more popular is to make Internet Cafe use Linux, this the place where most ordinary users go and use computers.

When it comes to support, I don't recall back in time that MS people go to my place and fix my OS. When it comes to documentation, well have you ever downloaded an MS Reference manual online for free?? In open source a lot of opensource manuals are downlable for free. And when t comes to bug fixing, I don't have to wait for the next patch release just to fix the bugs. Just post your issue and in several days a bug fix can be already download, that what Open source is all about, a lot of eyes is on the source code. You see guys, I don't hate Microsoft Windows, it's just I don't like it!

Quote: To Avoid the Gates of Darkeness, use LAMP.

Answer 8

Good question Reya.

Sadly, the real answer is market share, not software quality or value. M$ is hyper-sensitive about its strangle hold on the market and goes to incredible extremes to keep it.

In Africa, for example, where Linux (esp. Ubuntu) is becoming popular, M$ practically gives away their OS. They create / donate entire computer centers in such nations.

It's altruism with a devious intent.

Answer 9

Not enough people take the time to think about it and really do something about. A lot of people I know don't even know what their OS is. They don't take time to learn about really anything in the computing world except Google and MySpace.
It is also that a lot of the programs & games in windows don't run in open source.

Answer 10

Because the majority of people think of computers as appliances - the buy it, plug it in and use it. They don't think about things like the operating system, they just use what came on the computer because that's how it is. People also dislike change and having to learn new things. And while there has been publicity for open source software, it really doesn't reach the average user.