Exploring Community Perspectives on Global Linux Adoption

There's a cartoon that made the rounds in the Linux community a few years back that I often think of at this time of year. In essence, it depicts a Linux aficionado refusing to help convince someone to switch to Linux, explaining, "If everyone's using it, I'm not cool anymore." It's a joke, of course, made funny by the fact there may just be the tiniest hint of truth underlying it, at least among some people. The reason I think of it at year's end, though, is that mainstream adoption of Linux is generally considered a goal by many in the free software community, and it's an oft-cited hope for every new year.

There are, of course, numerous critics who say it will never happen, at least on the desktop. I disagree. Either way, however, it's fun to think it through, in both a serious and a not-so-serious way: What if everyone ran Linux?

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