Linux is less bloated is it?
The last time I tried it, I was prompted for CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5. I still get XP installed off a single CD.
Where is that killer app that makes money in the linux world? I've missed it.
I don't want to get embroiled in this rediculous argument, but I did feel I needed to address this incorrect statement. Comparing the single-disc XP Pro or Home install to the 5-6 disc Linux install is simply not accurate.
First of all, fully 1/2 of those 5-6 Linux discs are Source Code
NOT binary files needed to run the distribution. Those discs, and what you can do with them, is Linux's primary advantage over any proprietary OS (Windows inclusive).
Secondly, Linux comes with just about
everything you could possibly need to use your computer on those remaining 2-3 CD-Rom discs. This includes an entire Office suite, multiple web browsers, multiple email clients, chat clients, DNS server, a couple of email server choices, DHCP server, two complete GUI systems (and a bunch of small ones), a web server, full documentation of the kernel, a software integrated development environment, and on and on...
Comparing what you get on those 2-3 linux discs to XP's install disc is comparing apples to oranges. If you are going to compare it, you need to include Office, XP Server (Corporate), a backup system, and Visual Studio discs in that comparison to be fair. Then, Linux's 2-3 discs will seem like a tiny amount compared to the 10-15 it would take for Windows to give you the same types of utility.
If you strip off all those "extras" (which with linux you
can do, unlike Windows), you can create a Linux distribution that will run in a tiny amount of space. For example,
Coyote Linux is a Linux firewall distribution that fit on a 3-1/2" floppy disk. ntoskrnl.exe by itself won't even fit on a floppy anymore, much less the rest of the OS.
The other thing I wanted to address is the "killer app" comment. Setting aside for the moment your "making money" criteria (which I don't think is relevant to whether a software package is successful -- are you saying if I write the next killer app and give it away for free it can never be successful?), there is definately an obvious "killer app" for Linux. Apache.
Currently,
Apache has about a 70% market share of the Web Server market. Followed by Microsoft's IIS in a distant second place with about 20%. Apache is also gaining ground, while IIS is losing ground. Granted, you can download and compile Apache for Windows (and a handful of the Apache hosts out there might actually be Windows server machines), but the vast majority of them are Linux boxes.