The One Percent Software Solution

(an earlier version of this piece appeared 2012-04-30 on Urban Times)

(pie chart courtesy of Urban Times)

Ninety percent … nine percent … one percent. Although the numbers tend to flex somewhat, the basic breakdown of desktop computer market share has been fairly consistent for most of the last decade:

• For roughly 90% of the planet’s computer-using population, desktop computing and the Windows operating system are synonymous.
• For approximately 9%, the desktop computer solution of choice is the Apple Macintosh.
• The remainder, presently weighing in at around 1%, consists almost entirely of desktop Linux.

Two recently breaking and fairly large-impact technology stories call into question the wisdom of these relative percentages and provide fairly persuasive arguments in favor of what one could call the “one percent solution” of desktop Linux adoption.

On the one hand, there is the news of the impending release of Windows 8, and its promised reinvention of the desktop. On the other hand, just when longtime Windows users might consider switching to Macs over interface issues, there is the news that the Mac platform’s supposed invulnerability to viruses and malware has been conclusively proven false by the “Flashback” exploit – which managed to infect over 600,000 machines before any efforts could be taken to combat it. Desktop Linux, widely derided as the tool of choice of hobbyists and nerds, begins to look considerably more attractive in these circumstances – even more so, once one gets past the misperceptions and calculated disinformation.

A Brief History Of Windows

from this, Windows 1.01...

Let’s start with Windows: The desktop interface pioneered by Xerox, (arguably) perfected by Apple, and deployed to millions by Microsoft, is in the process of being reinvented beyond recognition. The default start-up mode of Microsoft’s soon to be deployed Windows 8 flagship is the most radical shift in user interface philosophy since the debut of Windows 95, possibly the most dramatic shift ever.

No longer will the screen of your computer resemble a virtual desktop. Now it gets to look like a very large Windows SmartPhone. If you have never owned, much less even seen a Windows phone … well, that’s sort of the point here. The last few years have not been kind to the 800 pound gorilla of the software world.

to this, Windows XP...

Even though Microsoft successfully recovered from the disaster that was Windows Vista with the release of Windows 7, the company lost market share and credibility at a very critical time, a time when the paradigm of desktop computing itself is giving way to a mobile-centric world dominated by smartphones and tablets.

In this mobile-centric world, Microsoft’s long-held role as the world’s dominant technology company has been taken by Apple, courtesy of the iPhone and iPad. The role of Windows as the more open and less expense alternative to Apple’s rigidly control hardware and software ecology has been taken by Google’s Android.

Tablet computing now is very much what desktop personal computers were in the 80’s, when Microsoft’s first fortunes were made, as corporate IT departments are being told by senior management (now, as they were then) that they will find a way to support these new devices, whether they like it or not.

From a business standpoint, it is not at all surprising that Microsoft would seek to bolster their eroding market share in key sectors by making their flagship product a tablet OS first and a desktop OS second. It may be a brilliant strategy, or it may be a profound case of “too little, too late”. For those of us who actually use desktop computers, though, the question of Microsoft’s future fortunes as a technology leader pales compared to a more immediate one: “Dude … where’s my desktop?”

to this, Windows 8 – really?

The approved answer is that “there’s an app for that”. That’s right; Microsoft has, not too surprisingly, adopted the Apple/Android notion of an “App Store” as the preferred way to acquire software. If you are determined to remain a Microsoft customer and equally determined to use a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to view information in, well, windows – no problem. Just upgrade to Windows 8, then load the app that emulates your old-school desktop environment. Or not – and this leads us to desktop computing’s second big story of the month.

The (Not so) Virus-free Apple Mactintosh

There is a long and complex history behind the most common alternative to Windows-based desktop computing. The Apple Macintosh’s earliest successes were based on being an appealing alternative for graphic designers, visual artists, and musicians. As primitive as the early Mac interface was, it was light years ahead of the character-based screens and keyboard-centric (PCs did not have mice for a number of years) input of so-called “IBM clone” desktop computers. Later, when the interface gap began to close, Apple retained high levels of brand loyalty among creative content creators by “just working” – and, increasingly, as the Internet became indispensable to desktop computing – by being seen as virus-proof. While the imperviousness of Macintosh computers to malicious code has always been somewhat over-hyped, there’s no doubt that it has been a far more secure platform than Windows … until now, that is. The “Flashback” malware exploit started out as a make-believe installer for Adobe Flash, taking advantage of Apple’s decision to stop supporting that fairly ubiquitous rich media file format.

Macintosh, the viable alternative...or is it?

Flashback later evolved passed the need to masquerade as an installer, as the developers further refined their ability to take advantage of another unique and Mac-specific weakness: Apple’s insistence on taking complete responsibility for managing patches to Java, instead of immediately pushing out patches from the primary development team at Oracle. The Java weakness exploited by Flashback has been a non-issue on both Linux and Windows based desktop computers for months. As a result of Apple’s insistence on doing things their way, at least 600,000 Macintosh desktop computers worldwide can be commandeered into being part of denial of service attacks and have already placed at risk credit card numbers and other sensitive information belonging to the computers’ owners. So, in summary: the preferred desktop solution of some 90% of all computer users is prone to viruses and even more prone to redesign by executive fiat;  the preferred solution of most of the remaining 10% users has significant liabilities of it’s own, and is even more tightly controlled by corporate decision makers. What about the 1% solution?

Desktop Linux

...there's also this (Linux w/XFCE desktop shell)...

Unless you are already a desktop Linux user, most of what you think you know about the operating system is probably false. You’ve probably been told that the software is amateurish and badly coded. You have probably been told than none of your existing applications will run under it, nor can the files created by your current applications be opened.

You’ve probably been told that it’s “too hard” for someone who isn’t a techie or a hobbyist to use, and that you’ll have to type a bunch of arcane commands at a command line prompt in order to do anything useful.

or this (Ubuntu Linux w/Unity Desktop)...

These common perceptions range from containing a kernel of truth to being based on outright and outrageous fabrications. The truth is a little more complex and a great deal more encouraging.

The truth is that the leading desktop Linux distributions (or “distro”, the equivalent to a commercially packaged operating system) are every bit as intuitive and easy to use as current versions of either Windows or Mac OS. Details of how files are organized and how users are managed differ, but to no more significant degree than the differences a Windows PC and a Mac. Application and data incompatibilities range from non-existent to severe, but in either case, they are almost invariably difficulties that have been created to discourage users from defecting to open source software.

or this (Linux w/KDE desktop)--choices, much?

These roadblocks have become increasingly irrelevant as users and their data live less on a local hard drive and more “in the cloud”. For those concerned with having control over their digital lives, much can be said for a “one percent solution” that offers as much as 100% control to those willing to learn how to exercise that control.

Almost all of the problems that Windows and the Macintosh operating system increasing have in common are really just one problem:  the absolute ownership, in both cases, by commercial corporate entities with increasingly little sense of obligation to provide any sort of autonomy or control to the people who increasingly find significant pieces of their lives intrinsically bound to the technologies these corporate entities sell as product.

The Bigger Picture

the "other 1%" personified

Finally, there is a broader consideration here than mere technology. Over the last year, a “one percent” of a somewhat different sort has gotten a lot of attention they would rather not have gotten, as the “Occupy” Movement, among others, have drawn increasing scrutiny to the extraordinary inequality of wealth in this world. He may no longer run Microsoft, but is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Bill Gates is a perfect exemplar of this other “one percent” – or that trusting the people to whom he entrusted an empire – trusting them with our hopes and dreams, our bank statements and our love letters – is perhaps taking trust just a little too far?


In an age when technology has permeated global culture and dependency on digital information systems has become a “given” for increasing numbers of the world’s inhabitants, it is almost a revolutionary act to declare independence from corporate owned and controlled technology platforms. It may very well wind up being a precursor to more substantive revolutionary acts, given the extraordinary level of cooperation between large business entities and governments interested in controlling dissent. It is fundamentally impossible to circumvent the possibility of government-approved spyware in Apple, Microsoft, or even Google’s products. On the other hand, building a spyware-proof Linux distribution requires remarkably little effort … and arguably, such resources already exist.