Comment no support for linux (Score 0) 608
I dont think Joe User is ready for desktop linux quite yet. The posts I have read here all talk about using the OS as it it, but you forget one thing....third-party hardware and software. Users wont be ready to use linux flavors on the desktop until vendors are ready to support them.
Case in point, I recently worked a call center job for an ISP that served rural America. The service worked for "every operating system and every browser." However, we supported Windows XP onward and Mac OSX(limited). As far as browsers we supported IE 7+, FF 3.x+ and Safari(limited). If you could connect your modem and run it smoothly using your linux box be our guest, but dont come to us with your problems. It is a process-based job which means there are step by step solutions for agents to walk users through with pretty screenshots. Your screen doesn't match? You can't follow the process with me over the phone? Powercycle your equipment and tell me if that solves your issue. If not i'll note your account and move on. Bye.
The company i worked for isn't the only one out there that's process-based as im sure most if not all level 1 helpdesk positions are. I wasn't scripted, but there are only so many words you can use to tell a customer to do what they need to do.
Until a company can step up and develop a locked down no config necessary(by which i mean changing/creating values in a text file or terminal) that looks and acts uniformly on any hardware vendors and dumb users wont touch it.