That's nice, but you're wrong.

Why can I say you're wrong? Because people have been saying that for 20 years, it hasn't happened, it won't happen, it isn't even remotely close to happening.

The number of ways that is wrong is extensive, but just a few:

1. It costs money to get "word to the masses", a lot of money. Anyone spending that money wants something in return, and giving away free without conditions isn't it.

2. The average consumer doesn't have any issue with the current price of Windows. Windows is either "Free" with the computer, or a trivial cost. OS X is also "free" with a computer.

3. The average consumer has no interest in learning how to install anything, or how that magic computer box works.

Yep, the "Year of Linux on the Desktop" is just around the corner... you keep that hope alive!

And that's fine, choice is a good thing....

Meh, Windows no longer takes that to install, from a blank hard drive, maybe an hour to a working desktop with everything installed. It isn't nearly as bad as it used to be.

I just don't understand this... What issues, what updates? Windows works very well without getting in the way. We have 7 active computers in the house, 4 of them on Windows 8.1, 2 of them on Windows 7, 1 of them on Windows 10.

They all just work.

Good for you... most people have accepted them in return for free stuff.

Meh, when the OS is doing it, most people don't care.

Good for you, I think it is really cool and I WANT her to look at my e-mail, search history, and location to be able to work better for me.

Siri is cool, but Cortana looks like an upgrade.

Then don't use Windows because you're in the minority.

This is here, it is a thing, and it isn't going away.

Meh, so you think...

Maybe you can go through all the lines of code, but most people can't, and few people compile their own binary anyway...

On top of that, "Linux" is not a "thing", it is many versions from many companies... And then you have a lot of software on top of the kernel...

Any part of which might be spying on you, such as... Google when you install Chrome...

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Now maybe you're a special snowflake and don't do all that, or you check everything, but 99.9% of everyone doesn't do that, won't do that, and don't care that much.

If people don't really care about the NSA spying, they really don't care about Google and Microsoft doing it...

It is also worth noting that for most people who are getting a free upgrade, their reply might be:

"Well ok, since they gave me a free upgrade, that sounds fair..."

People consent to much the same stuff with Google, in return for free e-mail, search, etc.

Because we're fine with it? What exactly is the big crime here?

Anyone on a metered connection should set it that way and should long since have learned to not let everything autoupdate, as it costs money.

Because the average consumer doesn't care, this is item number 417 on their list of "give a crap" items and it just doesn't rate a mention.

Does the computer work? Yes. Done, next!

You paid for Windows 10? My upgrades were free. I didn't expect MS wasn't getting paid, it was somewhere else.

This is part of the "somewhere else".

Google does the same thing with my info, using it to make money. In return I get free e-mail, search, etc.

I'm ok with this...

The problem of course is there is no "Linux". There are 100s of versions of Linux done by many people, but there is no single Linux.

It has no future because of this as a replacement for Windows. If anyone manages to get a single version "accepted", then it would just turn into what Windows is.

Nonsense, I am not stupid... I'm well aware of the deal being made...

Google gives me free search, free e-mail, free calendar, free maps, etc. etc. in return for tracking what I do and selling that information to marketers....

I'm ok with this deal, it was made willingly.

And that is why Linux has no chance...

There is no "Linux", there are 100s of "Linux" versions, it is WAY too confusing for your average customer.

So it just isn't going to happen...

You're right of course... And the intent of the IPv6 space is not to use all the numbers, but rather to give every device its own number, do away with NAT and DHCP, and to make routing of traffic faster and easier.

So the percentage of "used" space will likely always be low with IPv6, but the total address space is so big, it probably won't matter.

At least, it won't matter in our lifetime...

I hear you...

I've been on Verizon FIOS for 5 years now, never had IPv6 at all...

A few days ago, switched to AT&T GigaPower... IPv6 came right up...

Why did I switch you ask? FIOS was stuck at 150 megabits up and down for $105 a month. AT&T offered 1 gigabit up and down for $110 a month.

Ok, ok, I have to agree to let them track what I search for, but I figure they are doing that anyway (I know Google does, so what is the difference?). I also may pay up to $30 more per month max if I use a ton of bandwidth...

But lord oh lord... my web connection is now as fast as my local Ethernet connection, that is nuts! Of course, I've found the limits of that, some servers can handle it, many can't. My speed is now much more variable depending on who I'm connected to.

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Back to the point, nice to see AT&T has IPv6 up on their fiber...

Fair enough, and you can do that... but I hope you're aware that you're in the extreme minority and always will be... Your average consumer will never do that...

You joke, and you're of course right to a point, but there comes a point where you have enough IP addresses for every grain of sand on Earth.

We likely won't care within our lifetimes :)

Yes, but there really isn't, since large chunks of those IP addresses aren't being used...

And that is the problem with the system, lots of IP blocks are taken, but unused and hard to get back.

Frankly, this is all pointless, IP6 fixes this for... more or less, ever...

It isn't nearly that clear cut...

Many people want a simple black and white answer, and it never really is that simple...