Cause or Effect?

...some welcome from Verizon DSL (click to enlarge image).

Trying to activate my new DSL account from Linux brought sad tidings from the phone company. Even Firefox got the block: both Windows and IE6 or higher are required.

Naive, reactionary open source hot-heads like to blame Tech Support innocents for non-support. But this is a classic chicken & egg situation, symptomatic of a weak performance in the market-place.

If Linux would make even a decent showing, ISPs and hardware vendors (like Linksys, Netgear, Belkin & Dell) could justify the significant costs of adding an additional platform to their support menus.

According to the marketing truism of "Seven Impressions," Linux will need 7 really big enterprise or national education adoptions and a long tail of small businesses pestering ISPs & vendors before they will add to their support cost-centers. It's simple math. In market share, Desktop Linux will need to match Mac, which seems to be pulling away.

Where are you Linux? Is anybody home? ANYBODY?