Primetime wrote:
I didn't write that. Linux is useful for certain things, such as running web servers. However, it would be better if it were adopted by more people. That would reduce piracy and the spread of viruses. It would also make software more affordable.
Even if Linux were standardized, it would still be very different from Mac OS X and (especially) Windows. What I'm concerned about the most is actually the quality of Linux. I believe that it should be adopted more widely, but that is not my greatest concern.
Why would it be better if it were adopted by more people? That makes no sense. The more people that adopt it, the more likely viruses and piracy would occur, I have absolutely the opposite opinion. You've completely lost me here. Viruses aren't generally written for operating systems that nobody uses... what would the point be in that? More so, evidence speaks for itself. You've completely messed up your logic.
Besides that, what difference does it make? The fact that most people don't use Linux has no effect on my ability to afford its software, since I only use Linux, and it does everything I need. It's already free. It suits me. It doesn't suit everyone else, but they don't have to use it. End of story. End of argument.
The quality of Linux according to who? If it doesn't meet your expectations of quality, either improve it, or use something else. Either option is available to you. Incidentally, that's twice as many options as you'll get with closed source operating systems that you're unable to modify.
So the other mistake you're making is thinking that the more people are involved, the better a product will get. No. What happens is that the product stretches to become as generic as it can be, to the point that less and less people have a problem with it. The side-effect of this is that it becomes so generic, its quality drops. The worse side effect is that since it's so generic and that most people are using it, it becomes easier to exploit, or rather that the effect exploitation is much bigger, because more people are disadvantaged by the exploitation.