Linux versus Windows has been the subject of debate for quite some time, but will it (Linux) ever achieve the status of a popular desktop product that we’ll have to support? Share your opinion and take the poll.

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece exploring whether or not Linux would ever be a popular desktop product. While the positive sentiment toward Linux was prevalent throughout the ensuing discussion, not many thought it would achieve a desktop status worthy of being called popular. After two years, it seems as though not much has changed. Or has it?

As ones who support desktop users, we certainly have a vested interest in at least considering using (and/or learning) Linux, and we certainly owe it to ourselves to follow the popularity of it. After all, what if, for whatever reasons, in the course of a few years Linux did indeed begin to make inroads into the main-stream desktop market and became yet another factor in supporting desktop users? While some support pros would embrace it, others might find it to be one more factor among already too many in providing good support.

After all, it’s a common conception that Linux is popular only among the tech savvy among us because it has to be. (Or is that a misconception?) And as we all know, a good portion of the users we support are anything but tech savvy.

In short, if Linux ever became a popular desktop product, would it solve more problems for support pros or, perhaps, cause more? Considering as much, there are really two questions I’m exploring. The first is “Will Linux will ever be a popular and significant desktop product?” The other is “Do most support pros even want it to become one?”

Take the polls and share your thoughts.