Meanwhile, Linus Torvalds has a different avenue for hope: Google's Chromebook. This actually is a Linux desktop computer with only one application, the Chrome browser. The hardware itself is perfectly capable of running other Linux distributions -- which is what Torvalds does -- but out of the box, it's running a stripped-down, single-function Linux system that's easily maintained and secured centrally.

I've been using Chromebooks personally and for my business for the last six months, and I can state firmly it's the Linux desktop I've been waiting for. I tried many other approaches, but found every other Linux desktop solution required too much effort to maintain. The Chromebooks (and one Chromebox) we have in the office deliver all the functions we need, without becoming the security nightmare you expect of Windows -- and without the constant patronizing lock-in that's manifesting itself on the Mac these days and without becoming the new hobby we'd expect from a raw Linux distro.