[zanny]

It isn't really left in the dust, the growth rate of tech adoption is just greater than the exposure rate of FOSS and related technologies. Which is sad, but since Microsoft is the primary conduit of traditional computing systems (and today it is Google) it is against both their interests to introduce users to open compute platforms.

I imagine what will happen is that foss and linux will pick back up in popularity over time when technology hits global saturation and the only difference is old people dying and new people entering the market. The younger crowd is more likely to inquisitively understand computers better and realize they aren't just a dumb tool to be used to view facebook.

[mikestew]

"The younger crowd is more likely to inquisitively understand computers better and realize they aren't just a dumb tool to be used to view facebook."

Why would the younger crowd of the future be any more likely to want to understand the underlying workings of a computer than today's younger crowd who uses a computer to view Facebook? I would argue that, young or old, those who want to know how their appliances work will always be a small minority.

[zanny]

Todays facebook crowd didn't grow up engrossed in consumer computers and the Internet from infancy, but from their preteens. I imagine the millenials will, having grown up entirely exposed to pervasive international information sharing, be more inquisitive as to how the devices that dictate their social lives work.

I mean, it is just my impression, but my 10 year old half brother can sit down at a Linux box and install games he wants to play in wine without having any idea what he is doing. That is more praise of wine than my brother, though =P

My argument is that when you grow engrossed in this technology it is much more influential on your life and thus most inquisitive minds would find it much more relevant to learn what they actually are, versus the older generations who only recently adopted these technologies as an accentuation of old habits. For one it is a tool, the other it is a way of life.

[kristopolous]

Do you know how your refrigerator works? automobile? What about the mechanization of the lock on your front door? could you construct a radio from base components?

Alas, no. I think we will have a generation of computer programmers just as likely as we would have a future one of plumbers, electricians, home-builders, or even exercise and health specialists.

I think it may be the opposite. Yes, fewer programmers by 2050 than today.

[devcpp]

Agreed, this is exactly why I said "predictable". The dilution of techies among the more casual crowd on the Internet was supposed to happen (or we'd be out of jobs), but I wish they had been taught some important concepts of software before learning how to use a browser.