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The year of the Linux desktop never happened because by the time Linux became user friendly enough to install on desktops, the market for desktops had been ecli

The year of the Linux desktop never happened because by the time Linux became user friendly enough to install on desktops, the market for desktops had been eclipsed by laptops (and their proprietary chipsets, especially for wifi). By the time Linux caught up on laptops, people had moved on to tablets and phones. The year of the Linux desktop, arguably, was 2011, when Android 4.0 was released, and brought Android up to the performance standards of iOS.

thescriptkiddie 11y ago
I've never really had much trouble running linux on notebooks. It makes no difference, a notebook is just a slow desktop with a built-in UPS. So the year of the linux desktop was probably sometime around 2004, when driver support got good enough for most hardware. Earlier if you didn't care about working video drivers. But have desktops really been eclipsed by notebooks outside of my little bubble? I don't know very many people who even own a notebook, and I personally only have one for work.
- Scarblac 11y ago
  Almost everybody I know has and uses a desktop computer at home, but I don't think I know anybody who has bought a new one in the last five years or so.
- quanticle 11y ago
  A notebook is just a slow desktop with a built-in UPS, more arcane chipset, proprietary power management systems, and proprietary wifi chipsets. Yes, it's been possible for quite some time to install Linux on laptops. But to actually use a laptop with Linux on it, things like power management need to work out of the box without lots of configuration by the end user. Linux support for ACPI has only very recently become solid to the point that I don't need to worry about it. And as far as notebook ownership eclipsing desktop ownership, notebook sales eclipsed desktops long ago, around 2004. For most people, unless they're PC gamers, notebooks have offered sufficient computing power for more than a decade.
serge2k 11y ago
Ahhn linux fans, forever moving the bar to try to convince us it's popular.

thescriptkiddie 11y ago

I've never really had much trouble running linux on notebooks. It makes no difference, a notebook is just a slow desktop with a built-in UPS. So the year of the linux desktop was probably sometime around 2004, when driver support got good enough for most hardware. Earlier if you didn't care about working video drivers. But have desktops really been eclipsed by notebooks outside of my little bubble? I don't know very many people who even own a notebook, and I personally only have one for work.

Scarblac 11y ago
Almost everybody I know has and uses a desktop computer at home, but I don't think I know anybody who has bought a new one in the last five years or so.
quanticle 11y ago
A notebook is just a slow desktop with a built-in UPS, more arcane chipset, proprietary power management systems, and proprietary wifi chipsets. Yes, it's been possible for quite some time to install Linux on laptops. But to actually use a laptop with Linux on it, things like power management need to work out of the box without lots of configuration by the end user. Linux support for ACPI has only very recently become solid to the point that I don't need to worry about it. And as far as notebook ownership eclipsing desktop ownership, notebook sales eclipsed desktops long ago, around 2004. For most people, unless they're PC gamers, notebooks have offered sufficient computing power for more than a decade.

serge2k 11y ago

Ahhn linux fans, forever moving the bar to try to convince us it's popular.