3 ms·

Is It Finally the Year of the Linux Desktop?

14 points by mimixco 7y ago

genera1 7y ago
It's the year of Linux desktop the same way there is 10 billion devices on the internet running Linux, because Android and IoT. Doesn't really matter for Linux people, non-Linux people won't care. Hell, there is an argument to be made, that it is typical MS "embrace, extend and extinguish", so net negative.
foxyv 7y ago
Nope! Linux desktop is still a PITA. Even Ubuntu won't start fully out of the box due to an Nvidia driver error on my machine. My partner's machine is still unable to even boot to tty1 because of some odd microcode error. I love Linux to death, but I'm not afraid of the terminal and building from source. I can't imagine my parents or most of my friends really enjoying this sort of stuff. Just too frustrating if you don't live in the ecosystem day to day.
- ahartmetz 7y ago
  Nvidia's Linux support is bad, not the other way around.
  - foxyv 7y ago
    Very true. It makes me regret going with them for my desktop PC. The Intel graphics on my laptop never have issues with Mint.
  - godshatter 7y ago
    Many linux problems seem to come down to problems with support by manufacturers. Wifi cards, printers, trackpads, video cards, and so forth. Not really fair to blame this on linux when linux works as well as it does because people have taken the time to write drivers that work as best as they can given that they don't have all the documentation for the devices in question. The same thing goes for blaming programs trying to export to closed proprietary formats because the original software provider isn't interested in a linux version. I've been on linux on my home systems since circa early 2000's, so I can say that I have run into many disparate problems that can be attributed to linux so it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good in my humble opinion. I really don't care if it ever becomes a thing for Joe Sixpack to use as long as it's available for people who are interested in it.
  - bitwize 7y ago
    Maybe NVIDIA's Linux driver support wouldn't be so bad if Linux actually made a modicum of effort to accommodate vendor-supplied drivers... you know, things like a stable driver API, documenting what's expected of driver writers, tooling to support and ease the development of new drivers, and isolation so that a bad driver doesn't screw the whole kernel. You know, like Windows has. Microsoft may be all cuddly to Linux these days, but when Dave Cutler needs a laugh he still pops open a beer and reads the Linux source.
    - apotatopot 7y ago
      who is this dave cutler lady you speak of?
eindiran 7y ago
is_it_the_yotld () { echo "No. $(($(date +%Y)+1)) is the year of the Linux desktop." }
- s09dfhks 7y ago
  Huehuehue
simonblack 7y ago
No more, no less, than it's the the Year of Mercedes on the Highway. While I am happily tootling along in my Mercedes, I don't mind in the least if you insist on driving a Ford. Likewise, if you insist on running Windows 10 it doesn't affect my running Linux On My Desktop at all.

14 points by mimixco 7y ago

It's the year of Linux desktop the same way there is 10 billion devices on the internet running Linux, because Android and IoT. Doesn't really matter for Linux people, non-Linux people won't care. Hell, there is an argument to be made, that it is typical MS "embrace, extend and extinguish", so net negative.

foxyv 7y ago

Nope! Linux desktop is still a PITA. Even Ubuntu won't start fully out of the box due to an Nvidia driver error on my machine. My partner's machine is still unable to even boot to tty1 because of some odd microcode error. I love Linux to death, but I'm not afraid of the terminal and building from source. I can't imagine my parents or most of my friends really enjoying this sort of stuff. Just too frustrating if you don't live in the ecosystem day to day.

ahartmetz 7y ago
Nvidia's Linux support is bad, not the other way around.
- foxyv 7y ago
  Very true. It makes me regret going with them for my desktop PC. The Intel graphics on my laptop never have issues with Mint.
- godshatter 7y ago
  Many linux problems seem to come down to problems with support by manufacturers. Wifi cards, printers, trackpads, video cards, and so forth. Not really fair to blame this on linux when linux works as well as it does because people have taken the time to write drivers that work as best as they can given that they don't have all the documentation for the devices in question. The same thing goes for blaming programs trying to export to closed proprietary formats because the original software provider isn't interested in a linux version. I've been on linux on my home systems since circa early 2000's, so I can say that I have run into many disparate problems that can be attributed to linux so it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good in my humble opinion. I really don't care if it ever becomes a thing for Joe Sixpack to use as long as it's available for people who are interested in it.
- bitwize 7y ago
  Maybe NVIDIA's Linux driver support wouldn't be so bad if Linux actually made a modicum of effort to accommodate vendor-supplied drivers... you know, things like a stable driver API, documenting what's expected of driver writers, tooling to support and ease the development of new drivers, and isolation so that a bad driver doesn't screw the whole kernel. You know, like Windows has. Microsoft may be all cuddly to Linux these days, but when Dave Cutler needs a laugh he still pops open a beer and reads the Linux source.
  - apotatopot 7y ago
    who is this dave cutler lady you speak of?

eindiran 7y ago

is_it_the_yotld () { echo "No. $(($(date +%Y)+1)) is the year of the Linux desktop." }

s09dfhks 7y ago
Huehuehue

simonblack 7y ago

No more, no less, than it's the the Year of Mercedes on the Highway. While I am happily tootling along in my Mercedes, I don't mind in the least if you insist on driving a Ford. Likewise, if you insist on running Windows 10 it doesn't affect my running Linux On My Desktop at all.