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…? You can have all of this today. > this is the actual reason why Linux isn't used in the desktop. Yeah, no.

by fuzzy2 6y ago

ironmagma 6y ago
Just curious, what do you think the actual reason is?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- fuzzy2 6y ago
  Hm, hard to find “the one reason”. I think the most important factors are: * What people (not necessarily the users but corporate decision-makers) are used to (Windows) * Enterprise manageability (achievable on Linux, but built-in on Windows) * What is preinstalled (Windows) * What some exotic business applications work with (Windows) Almost purely soft factors, very hard to counter if virtually all the computers you can buy at your local PC shop come with Windows preinstalled. My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-)
  - bitwize 6y ago
    Preinstallation is as close to "the one reason" as you can get. Microsoft had a hard time getting Windows over with end users -- until Windows 3.0, when the average new low-end PC had a 386-class processor and VGA, and oukd reasonably run Windows. Microsoft pressured OEMs to bundle Windows, and turned Windows into something that could be reasonably expected to be installed on a new computer, and that attracted ISVs, which meant end users were more likely to use Windows to get work done.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
    > My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-) What you think you just said: Linux is so easy to use anyone can do it and it works better than alternatives! What you actually just said: Linux makes a great webkiosk!
    - fuzzy2 6y ago
      And what else is it that the average PC user needs? Because I cannot think of a single thing.
      - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
        That's because you have a disingenuous definition of "average PC user", a strawman, so that your argument works. What you call the "average PC user" is really the average smartphone user these days. PC users are doing office work, running a business, development, gaming, content creation in more ways than I can enumerate, etc. People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few.
        untog 6y ago
        > People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few. 1. a PC isn't necessarily a "bulky desktop computer", it can also be a slimline laptop! 2. "browse the internet" and "office work/run a business/etc" are not mutually exclusive. Google Docs/Office 365 etc. proves that. I'd argue the majority of business operations requires some level of internet interaction these days. It seems to me like you've come up with a strawman definition to bat away another strawman definition. Almost everyone I know owns both a smartphone and a laptop, and the vast, vast majority of their time on that laptop is spent in a web browser.
        fuzzy2 6y ago
        What argument even? I never said or implied that Linux is better or whatever. That was you. I merely stated that a lifelong Windows user of advanced age can in fact use Ubuntu because it is, on the surface, similar enough. Same goes for a Mac, of course.
- tankenmate 6y ago
  largely it's the network effect. in days of yore unix dominated the minicomputer market and VMS played second fiddle. these days, windows dominates via the network effect and macos plays second fiddle (and linux third).

…? You can have all of this today. > this is the actual reason why Linux isn't used in the desktop. Yeah, no.

by fuzzy2 6y ago

…? You can have all of this today. > this is the actual reason why Linux isn't used in the desktop. Yeah, no.

ironmagma 6y ago

Just curious, what do you think the actual reason is?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
fuzzy2 6y ago
Hm, hard to find “the one reason”. I think the most important factors are: * What people (not necessarily the users but corporate decision-makers) are used to (Windows) * Enterprise manageability (achievable on Linux, but built-in on Windows) * What is preinstalled (Windows) * What some exotic business applications work with (Windows) Almost purely soft factors, very hard to counter if virtually all the computers you can buy at your local PC shop come with Windows preinstalled. My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-)
- bitwize 6y ago
  Preinstallation is as close to "the one reason" as you can get. Microsoft had a hard time getting Windows over with end users -- until Windows 3.0, when the average new low-end PC had a 386-class processor and VGA, and oukd reasonably run Windows. Microsoft pressured OEMs to bundle Windows, and turned Windows into something that could be reasonably expected to be installed on a new computer, and that attracted ISVs, which meant end users were more likely to use Windows to get work done.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
  > My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-) What you think you just said: Linux is so easy to use anyone can do it and it works better than alternatives! What you actually just said: Linux makes a great webkiosk!
  - fuzzy2 6y ago
    And what else is it that the average PC user needs? Because I cannot think of a single thing.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
      That's because you have a disingenuous definition of "average PC user", a strawman, so that your argument works. What you call the "average PC user" is really the average smartphone user these days. PC users are doing office work, running a business, development, gaming, content creation in more ways than I can enumerate, etc. People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few.
      - untog 6y ago
        > People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few. 1. a PC isn't necessarily a "bulky desktop computer", it can also be a slimline laptop! 2. "browse the internet" and "office work/run a business/etc" are not mutually exclusive. Google Docs/Office 365 etc. proves that. I'd argue the majority of business operations requires some level of internet interaction these days. It seems to me like you've come up with a strawman definition to bat away another strawman definition. Almost everyone I know owns both a smartphone and a laptop, and the vast, vast majority of their time on that laptop is spent in a web browser.
      - fuzzy2 6y ago
        What argument even? I never said or implied that Linux is better or whatever. That was you. I merely stated that a lifelong Windows user of advanced age can in fact use Ubuntu because it is, on the surface, similar enough. Same goes for a Mac, of course.
tankenmate 6y ago
largely it's the network effect. in days of yore unix dominated the minicomputer market and VMS played second fiddle. these days, windows dominates via the network effect and macos plays second fiddle (and linux third).