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The only bullshit part of the saying is that there will be a single year where this convergence will happen. When in truth it has already happened. Linux has gr

The only bullshit part of the saying is that there will be a single year where this convergence will happen. When in truth it has already happened. Linux has great desktop choices for those who would like to use Linux. Those of us who do have moved over to the OS and probably haven't looked back, nor are they looking to bring the general public into it. If the general public wants the plastic toy OS experience then let them burn with that ship. I've spent a lot of time advocating for the move to Linux and more open source systems and voting with your wallet in the computer landscape that my general position is now to talk to someone about it and when they're upset with the status quo, I'll be on the other side saying "I told you so." Then I usually end up helping people when they come back to me. Furthermore, the commandline is a core part of the computer experience in my book. Just because Apple, Google, Microsoft want you to live on the internet doesn't mean it has to go away or have a friendlier alternative. There will always be a divide between people who have an interest in computers and willingness to learn them and people who just want to like buy something off Amazon. The latter will probably never use Linux no matter how popular it is on their phone or desktop.

zamadatix 5y ago
"it's a great choice for those who would like it" seems a bit tautological, it it ever possible for that to be false?
- yepthatsreality 5y ago
  It's just another way of saying: it has it's niche and that we should recognize it for what it is, instead of trying to make it the globally recognized OS of the Year for desktop PCs, I guess.
- compiler-guy 5y ago
  I wanted to use Linux for a long time back in the early 2000s, but it just wasn't up to snuff for a wife variety of daily tasks. Was a great development machine, but as soon as you wanted to do things like audio, or video editing, or whatever, it just wasn't there. So yeah, I wanted to, but it wasn't ready. Things are much, much better now.
expunged 5y ago
I’ve been using Linux for better than 22 years. It was the only operating system in my home for more than 12 of those years and I pretty much live at the command line. I’ve voted with my wallet and backed open source initiatives over that time too, but there comes a point where you just want stuff to work and you want to be able to interact with the rest of the world with the same feature set they enjoy. This is where Linux falls short. It’s a last mile problem with window managers and their associated apps. It’s further divided between software ecosystems within Linux. Another commenter pointed out how web-based apps are increasingly powerful, and I think that’s helping but there’s still a gap. I have an interest in computers and I know a whole lot about them, but I want my daily experience to be smooth and to just work and I want to be able to relate to the rest of the world in terms of software. So, I use Linux for work and Windows or OSX everything else. My point is that your comment seems to say that if people had an interest in computers they would (of course) be using Linux, and that’s absolutely not true.
- yepthatsreality 5y ago
  The article is about when the year of Linux on the desktop will happen. If you want your desktop to run Linux it will. If you want Windows and OSX do you can use those operating systems then you will move to those systems. And my point is that you make of it what you will. There will be no mass convergence of society to a Linux desktop. If Windows and OSX are important to you socially then that’s your value, not everyone’s prerogative.

zamadatix 5y ago

"it's a great choice for those who would like it" seems a bit tautological, it it ever possible for that to be false?

yepthatsreality 5y ago
It's just another way of saying: it has it's niche and that we should recognize it for what it is, instead of trying to make it the globally recognized OS of the Year for desktop PCs, I guess.
compiler-guy 5y ago
I wanted to use Linux for a long time back in the early 2000s, but it just wasn't up to snuff for a wife variety of daily tasks. Was a great development machine, but as soon as you wanted to do things like audio, or video editing, or whatever, it just wasn't there. So yeah, I wanted to, but it wasn't ready. Things are much, much better now.

expunged 5y ago

I’ve been using Linux for better than 22 years. It was the only operating system in my home for more than 12 of those years and I pretty much live at the command line. I’ve voted with my wallet and backed open source initiatives over that time too, but there comes a point where you just want stuff to work and you want to be able to interact with the rest of the world with the same feature set they enjoy. This is where Linux falls short. It’s a last mile problem with window managers and their associated apps. It’s further divided between software ecosystems within Linux. Another commenter pointed out how web-based apps are increasingly powerful, and I think that’s helping but there’s still a gap. I have an interest in computers and I know a whole lot about them, but I want my daily experience to be smooth and to just work and I want to be able to relate to the rest of the world in terms of software. So, I use Linux for work and Windows or OSX everything else. My point is that your comment seems to say that if people had an interest in computers they would (of course) be using Linux, and that’s absolutely not true.

yepthatsreality 5y ago
The article is about when the year of Linux on the desktop will happen. If you want your desktop to run Linux it will. If you want Windows and OSX do you can use those operating systems then you will move to those systems. And my point is that you make of it what you will. There will be no mass convergence of society to a Linux desktop. If Windows and OSX are important to you socially then that’s your value, not everyone’s prerogative.