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>I'm surprised they spend so much (presumably) time and effort on applications, especially 'Web' and 'Terminal'. How many users are actually going to use 'Web'

>I'm surprised they spend so much (presumably) time and effort on applications, especially 'Web' and 'Terminal'. How many users are actually going to use 'Web' as their browser? Elementary is aimed in part at non-power-users, moreso than most other distros besides Ubuntu. Most of them don't care or even know what browser they're using.

KronisLV 5y ago
But isn't it pretty likely that most of their users will be more tech savvy regardless of who they aim towards, just due to most Linux distros having to be seeked out instead of coming preinstalled and therefore mostly being used by the more technically inclined people? To that end, why not just go with Firefox, which would appease the more technical users, would be closer to what most other distros out there are doing and would also have a higher chance of it being familiar software to all users? I think that for the most part custom browsers are only good when you want to include something functional, yet minimal in your distro and want to save space or something like that. Edit: admittedly, an argument could also be made about having software look and feel consistent with the rest of the OS, where such a solution could be better than off the shelf browsers, at least without heavy modifications.
rewgs 5y ago
I find it a little hilarious that any distro is aimed at non-power users. The middle of the Venn diagram of “non-power user” and “will install an OS that isn’t the one that came with their computer” must be vanishingly small.
- creata 5y ago
  It looks[0][1] like they do want to be an OS comes with your computer, which is pretty exciting. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133146 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133146 [1]: https://au.starlabs.systems/pages/laptops https://au.starlabs.systems/pages/laptops
- abdulmuhaimin 5y ago
  Based on how they redesign the installation process, its seem vendor-installed OS is the move here. So this might be the OS that came with the computer
- altantiprocrast 5y ago
  The group is probably small, but Zorin OS is also a distro aimed at non-power users, and I installed it for my grandparents' slow computer.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Further, I would argue that every user is a potential power user and part of the job of personal computing software should be to be an onramp to power-user-dom.
- l-albertovich 5y ago
  I see that as "I set my mom up with a nice linux distro that works for her instead of driving her back to her (ransom/ad/whateveriship)ware filled windows life" So yeah, there's definitely a value IMO. In fact, I know for a fact that my mother in law has been using linux for years because they just set it up for her and installed whatever she needed to get stuff done (libreoffice, zoom, whatever).

KronisLV 5y ago

But isn't it pretty likely that most of their users will be more tech savvy regardless of who they aim towards, just due to most Linux distros having to be seeked out instead of coming preinstalled and therefore mostly being used by the more technically inclined people? To that end, why not just go with Firefox, which would appease the more technical users, would be closer to what most other distros out there are doing and would also have a higher chance of it being familiar software to all users? I think that for the most part custom browsers are only good when you want to include something functional, yet minimal in your distro and want to save space or something like that. Edit: admittedly, an argument could also be made about having software look and feel consistent with the rest of the OS, where such a solution could be better than off the shelf browsers, at least without heavy modifications.

rewgs 5y ago

I find it a little hilarious that any distro is aimed at non-power users. The middle of the Venn diagram of “non-power user” and “will install an OS that isn’t the one that came with their computer” must be vanishingly small.

creata 5y ago
It looks[0][1] like they do want to be an OS comes with your computer, which is pretty exciting. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133146 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133146 [1]: https://au.starlabs.systems/pages/laptops https://au.starlabs.systems/pages/laptops
abdulmuhaimin 5y ago
Based on how they redesign the installation process, its seem vendor-installed OS is the move here. So this might be the OS that came with the computer
altantiprocrast 5y ago
The group is probably small, but Zorin OS is also a distro aimed at non-power users, and I installed it for my grandparents' slow computer.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Further, I would argue that every user is a potential power user and part of the job of personal computing software should be to be an onramp to power-user-dom.
l-albertovich 5y ago
I see that as "I set my mom up with a nice linux distro that works for her instead of driving her back to her (ransom/ad/whateveriship)ware filled windows life" So yeah, there's definitely a value IMO. In fact, I know for a fact that my mother in law has been using linux for years because they just set it up for her and installed whatever she needed to get stuff done (libreoffice, zoom, whatever).