4 ms·

I find the desktop duopoly even more annoying.

TulliusCicero 5y ago
It's more like a triopoly, isn't it? Linux is a reasonable choice for a consumer OS on laptops/desktops, at least for techies. Much more so than non-Android/iOS options on mobile. Especially with the work Valve has done to make Linux gaming more easily accessible, even releasing a Linux-based handheld console.
- ajvs 5y ago
  Even non-techies really, as long as you have someone to do that first install since there's very few companies that offer Linux as the default OS for their hardware.
  - TulliusCicero 5y ago
    Eh, there's definitely issues where you do a search to see how to change/fix something and the most prominent results tell you to delve into the command line. As long as that's true, it's harder to recommend to non-techies imo.
linguae 5y ago
I disagree; I find it harder to migrate away from the iOS/Android duopoly than it is to migrate from the macOS/Windows duopoly. Because so much of modern desktop computing has migrated to the Web, I can use any operating system that supports a modern Web browser. LibreOffice has pretty good compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats for my needs at home; the only time I need Microsoft Office is at work, where I have access to Windows and macOS anyway. I could migrate to Linux or one of the BSDs full time at home if I wanted to (I currently use both FreeBSD and Windows 10), and the only thing I'd lose would be access to some DRM-protected media from iTunes I purchased years ago. However, if I were to give up my iPhone for a phone running GNU/Linux rather than Android, I'd have to give up many apps that I depend on, some of them with no Web versions. The smartphone situation today feels like how the Linux desktop was in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
- wardedVibe 5y ago
  Even migrating to variants of android other than the vendor installed one is a major pita, that is only possible for an increasingly small subset of phones.
tristor 5y ago
I understand what you mean, but the biggest challenge for me as someone that needs to "get things done" is that I'm forced into a duopoly on desktop /because/ of mobile. I'm perfectly comfortable using FreeBSD as a daily driver on a Thinkpad, and I did for years. I now use a Macbook Pro /because/ I use an iPhone and an Apple Watch. I used to use a Fitbit, and I used to use Android (way back in the beginning), but it quickly became clear that the packaged experience with Apple was simply better (and that Google wasn't a trustworthy player). If it weren't for the situation with mobile devices (phone / smartwatch), I'd still be using a Thinkpad with FreeBSD for my personal and work computers.
gernb 5y ago
Chromebooks (yea, not desktop) certainly seemed to show that given the right features there was a place for a 3rd entry in the laptop market place https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-most-popular-desktop-operating-system-isnt-macos-anymore/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-mo...
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  Maybe KaiOS will do the same for phones.

It's more like a triopoly, isn't it? Linux is a reasonable choice for a consumer OS on laptops/desktops, at least for techies. Much more so than non-Android/iOS options on mobile. Especially with the work Valve has done to make Linux gaming more easily accessible, even releasing a Linux-based handheld console.

ajvs 5y ago
Even non-techies really, as long as you have someone to do that first install since there's very few companies that offer Linux as the default OS for their hardware.
- TulliusCicero 5y ago
  Eh, there's definitely issues where you do a search to see how to change/fix something and the most prominent results tell you to delve into the command line. As long as that's true, it's harder to recommend to non-techies imo.

linguae 5y ago

I disagree; I find it harder to migrate away from the iOS/Android duopoly than it is to migrate from the macOS/Windows duopoly. Because so much of modern desktop computing has migrated to the Web, I can use any operating system that supports a modern Web browser. LibreOffice has pretty good compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats for my needs at home; the only time I need Microsoft Office is at work, where I have access to Windows and macOS anyway. I could migrate to Linux or one of the BSDs full time at home if I wanted to (I currently use both FreeBSD and Windows 10), and the only thing I'd lose would be access to some DRM-protected media from iTunes I purchased years ago. However, if I were to give up my iPhone for a phone running GNU/Linux rather than Android, I'd have to give up many apps that I depend on, some of them with no Web versions. The smartphone situation today feels like how the Linux desktop was in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

wardedVibe 5y ago
Even migrating to variants of android other than the vendor installed one is a major pita, that is only possible for an increasingly small subset of phones.

tristor 5y ago

I understand what you mean, but the biggest challenge for me as someone that needs to "get things done" is that I'm forced into a duopoly on desktop /because/ of mobile. I'm perfectly comfortable using FreeBSD as a daily driver on a Thinkpad, and I did for years. I now use a Macbook Pro /because/ I use an iPhone and an Apple Watch. I used to use a Fitbit, and I used to use Android (way back in the beginning), but it quickly became clear that the packaged experience with Apple was simply better (and that Google wasn't a trustworthy player). If it weren't for the situation with mobile devices (phone / smartwatch), I'd still be using a Thinkpad with FreeBSD for my personal and work computers.

gernb 5y ago

Chromebooks (yea, not desktop) certainly seemed to show that given the right features there was a place for a 3rd entry in the laptop market place https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-most-popular-desktop-operating-system-isnt-macos-anymore/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-worlds-second-mo...

Apocryphon 5y ago
Maybe KaiOS will do the same for phones.