5 ms·

Linux on the desktop is here. Go all-in on KDE. Everything is seamless and just works.

by orangepurple 3y ago

azinman2 3y ago
This has nothing to do with large scale enterprise email security.
- sudosysgen 3y ago
  It does. Outlook is where it is for email because of Windows.
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    What does Outlook have to do with Windows? Outlook is a web app. Outlook became popular because it was tied to Windows 20 years ago, but today this just isn't the case.
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      No, Outlook isn't a webapp in a lot of entrenched corporate set ups. Many are relying on outlook plugins that only work on the executable, or don't have Azure AD and use their own local domain controllers, or local mail servers, etc... And besides, it's far easier to migrate between two webapps than it is away from a native app full of infra.
naikrovek 3y ago
> Everything is seamless and just works. I have zero confidence in that testimonial, given my own experience with open source desktop environments, and KDE. zero confidence whatsoever.
- mikrotikker 3y ago
  I'm 12 years into Linux on the desktop. It's amazing. Converted my non computer friend to it. My partner freaked when windows 10 tried to install itself years ago, and she switched. I play triple A games on it via steam. Our TV PC runs it. The experience is so much better I really don't get this mentality.
  - throw10920 3y ago
    It's not a "mentality" - it's an opinion born from actual experience with broken Linux setups. I can find you literally hundreds of HN comments about all sorts of ways that their Linuxen have broken, and I can name a few dozen (possibly up to a hundred) myself.
    - mikrotikker 3y ago
      Sounds like a skill issue tbh.
- ElectricalUnion 3y ago
  If you really think about it from the point of view of defaults, Windows is a even worse mess. * You often need to do non-standard system tweaks to get the system in a working state. It's everything-doesn't-work-by-default. * You often need to install/prevent instalation of bad quality drivers and associated bundleware to make devices work. * Microsoft can't decide what UI framework they will support (or drop support) so built-in applications happens to be built with the current "thing", the old ones staying on the older unsupported frameworks. * You need to constantly tweak a combination of Windows 3.11 control applets, Windows 95 control panel applets, Windows 7 unified control panel glass, and Metro Settings Universal Windows Platform app to keep things working. * Microsoft can't decide what random widgets go on the taskbar, or the file manager, or your start menu, so it's always disrupting things every few updates. It is arriving at a point where the only "consistent" UI thing in Windows is Steam, and Steam isn't built-in, and is a hot mess of inconsistent UI itself.
kingrazor 3y ago
My experiences with Linux have been anything but seamless.
- yoyohello13 3y ago
  Similar to my experience with Windows TBH.
- emkoemko 3y ago
  yea same with windows having to open that command prompt to run random commands to fix issues
ElectricalUnion 3y ago
The only Linux desktop environment that I found that looks and feels integrated and polished is Gnome, but that is because it's a slow as molasses, corporate focused and dumbed down copycat of the other mainstream OSes.
mceachen 3y ago
> seamless and just works Just say “better.” Gnome and KDE are decidedly not perfect, but they are both quite usable even by casual windows-only non-techies. FWIW I’ve been using Linux as my primary desktop OS for more than 20 years—it does no one any good to oversell it. Touchpad scrolling rate is still broken on Gnome/Firefox. Angels have to sing (or use xorg) to make s3 suspend work. Fedora auto-update can break if there’s “too many” packages to update. Touchpad scrolling can be misinterpreted as swipe-left or swipe-right by KDE on some hardware. The point is, if you bang against any of these sorts of issues in Windows, you’re frequently stymied. On Linux, you can either fix it, or at least route around the damage with an alternative.
o1y32 3y ago
None of the comments here seem to address desktop OS in enterprise/government environment, which is what this article about. Linux desktop OS your personal computer? Sure. In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Good luck.
- ankurdhama 3y ago
  > Sure. In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Most of these enterprise software (for non technical users) these days is just a web app so a vendor not releasing their software is not a problem here.
- yencabulator 3y ago
  > In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Like schools? ChromeOS is Linux and seems to be doing ok.
Aerbil313 3y ago
Linux Mint Cinnamon is here as well. It’s more seamless than Windows. Unless you need to specifically run windows-only software. Still I’ll take dual booting or having separate machines rather than using windows as mu daily driver every day of the week.

Linux on the desktop is here. Go all-in on KDE. Everything is seamless and just works.

azinman2 3y ago

This has nothing to do with large scale enterprise email security.

sudosysgen 3y ago
It does. Outlook is where it is for email because of Windows.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  What does Outlook have to do with Windows? Outlook is a web app. Outlook became popular because it was tied to Windows 20 years ago, but today this just isn't the case.
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    No, Outlook isn't a webapp in a lot of entrenched corporate set ups. Many are relying on outlook plugins that only work on the executable, or don't have Azure AD and use their own local domain controllers, or local mail servers, etc... And besides, it's far easier to migrate between two webapps than it is away from a native app full of infra.

naikrovek 3y ago

> Everything is seamless and just works. I have zero confidence in that testimonial, given my own experience with open source desktop environments, and KDE. zero confidence whatsoever.

mikrotikker 3y ago
I'm 12 years into Linux on the desktop. It's amazing. Converted my non computer friend to it. My partner freaked when windows 10 tried to install itself years ago, and she switched. I play triple A games on it via steam. Our TV PC runs it. The experience is so much better I really don't get this mentality.
- throw10920 3y ago
  It's not a "mentality" - it's an opinion born from actual experience with broken Linux setups. I can find you literally hundreds of HN comments about all sorts of ways that their Linuxen have broken, and I can name a few dozen (possibly up to a hundred) myself.
  - mikrotikker 3y ago
    Sounds like a skill issue tbh.
ElectricalUnion 3y ago
If you really think about it from the point of view of defaults, Windows is a even worse mess. * You often need to do non-standard system tweaks to get the system in a working state. It's everything-doesn't-work-by-default. * You often need to install/prevent instalation of bad quality drivers and associated bundleware to make devices work. * Microsoft can't decide what UI framework they will support (or drop support) so built-in applications happens to be built with the current "thing", the old ones staying on the older unsupported frameworks. * You need to constantly tweak a combination of Windows 3.11 control applets, Windows 95 control panel applets, Windows 7 unified control panel glass, and Metro Settings Universal Windows Platform app to keep things working. * Microsoft can't decide what random widgets go on the taskbar, or the file manager, or your start menu, so it's always disrupting things every few updates. It is arriving at a point where the only "consistent" UI thing in Windows is Steam, and Steam isn't built-in, and is a hot mess of inconsistent UI itself.

kingrazor 3y ago

My experiences with Linux have been anything but seamless.

yoyohello13 3y ago
Similar to my experience with Windows TBH.
emkoemko 3y ago
yea same with windows having to open that command prompt to run random commands to fix issues

ElectricalUnion 3y ago

The only Linux desktop environment that I found that looks and feels integrated and polished is Gnome, but that is because it's a slow as molasses, corporate focused and dumbed down copycat of the other mainstream OSes.

mceachen 3y ago

> seamless and just works Just say “better.” Gnome and KDE are decidedly not perfect, but they are both quite usable even by casual windows-only non-techies. FWIW I’ve been using Linux as my primary desktop OS for more than 20 years—it does no one any good to oversell it. Touchpad scrolling rate is still broken on Gnome/Firefox. Angels have to sing (or use xorg) to make s3 suspend work. Fedora auto-update can break if there’s “too many” packages to update. Touchpad scrolling can be misinterpreted as swipe-left or swipe-right by KDE on some hardware. The point is, if you bang against any of these sorts of issues in Windows, you’re frequently stymied. On Linux, you can either fix it, or at least route around the damage with an alternative.

o1y32 3y ago

None of the comments here seem to address desktop OS in enterprise/government environment, which is what this article about. Linux desktop OS your personal computer? Sure. In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Good luck.

ankurdhama 3y ago
> Sure. In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Most of these enterprise software (for non technical users) these days is just a web app so a vendor not releasing their software is not a problem here.
yencabulator 3y ago
> In an organization where most users are not technical, and where vendors do not release their software? Like schools? ChromeOS is Linux and seems to be doing ok.

Aerbil313 3y ago

Linux Mint Cinnamon is here as well. It’s more seamless than Windows. Unless you need to specifically run windows-only software. Still I’ll take dual booting or having separate machines rather than using windows as mu daily driver every day of the week.