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So, the state of the Linux Desktop ecosystem is just like it was when I abandoned it 20 years ago, but now with drop shadows.

by artyom 3y ago

michaelmrose 3y ago
It worked well 20 years ago if you had reasonably supported hardware and don't install stuff that got released 24 hours ago. The same is true now.
al_borland 3y ago
I think there is a big difference now, and that’s Electron apps. Love it hate it, Electron has brought a lot of commercial applications to Linux that would have otherwise never seen a native release. I installed Linux for the first time around 20 years ago, and my more recent usage in the last year was significant more usable for the average person who wants some of those mainstream apps and doesn’t want to spend time finding the best Linux alternative.
kaanyalova 3y ago
Now there is great support for Windows games thanks to Proton/Wine.
- artyom 3y ago
  I actually agree with that. Wine was really shaky 20 years ago and now the Steam Deck works wonderfully. Can't deny the progress there. I was mostly referring to a "desktop experience" though. All windows look different, all buttons are placed in different places, applications feel not integrated, proprietary drivers have the competitive advantage on mainstream desktop OSes, any modern work tools are either unsupported (Excel) or barely supported (like online call software supporting a "web version" for Linux but having native clients for the rest), etc. We can blame, I dunno, "Zoom" to pick an example, but as a company what they actually should aim to build for? The experience is very different between a distro and another, with no consistency and no clear leader. And I'm not picky, I loved KDE 3 which was terribly ugly but incredibly useful. But as soon as my work stopped being purely "basement programmer" and I was forced a KDE 4 upgrade, it was a big nope, and I don't see a real lot of improvement from there 20 years after.

So, the state of the Linux Desktop ecosystem is just like it was when I abandoned it 20 years ago, but now with drop shadows.

by artyom 3y ago

So, the state of the Linux Desktop ecosystem is just like it was when I abandoned it 20 years ago, but now with drop shadows.

michaelmrose 3y ago

It worked well 20 years ago if you had reasonably supported hardware and don't install stuff that got released 24 hours ago. The same is true now.

al_borland 3y ago

I think there is a big difference now, and that’s Electron apps. Love it hate it, Electron has brought a lot of commercial applications to Linux that would have otherwise never seen a native release. I installed Linux for the first time around 20 years ago, and my more recent usage in the last year was significant more usable for the average person who wants some of those mainstream apps and doesn’t want to spend time finding the best Linux alternative.

kaanyalova 3y ago

Now there is great support for Windows games thanks to Proton/Wine.

artyom 3y ago
I actually agree with that. Wine was really shaky 20 years ago and now the Steam Deck works wonderfully. Can't deny the progress there. I was mostly referring to a "desktop experience" though. All windows look different, all buttons are placed in different places, applications feel not integrated, proprietary drivers have the competitive advantage on mainstream desktop OSes, any modern work tools are either unsupported (Excel) or barely supported (like online call software supporting a "web version" for Linux but having native clients for the rest), etc. We can blame, I dunno, "Zoom" to pick an example, but as a company what they actually should aim to build for? The experience is very different between a distro and another, with no consistency and no clear leader. And I'm not picky, I loved KDE 3 which was terribly ugly but incredibly useful. But as soon as my work stopped being purely "basement programmer" and I was forced a KDE 4 upgrade, it was a big nope, and I don't see a real lot of improvement from there 20 years after.