11 ms·

Install a Linux distro if it is an option.

krylon 2y ago
While that suggestion is music to my ears (I've been using Linux/BSD on my private machines for over 20 years), for the overwhelming majority of users, that is not an option. Tons of applications are available only on Windows, and sometimes on macOS. I second-hand observed one case of a company trying to migrate from MS Office to LibreOffice only to realize that they were using add-ins for Office (something SAP-related, IIRC) that were/are not available for anything but MS Office. Unless Microsoft themselves push for a (yet another) "year of the Linux desktop", I don't see it happening on a large scale. The other option would be for customers (large companies, government agencies) to demand for a change en masse and invest the money needed to make it happen, which I don't see happening in at least the next decade either, as much as I would love to see that. EDIT: One more option I could think of would be for online security to become such a nightmare large corporations see their profits dwindle, both tech companies and "old school" companies who have become accustomed to using the Internet for their business. Imagine a world where you need to do a clean install each time you connected to the Internet to ensure no sensitive information is leaked and no malware infests your machine. A world where opening an email has become so risky people prefer going back to snail mail and fax. And so forth. I don't really see that happen either, but it seems slightly less unrealistic than the above scenarios.
- fsflover 2y ago
  > Imagine a world where you need to do a clean install each time you connected to the Internet to ensure no sensitive information is leaked and no malware infests your machine. This is exactly how Qubes OS disposable VMs work.
  - krylon 2y ago
    It's good the system offers that option, but right now for most people it is not necessary (yet).
    - fsflover 2y ago
      I don't know how you can be so sure.
magicalhippo 2y ago
I've been using KDE Neon on my secondary box for years now, and overall it's been great, except for two points which still means it's a no-go for my primary desktop. With gaming on Linux now being in a great position, it's one down two to go. First, and by far the most important, no RDP alternative with similar performance and functionality. Second, I'm really fond of the full-disk backup I have running. I has saved my ass several times, allowing me to be back in action in less than an hour with minimal data loss, by simply swapping out the disk and restore. I know there are some good backup options for user data, but I'd still need to reinstall all the data and re-tweak all the various configuration options etc which makes much more of a hassle to restore.
- nequo 2y ago
  > Second, I'm really fond of the full-disk backup I have running. I has saved my ass several times, allowing me to be back in action in less than an hour with minimal data loss, by simply swapping out the disk and restore. Does ZFS approximate this?
  - magicalhippo 2y ago
    I've been thinking about running ZFS on root. I've been running ZFS on my NAS for ages and been very happy, but I've also seen many posts on the mailing list about people suddenly being unable to boot with ZFS root systems after some update. As much as I love ZFS, it's a very complex beast, and that makes me a bit wary using it in that role. However in theory it would be great, I think. So I'm considering trying that on my secondary box soon.

While that suggestion is music to my ears (I've been using Linux/BSD on my private machines for over 20 years), for the overwhelming majority of users, that is not an option. Tons of applications are available only on Windows, and sometimes on macOS. I second-hand observed one case of a company trying to migrate from MS Office to LibreOffice only to realize that they were using add-ins for Office (something SAP-related, IIRC) that were/are not available for anything but MS Office. Unless Microsoft themselves push for a (yet another) "year of the Linux desktop", I don't see it happening on a large scale. The other option would be for customers (large companies, government agencies) to demand for a change en masse and invest the money needed to make it happen, which I don't see happening in at least the next decade either, as much as I would love to see that. EDIT: One more option I could think of would be for online security to become such a nightmare large corporations see their profits dwindle, both tech companies and "old school" companies who have become accustomed to using the Internet for their business. Imagine a world where you need to do a clean install each time you connected to the Internet to ensure no sensitive information is leaked and no malware infests your machine. A world where opening an email has become so risky people prefer going back to snail mail and fax. And so forth. I don't really see that happen either, but it seems slightly less unrealistic than the above scenarios.

fsflover 2y ago
> Imagine a world where you need to do a clean install each time you connected to the Internet to ensure no sensitive information is leaked and no malware infests your machine. This is exactly how Qubes OS disposable VMs work.
- krylon 2y ago
  It's good the system offers that option, but right now for most people it is not necessary (yet).
  - fsflover 2y ago
    I don't know how you can be so sure.

magicalhippo 2y ago

I've been using KDE Neon on my secondary box for years now, and overall it's been great, except for two points which still means it's a no-go for my primary desktop. With gaming on Linux now being in a great position, it's one down two to go. First, and by far the most important, no RDP alternative with similar performance and functionality. Second, I'm really fond of the full-disk backup I have running. I has saved my ass several times, allowing me to be back in action in less than an hour with minimal data loss, by simply swapping out the disk and restore. I know there are some good backup options for user data, but I'd still need to reinstall all the data and re-tweak all the various configuration options etc which makes much more of a hassle to restore.

nequo 2y ago
> Second, I'm really fond of the full-disk backup I have running. I has saved my ass several times, allowing me to be back in action in less than an hour with minimal data loss, by simply swapping out the disk and restore. Does ZFS approximate this?
- magicalhippo 2y ago
  I've been thinking about running ZFS on root. I've been running ZFS on my NAS for ages and been very happy, but I've also seen many posts on the mailing list about people suddenly being unable to boot with ZFS root systems after some update. As much as I love ZFS, it's a very complex beast, and that makes me a bit wary using it in that role. However in theory it would be great, I think. So I'm considering trying that on my secondary box soon.