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There are a plethora of companies offering commercial support for various Linux distributions.

al_borland 2y ago
I was thinking more about software like the Adobe suite, Microsoft Office, or other closed source software that hasn’t released on Linux. Electron has made things a bit better, but there are still a lot of bigs gaps for the enterprise, unless the company is specifically choosing software to maintain Linux support for end users. Sure, Wine exists, but it’s not something I’d want to rely on for a business when there are alternatives like macOS which will offer native support.
- rob74 2y ago
  Most people don't need the Adobe Suite, and the web version of M$-Office is more than Ok for occasional use. Most other enterprise software are web apps too nowadays, so it's much less relevant what OS your machine is running than it was ten years ago...
  - seec 2y ago
    Yep, that's pretty much it. Apple fanboys like to talk about how cool and long lasting a MacBook Air is but a 500 bucks Chromebook will do just as well while allowing pretty much 90% of the use cases. Sure, the top end power is much lower but at the same time considering the base RAM/storage combo Apple gives it is not that relevant. If you starting loading it up, that puts the pricing in an entirely different category and in my opinion the MacBook Air becomes seriously irrelevant when compared to serious computing devices in the same price range...
    - close04 2y ago
      There's still a huge market for people who want higher end hardware and to run workloads locally, or put a higher price on privacy. For people who want to keep their data close to their chest, and particularly now with the AI bloom, being able to perform all tasks on device is more valuable than ever. A Chromebook "does the job" but it's closer to a thin client than a workstation. A lot of the job is done remotely and you may not want that.
      - nolist_policy 2y ago
        Not at all, a Chromebook let's you run Linux apps. I can run full blown IDEs locally without problems. And yes, that is with 8Gb ram, ChromeOS has superb memory management.
        hollerith 2y ago
        Since the full blown IDE is running in a Linux VM, don't you mean, "Linux has superb memory management"?
        nolist_policy 2y ago
        Well, Google developed and deployed MGLRU to Chromebooks long before upstreamed it. Plus they use some magic to check the MGLRU working set size inside the VMs and balance everything.
        hollerith 2y ago
        Now I see. Interesting. (I'm planning to switch to ChromeOS, BTW.)
      - seec 2y ago
        Yes, but for those people if you consider the price of a fully loaded MacBook Pro it is a rather small win considering all the limitations. If the only thing you care about are battery life (only if you plan to use it lightly on the go, because even the high-end Apple Silicon sucks decent amount of power at full tilt) and privacy I guess they are decent enough. This is my argument: the base models are at the same time overkill and too limited considering the price and the high-end models are way too expensive for what they bring to the table. Apple has a big relevancy problem because of how they put a stupid pricing ladder on everything, but that is just my opinion, I guess. As long as they keep making a shit ton of cash it doesn't matter, I suppose. But if the relevant people stop buying Macs because they make no sense, it will become apparent why it matters sooner or later...
    - pokerface_86 2y ago
      what chromebooks come with a mini LED HDR screen and insane battery life? i’d love to know
      - nolist_policy 2y ago
        No mini LED, but you can configure the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook with a 1000 nits IPS display. And AFAIK, Google dictates 10+h of battery life with mixed web browsing for all Chromebooks.
        pokerface_86 2y ago
        1000 nits is useless without HDR.
        nolist_policy 2y ago
        I'm pretty sure it does HDR too.
        pokerface_86 2y ago
        without mini LED / precise backlight control though, it’s useless
        pokerface_86 2y ago
        and backlight control
      - seec 2y ago
        Are you seriously arguing about mini-LED displays only found in expensive MacBook Pro when I mention a cheap 500 dollars Chromebook. There is at least a 4x difference in price for those machines, it is ridiculous to even pretend they are somewhat comparable. And if we are talking about expensive high-end hardware, mini-LED is worse than OLED found in those machines anyway so it's not like if that would be a strong argument.
        2y ago
  - gytdev 2y ago
    Excel is essential and in most businesses that I worked with, most of the accounting and business side is run on it. I switched to Windows from Linux just because of Excel when WSL came out. If Linux would have Excel and Photoshop that would be a no brainer to choose it, but that will never happen
- qalmakka 2y ago
  You usually don't need either for software development though, and if you do the free or online alternatives are often good enough for the rare occasions you need them. If you are a software developer and you have to spend significant time using Office it means you either are developing extensions for Office or your company management is somewhat lacking and you are forced to handle things you should not (like bureaucracy for instance).
  - al_borland 2y ago
    Where I’m at my email is in Outlook. Having to use the web version sounds annoying. I also end up getting a lot of information in spreadsheets. Having to move all that to the online version to open also sounds annoying. The online version is also more limited, which could lead to issues. I could see a front end dev needing Photoshop for some things, if they don’t have a design team to give them assets. There are also security software the company says laptops must have which isn’t available for Linux. They only buy and deploy this stuff with Windows and macOS in mind. A couple weeks ago on HN I saw someone looking for a program to make a demo of their app (I think). The comments were filled with people recommending an app on macOS that was apparently far and away the best option, and many were disappointed by the lack of availability elsewhere. I find there are a lot of situations like this, where I might be able to get the job done on another OS, but the software I actually want to use is on macOS. Obviously this one is a matter of taste to some degree. It’s not as big an issue as it was 20 years ago, but it’s still an issue for in many environments.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- wojciii 2y ago
  I use Linux for work with the MS apps used in a browser. I use one specific app using a remote desktop .. also using a browser. So this can be done. I don't expect the IT support to help me with any Linux issues. My excuse for using Linux? It makes me more effective at developing software.

I was thinking more about software like the Adobe suite, Microsoft Office, or other closed source software that hasn’t released on Linux. Electron has made things a bit better, but there are still a lot of bigs gaps for the enterprise, unless the company is specifically choosing software to maintain Linux support for end users. Sure, Wine exists, but it’s not something I’d want to rely on for a business when there are alternatives like macOS which will offer native support.

rob74 2y ago
Most people don't need the Adobe Suite, and the web version of M$-Office is more than Ok for occasional use. Most other enterprise software are web apps too nowadays, so it's much less relevant what OS your machine is running than it was ten years ago...
- seec 2y ago
  Yep, that's pretty much it. Apple fanboys like to talk about how cool and long lasting a MacBook Air is but a 500 bucks Chromebook will do just as well while allowing pretty much 90% of the use cases. Sure, the top end power is much lower but at the same time considering the base RAM/storage combo Apple gives it is not that relevant. If you starting loading it up, that puts the pricing in an entirely different category and in my opinion the MacBook Air becomes seriously irrelevant when compared to serious computing devices in the same price range...
  - close04 2y ago
    There's still a huge market for people who want higher end hardware and to run workloads locally, or put a higher price on privacy. For people who want to keep their data close to their chest, and particularly now with the AI bloom, being able to perform all tasks on device is more valuable than ever. A Chromebook "does the job" but it's closer to a thin client than a workstation. A lot of the job is done remotely and you may not want that.
    - nolist_policy 2y ago
      Not at all, a Chromebook let's you run Linux apps. I can run full blown IDEs locally without problems. And yes, that is with 8Gb ram, ChromeOS has superb memory management.
      - hollerith 2y ago
        Since the full blown IDE is running in a Linux VM, don't you mean, "Linux has superb memory management"?
        nolist_policy 2y ago
        Well, Google developed and deployed MGLRU to Chromebooks long before upstreamed it. Plus they use some magic to check the MGLRU working set size inside the VMs and balance everything.
        hollerith 2y ago
        Now I see. Interesting. (I'm planning to switch to ChromeOS, BTW.)
    - seec 2y ago
      Yes, but for those people if you consider the price of a fully loaded MacBook Pro it is a rather small win considering all the limitations. If the only thing you care about are battery life (only if you plan to use it lightly on the go, because even the high-end Apple Silicon sucks decent amount of power at full tilt) and privacy I guess they are decent enough. This is my argument: the base models are at the same time overkill and too limited considering the price and the high-end models are way too expensive for what they bring to the table. Apple has a big relevancy problem because of how they put a stupid pricing ladder on everything, but that is just my opinion, I guess. As long as they keep making a shit ton of cash it doesn't matter, I suppose. But if the relevant people stop buying Macs because they make no sense, it will become apparent why it matters sooner or later...
  - pokerface_86 2y ago
    what chromebooks come with a mini LED HDR screen and insane battery life? i’d love to know
    - nolist_policy 2y ago
      No mini LED, but you can configure the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook with a 1000 nits IPS display. And AFAIK, Google dictates 10+h of battery life with mixed web browsing for all Chromebooks.
      - pokerface_86 2y ago
        1000 nits is useless without HDR.
        nolist_policy 2y ago
        I'm pretty sure it does HDR too.
        pokerface_86 2y ago
        without mini LED / precise backlight control though, it’s useless
      - pokerface_86 2y ago
        and backlight control
    - seec 2y ago
      Are you seriously arguing about mini-LED displays only found in expensive MacBook Pro when I mention a cheap 500 dollars Chromebook. There is at least a 4x difference in price for those machines, it is ridiculous to even pretend they are somewhat comparable. And if we are talking about expensive high-end hardware, mini-LED is worse than OLED found in those machines anyway so it's not like if that would be a strong argument.
      - 2y ago
- gytdev 2y ago
  Excel is essential and in most businesses that I worked with, most of the accounting and business side is run on it. I switched to Windows from Linux just because of Excel when WSL came out. If Linux would have Excel and Photoshop that would be a no brainer to choose it, but that will never happen
qalmakka 2y ago
You usually don't need either for software development though, and if you do the free or online alternatives are often good enough for the rare occasions you need them. If you are a software developer and you have to spend significant time using Office it means you either are developing extensions for Office or your company management is somewhat lacking and you are forced to handle things you should not (like bureaucracy for instance).
- al_borland 2y ago
  Where I’m at my email is in Outlook. Having to use the web version sounds annoying. I also end up getting a lot of information in spreadsheets. Having to move all that to the online version to open also sounds annoying. The online version is also more limited, which could lead to issues. I could see a front end dev needing Photoshop for some things, if they don’t have a design team to give them assets. There are also security software the company says laptops must have which isn’t available for Linux. They only buy and deploy this stuff with Windows and macOS in mind. A couple weeks ago on HN I saw someone looking for a program to make a demo of their app (I think). The comments were filled with people recommending an app on macOS that was apparently far and away the best option, and many were disappointed by the lack of availability elsewhere. I find there are a lot of situations like this, where I might be able to get the job done on another OS, but the software I actually want to use is on macOS. Obviously this one is a matter of taste to some degree. It’s not as big an issue as it was 20 years ago, but it’s still an issue for in many environments.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
wojciii 2y ago
I use Linux for work with the MS apps used in a browser. I use one specific app using a remote desktop .. also using a browser. So this can be done. I don't expect the IT support to help me with any Linux issues. My excuse for using Linux? It makes me more effective at developing software.