4 ms·

I have been an open source developer for twenty years.

by chx 2y ago

hparadiz 2y ago
You're woefully out of date at this point with your experience. The vast majority of the visible polish to make desktop Linux viable has been done in the last 4 years. I started using it full-time in 2020 and since then the progress has been remarkable. Just yesterday I upgraded to KDE Plasma 6.1 and it's truly incredible how well done it is. It's better than windows at this point.
- causal 2y ago
  I use Linux desktops daily but even I can recognize that it's not quite ready to compete. Anything you've ever had to fix by googling or opening terminal would be a complete showstopper for the vast majority of users
  - Teever 2y ago
    That's true and what's more is that's what so fucked up about this discussion. They would literally rather suffer with the kind of impressive surveillance and advertising that Microsoft heaps on them rather than change themselves and the tools they can/could use for the better. It's the epitome of learned helplessness.
    - causal 2y ago
      Those users can't really use anything that's not OEM anyway, so Linux isn't ever gonna threaten Microsoft. Apple is the only realistic alternative.
      - Teever 2y ago
        press X to Doubt. I have a friend from HS who had no interest in computers beyond using them as appliances until he asked me how to extend the life of a shitty laptop that he owned and I suggested that he install Linux on it. This was about 20s ago now and between now and then he's become a distrohopping person who is quite knowledgeable in hardware with no impetus from me beyond the initial push. I look at what rural farmers can do when push comes to shove in all kinds of domains and I wonder why not with the general public and computers. If we had a Cuban embargo type scenario where westerners couldn't get modern hardware and the operating systems that run on it they'd figure out how to.make.die with the cheapest and most reliable software/hardware combo. People don't grow to learn new skills because they aren't pressed to by circumstance not because they can't.
    - chx 2y ago
      Win 10 telemetry can be removed and there's no advertising.
- chx 2y ago
  Visible polish is utterly irrelevant when the problem is with drivers -- the manufacturers have zero incentive to produce Linux drivers and the open source ones are of uneven quality simply because they don't have the information. This is not to shit on the developers, it's 100% the manufacturers fault but at the end of the day, it's my printer-scanner that doesn't work regardless who is to blame.

I have been an open source developer for twenty years.

by chx 2y ago

I have been an open source developer for twenty years.

You're woefully out of date at this point with your experience. The vast majority of the visible polish to make desktop Linux viable has been done in the last 4 years. I started using it full-time in 2020 and since then the progress has been remarkable. Just yesterday I upgraded to KDE Plasma 6.1 and it's truly incredible how well done it is. It's better than windows at this point.

causal 2y ago
I use Linux desktops daily but even I can recognize that it's not quite ready to compete. Anything you've ever had to fix by googling or opening terminal would be a complete showstopper for the vast majority of users
- Teever 2y ago
  That's true and what's more is that's what so fucked up about this discussion. They would literally rather suffer with the kind of impressive surveillance and advertising that Microsoft heaps on them rather than change themselves and the tools they can/could use for the better. It's the epitome of learned helplessness.
  - causal 2y ago
    Those users can't really use anything that's not OEM anyway, so Linux isn't ever gonna threaten Microsoft. Apple is the only realistic alternative.
    - Teever 2y ago
      press X to Doubt. I have a friend from HS who had no interest in computers beyond using them as appliances until he asked me how to extend the life of a shitty laptop that he owned and I suggested that he install Linux on it. This was about 20s ago now and between now and then he's become a distrohopping person who is quite knowledgeable in hardware with no impetus from me beyond the initial push. I look at what rural farmers can do when push comes to shove in all kinds of domains and I wonder why not with the general public and computers. If we had a Cuban embargo type scenario where westerners couldn't get modern hardware and the operating systems that run on it they'd figure out how to.make.die with the cheapest and most reliable software/hardware combo. People don't grow to learn new skills because they aren't pressed to by circumstance not because they can't.
  - chx 2y ago
    Win 10 telemetry can be removed and there's no advertising.
chx 2y ago
Visible polish is utterly irrelevant when the problem is with drivers -- the manufacturers have zero incentive to produce Linux drivers and the open source ones are of uneven quality simply because they don't have the information. This is not to shit on the developers, it's 100% the manufacturers fault but at the end of the day, it's my printer-scanner that doesn't work regardless who is to blame.