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Imo the best reason to learn/use Linux is because proprietary operating systems will eventually disappear, sooner the better imo.
by le-mark 2y ago
Imo the best reason to learn/use Linux is because proprietary operating systems will eventually disappear, sooner the better imo.
- Wytwwww 2y agoWhy? I don't see any signs of that happening. The only real major success stories for Linux in the consumer space Android and Chrome OS are effectively (of course not technically) proprietary(ish).
- xtrgz 2y agoSteamdeck
- Wytwwww 2y agoStill too small. Also it's hardly a general purpose device, Linux is only there to run Steam.
- dgfitz 2y agoIf Linux is there, and it can run steam, the implications of other things it can run are… basically anything any other linux box can run, no?
- Wytwwww 2y agoSure but most users are not interacting directly with the "Linux" part (and probably they don't have much interest in that anyway). IMHO Linux is mostly an implementation detail for the Steam Deck/OS. So sure we can put it in more or less the same category as Chrome OS and Android. It's just there to run a proprietary layer/interface.
- lawn 2y agoLinux is also there to be run "in desktop mode" which is just a regular Linux installation. This allows you to for example run games not on Steam or with a dock and a screen/mouse/keyboard use it as a complete desktop.
- Wytwwww 2y agoI don't think anyone is questioning whether that's technically possible, just whether it's an appealing use case for the majority of it's target users.
- ThrowawayR2 2y agoThe Steam Deck's sole purpose is to emulate Windows APIs to run Windows games. It's not a win for Linux, it's an admission that Linux's only value is as a way to avoid paying the Windows tax. We've heard grandiose claims that proprietary operating systems are going to go away for 25 years now. We will be hearing the same grandiose claims that proprietary operating systems are going to go away someday for the next 25 years as well.
- 7speter 2y agoHuh? It brings the sort of functionality that many computer users still use their PC's for over to Linux. You bring over the ability to have fun and spend leisure time on Linux, more people may make the jump in the future. This in turn puts pressure on software and hardware makers to support Linux.
- greenthrow 2y agoI own a Steamdeck. It is thoroughly mediocre.
- Ekaros 2y agoSteamdeck user experience once you well leave the Steam and software run from there is well not really that great. It is different Linux experience and not actually that great. Specially if you are trying to do something like developing stuff.
- mixmastamyk 2y agoI’ve read here twice recently that Windows Server is “dead.” Will leave that argument to them. Certainly noticeable that there’s less investment in Windows and less ability to charge for a proprietary OS. That leads to enshittification, which is having a long term significant negative effect.
- Wytwwww 2y ago> Windows Server is “dead. Perhaps. But these are entirely different segments. OSX server has been dead for many years now (it was hardly even a thing to begin with) yet the OS is doing just fine.
- eloisant 2y agoWindows Server is as good as dead. Even on Azure there are more Linux VMs than Windows. It's only used by a handful of companies still using MS server technologies by inertia.
- layer8 2y agoHopefully we’ll have alternative nonproprietary operating systems too then. A monoculture is never good.
- squarefoot 2y agoThey won't disappear, but for sure the corporations behind them need to sustain huge costs that the FOSS community will never see, and we're starting to see some signs: Linux is free and shows no ads or collects users data; Windows costs money, yet it shows ads and collects users data. One would expect the opposite, and I'm glad that it's not the case.
- greenthrow 2y ago2025 will surely be the year of Linux on the Desktop! (No it won't.)
- eloisant 2y ago2004 was the year of Linux on the Desktop for me. That's the year I stopped using Windows and used only Linux on my desktops/laptops.