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These are a bunch of reasons why the top 1% of the most technical users in the world might not use Linux on their desktop. For everyone else, the reason they d

These are a bunch of reasons why the top 1% of the most technical users in the world might not use Linux on their desktop. For everyone else, the reason they don't use Linux on their desktop is because it didn't come installed on it. If somebody does to desktops like what Google did for smartphones, then Linux will finally have its moment.

pyrale 2y ago
> If somebody does to desktops like what Google did for smartphones, [...] Somebody does to desktops what Google did for smartphone. The company is called Microsoft, and the behaviour is called blatant monopoly abuse.
- kube-system 2y ago
  I'm referring to Linux being the basis of Android.
  - ChocolateGod 2y ago
    Outside of the Linux kernel, there is very little shared technology between Android and the Linux desktops. They didn't even use the same graphics drivers till late.
    - kube-system 2y ago
      > Outside of the Linux kernel, there is very little shared technology between Android and the Linux desktops. lol... so, all of it? Linux is a kernel. Regardless, my point had absolutely nothing to do with technology. Android's popularity has absolutely nothing to do with Linux and/or what it shipped with or didn't ship with. Its popularity has everything to do with the fact that it shipped preinstalled on devices that people bought. Linux isn't going to become popular on desktops until it is shipped on desktops.
      - ChocolateGod 2y ago
        A lot of netbooks back in the day did ship with a Linux distro pre-installed, and you know what people did? Replaced them with Windows. Because the Linux desktop is and continues to be a sup-bar experience for the average joe. GNOME requires a modification to even run Discord properly, but anyone who points this out gets shouted at.
        kube-system 2y ago
        I was those people. I bought the original eee 701 at launch. I ordered it online because local stores didn't stock them. Xandros sucked not because it ran linux, but just because it was some little-tikes toy OS. But Windows didn't even run correctly on the damn thing either, because the 480px vertical height of the screen wasn't tall enough to fit the minimum height of many windows. The device was basically a toy for nerds, no normal person would have picked up one of these devices and thought "this is a computer I can use for real things" People don't not use Linux because they've considered it and found out that their applications won't run on it. They don't use it because they've not considered it at all, because 99%+ of people do not choose the OS on their computer. They go to the electronics store and buy a Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, or Apple. There's no Asus Eee running Xandros at my local Best Buy, and if there ever was, it wasn't on the shelf for very long.
DoingIsLearning 2y ago
> For everyone else, the reason they don't use Linux on their desktop is because it didn't come installed on it. My experience lines up with this. Both my elderly parents run Zorin OS on their separate laptops for the past 6 years, they understand as a kind of 'free windows'. They don't care about the inner workings, they go online, check email, do shopping, make travel arrangements, print a ridiculous amount of paper. And I stopped getting calls because 'the printer is not working'.
- zahlman 2y ago
  Hold on, they're having a better experience with CUPS than with the Windows printer system?
- skydhash 2y ago
  Most people only have a few "essentials" applications they want to use (the browser in most cases) and don't care about the OS. Whatever can run these applications reliably will get a free pass. And for a lot of these use cases, if they have someone that can get Linux working well on their hardware, they only notice the speed and the lack of ads.
- feelamee 2y ago
  cool, I have the same experience with my sister.
rstuart4133 2y ago
> If somebody does to desktops like what Google did for smartphones, then Linux will finally have its moment. That's already happened, and Google did it. They are called Chromebooks. They are Linux underneath, use the GNU userspace stack and Wayland for GUI. They have a button that installs Debian, and GUI packages you "apt install" appear in the Chrome app launch folder. Apparently ChromeOS is being swallowed by Android, which I suspect isn't a big move. Crosini, the LXC thingy that hosts Debian on ChromeOS, has already been ported. That means Android will be powering laptops. Does that make it a Desktop OS? If so, that does the we can count Android's 45% market share of all personal computing devices towards a Desktop OS? And if we do that, does that mean Linux has finally won the desktop wars? By any definition it's already won the personal computing devices wars.
- kube-system 2y ago
  Fair point, but I think we can measure the success of them in their respective device markets by their market shares. And while ChromeOS was a great attempt, it didn't really disrupt much beyond the US education market. > That means Android will be powering laptops. Does that make it a Desktop OS? If so, that does the we can count Android's 45% market share of all personal computing devices towards a Desktop OS? OS market share for a particular device type is typically measured as the respective portion of the OSes that run on that hardware. If you are looking at desktop/laptop market share, you'd only count that :)

pyrale 2y ago

> If somebody does to desktops like what Google did for smartphones, [...] Somebody does to desktops what Google did for smartphone. The company is called Microsoft, and the behaviour is called blatant monopoly abuse.

kube-system 2y ago
I'm referring to Linux being the basis of Android.
- ChocolateGod 2y ago
  Outside of the Linux kernel, there is very little shared technology between Android and the Linux desktops. They didn't even use the same graphics drivers till late.
  - kube-system 2y ago
    > Outside of the Linux kernel, there is very little shared technology between Android and the Linux desktops. lol... so, all of it? Linux is a kernel. Regardless, my point had absolutely nothing to do with technology. Android's popularity has absolutely nothing to do with Linux and/or what it shipped with or didn't ship with. Its popularity has everything to do with the fact that it shipped preinstalled on devices that people bought. Linux isn't going to become popular on desktops until it is shipped on desktops.
    - ChocolateGod 2y ago
      A lot of netbooks back in the day did ship with a Linux distro pre-installed, and you know what people did? Replaced them with Windows. Because the Linux desktop is and continues to be a sup-bar experience for the average joe. GNOME requires a modification to even run Discord properly, but anyone who points this out gets shouted at.
      - kube-system 2y ago
        I was those people. I bought the original eee 701 at launch. I ordered it online because local stores didn't stock them. Xandros sucked not because it ran linux, but just because it was some little-tikes toy OS. But Windows didn't even run correctly on the damn thing either, because the 480px vertical height of the screen wasn't tall enough to fit the minimum height of many windows. The device was basically a toy for nerds, no normal person would have picked up one of these devices and thought "this is a computer I can use for real things" People don't not use Linux because they've considered it and found out that their applications won't run on it. They don't use it because they've not considered it at all, because 99%+ of people do not choose the OS on their computer. They go to the electronics store and buy a Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, or Apple. There's no Asus Eee running Xandros at my local Best Buy, and if there ever was, it wasn't on the shelf for very long.

DoingIsLearning 2y ago

> For everyone else, the reason they don't use Linux on their desktop is because it didn't come installed on it. My experience lines up with this. Both my elderly parents run Zorin OS on their separate laptops for the past 6 years, they understand as a kind of 'free windows'. They don't care about the inner workings, they go online, check email, do shopping, make travel arrangements, print a ridiculous amount of paper. And I stopped getting calls because 'the printer is not working'.

zahlman 2y ago
Hold on, they're having a better experience with CUPS than with the Windows printer system?
skydhash 2y ago
Most people only have a few "essentials" applications they want to use (the browser in most cases) and don't care about the OS. Whatever can run these applications reliably will get a free pass. And for a lot of these use cases, if they have someone that can get Linux working well on their hardware, they only notice the speed and the lack of ads.
feelamee 2y ago
cool, I have the same experience with my sister.

rstuart4133 2y ago

> If somebody does to desktops like what Google did for smartphones, then Linux will finally have its moment. That's already happened, and Google did it. They are called Chromebooks. They are Linux underneath, use the GNU userspace stack and Wayland for GUI. They have a button that installs Debian, and GUI packages you "apt install" appear in the Chrome app launch folder. Apparently ChromeOS is being swallowed by Android, which I suspect isn't a big move. Crosini, the LXC thingy that hosts Debian on ChromeOS, has already been ported. That means Android will be powering laptops. Does that make it a Desktop OS? If so, that does the we can count Android's 45% market share of all personal computing devices towards a Desktop OS? And if we do that, does that mean Linux has finally won the desktop wars? By any definition it's already won the personal computing devices wars.

kube-system 2y ago
Fair point, but I think we can measure the success of them in their respective device markets by their market shares. And while ChromeOS was a great attempt, it didn't really disrupt much beyond the US education market. > That means Android will be powering laptops. Does that make it a Desktop OS? If so, that does the we can count Android's 45% market share of all personal computing devices towards a Desktop OS? OS market share for a particular device type is typically measured as the respective portion of the OSes that run on that hardware. If you are looking at desktop/laptop market share, you'd only count that :)