12 ms·

Intel: The year of the Linux desktop is here

67 points by tanglesome 13y ago

programminggeek 13y ago
Wow, how far has Microsoft screwed up their decades long partnership with Intel that Intel would throw public support behind the Linux desktop is pretty stunning. It doesn't matter because Windows will obviously outsell on desktop/laptop PC's from major vendors like HP and Dell, but still. Microsoft has really fallen these last few years.
- wmf 13y ago
  Intel has been paying lip service to Linux for years but most of their desktop/mobile Linux initiatives have failed. If nothing else, it's a great bargaining tactic to keep Microsoft in check.
- ternaryoperator 13y ago
  Intel has been vocally supporting Linux for years, including contributing OS code, drivers, software dev tools, and even rewrites of the OS for platforms (see Tizen). They were doing this long before MS's decline.
  - bluecalm 13y ago
    Also free C compiler for Linux which costs 400$ (or w/e it is now) on Windows :( It was major pain untile recently when gcc port caught up with visual studio compiler as there was nothing else with decent performance and C99+ support.
  - ansible 13y ago
    Whatever else, I do appreciate Intel's efforts in this area. My home desktop/Mythbox/media server/game machine is running all open source code (there might be a few binary blobs for device firmware though). Of course, all that available source code hasn't helped me debug a video de-interlacing issue with Intel's hardware accelerated video decoding... the next ingredients I need are time and motivation. :-)
- pavlov 13y ago
  Intel has been supporting Linux for a long time. They've even had their own Linux distributions and UI framework development since at least Moblin, which came out back when netbooks were all the rage - around 2008? If anything, Intel seems to have had remarkably little success considering the amount of effort they've put into Linux. Moblin was merged with Nokia's mobile Linux Maemo to create Meego, and that floated in the market like a rock tied to a solid block of concrete. Since then, Intel has been doing Tizen with Samsung. It's a closed-development mystery OS that seems to be meant for everything, with every kind of UI, but still isn't shipping anywhere with any kind of UI anytime soon.
  - kyrra 13y ago
    Even beyond using linux as a desktop OS, Intel has had an internal Linux distro for a much longer time (if I remember right, they were still stuck on Linux 2.4.x back in 2007, as re-writing a lot of their custom drivers and kernel changes would was taking them a long time to move up to 2.6.x). A lot of their new CPU testing (for development and QA) is done with Linux. It just gave them the control they needed to test new CPUs, chipsets, and other components.
  - outside1234 13y ago
    I worked at Intel for a brief bit in their software group - it is literally a comical place. There is no chance anything interesting is making it out of there.
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  Seems like a pretty good hedge on Intel's part considering how Microsoft has been pursuing a device-centric future for Windows where x86 is supported but so is ARM.
- straight_talk_2 13y ago
  MS and Intel have the same partnership as airlines and hotels. Each wants their partner to make as little profit as possible, as that leaves more client money for grabbing. Intel has been among the top 5 Linux kernel contributors for many years.
api 13y ago
This wolf's been cried about many times, but I do think there is a hole in the market right now: Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers. Contrary to the current hype, mobile is not going to replace the desktop/laptop except at the low end. If you want to do anything compute-intensive you need a "real computer." You have Apple of course, but Apple gets unreasonably expensive for many applications. The Mac Pro is not cost-effective for power users. Their laptops are a tad better but not great.
- melling 13y ago
  You're absolutely right. For the 10% of the population that runs compute-intensive apps, they're going to need a good desktop every few years. The other 90% will probably just keep their old desktop for a decade and keep upgrading their mobile devices.
- xradionut 13y ago
  "Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers." I have a high end laptop that doesn't run Windows as the primary OS. (I occasionally run Windows in VMs to verify that cross platform OSS software runs on it and on Patch Tuesday to fix the latest exploits...) Other than that, Linux is my primary personal machine at home for development, research, office work, music and movies, etc... I'm also shopping for a new desktop and home media server that will probably not be Windows. Windows currently has a chokehold on the desktop market with it's huge ecosystem of applications and entertainment, that's what's preventing many folks from moving. Games and accounting applications are the only reasons that my spouse still runs Windows at home.
- vidarh 13y ago
  > This wolf's been cried about many times, but I do think there is a hole in the market right now: Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers. Regardless what I think about that claim: That market segment is miniscule. One of the reasons Apple has done so well is that Apple has managed to capture the relatively price-insensitive part of that market segment, and as a result their average revenue per unit is north of $1000. The average price per unit for PC's on the other hand has been steadily declining to the ~$500 level. > Contrary to the current hype, mobile is not going to replace the desktop/laptop except at the low end. So 95%+ of the market, in other words. The PC vendors have been in crisis for years as PC's got "fast enough" that consumers started prioritising low price rather than maximizing performance within their budget. > If you want to do anything compute-intensive you need a "real computer." Most users don't do anything more compute-intensive than Facebook and Youtube on their PCs.
jmcintyre 13y ago
>"has seen Chromebooks race to a quarter of all computer sales and one fifth of all new PC school deployments." Are there any hard numbers on Chromebook sales apart from nebuluous things like "being on top of Amazon" etc.? I find it really hard to believe that quarter of all computer sales are Chromebooks. Does anyone have a source? One would expect Google to announce real shipments if they were that good. Web usage metrics from a few months ago showed that Chromebooks are used even less than Windows RT. http://www.zdnet.com/first-real-world-usage-figures-suggest-chromebooks-are-struggling-7000014102/ http://www.zdnet.com/first-real-world-usage-figures-suggest-... Also, I find it strange that SJVN likes to promote Chromebooks, which are even less "Free" and open compared to Windows machines and force the user to upload everything to Google's cloud. http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/why-the-nsa-loves-googles-chromebook/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/why-th... One of the SJVN's articles reads like PR straight from CDW and Google. http://www.zdnet.com/cdw-to-offer-enterprise-chromebook-support-7000010875/ http://www.zdnet.com/cdw-to-offer-enterprise-chromebook-supp... Not sure why that is posted in the "Linux and Open Source" ZDNet blog when it is all about taking even more control away from the user. >Outside of the community, most people don't see Linux's impact. Linux is usually invisible. When you go to any large Web site--Google, Facebook, Twitter--you're using Linux." >It's not just that even the most die-hard Windows users are invisibly using Linux every day Does that mean that programmers who claim to have gotten rid of Microsoft/Windows products are really using Windows without knowing it whenever they click on a Stack Overflow link? :)
- jmcintyre 13y ago
  Sorry to reply to myself but I seem to have found a source for the below. >I find it really hard to believe that quarter of all computer sales are Chromebooks. Does anyone have a source? One would expect Google to announce real shipments if they were that good. >Web usage metrics from a few months ago showed that Chromebooks are used even less than Windows RT. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-under-300-defies-pc-market-with-growth.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-u... The relevant statement: >Chromebooks have in just the past eight months snagged 20 percent to 25 percent of the U.S. market for laptops that cost less than $300, according to NPD Group Inc So, 20% to 25% of laptop sales costing below $300 became "25% of all computers" ? I don't know if the Intel guy said that in this keynote, or it's SJVN's mistake, but it's just terrible reporting.
sliverstorm 13y ago
The increasing market share of Linux in the tablet, smartphone, and cloud (server) business signals the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, I've had my laugh for the day.
- gngeal 13y ago
  You never laid your Android tablet on your desk? :)
mwcampbell 13y ago
What alternate reality are these guys living in? When my mom, an accountant, buys her next computer, it will almost certainly run Windows, because the accounting software she uses targets that OS. The same will be true for many other categories of software for a long time.
- Touche 13y ago
  > What alternate reality are these guys living in? One where accountants aren't the only people buying computers.
  - biehl 13y ago
    Touché :)
- hnriot 13y ago
  it's the same waffle we've been hearing for years. I am running Ubuntu 13.10, but leaving OSX aside, there's no way in hell Linux is going to make a dent in the desktop market. It wont be linx, it will be some future OS, possible Android that replaces Windows. I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath - to the point that to the user, it doesn't matter much.
  - shawnz 13y ago
    > in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath The difference is that Linux isn't, and doesn't claim to be a whole system. For example, Android isn't Ubuntu, but Android and Ubuntu are equally Linux. EDIT: I am not trying to make the "Linux is just a kernel" point here. Android is by no means a "traditional" distribution of Linux, but I just don't see why that makes it "not Linux". Busybox is available for it (Android is designed for embedded systems, after all) so what's the difference?
    - TallGuyShort 13y ago
      Okay then, GNU/Linux.
peterwwillis 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Linux#Year_of_Desktop_Linux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Linux#Year_of_Desktop_L...
KeepTalking 13y ago
The next best story for linux has been enterprise linux. A stable kernel, easily configurable(and free)toolset and a growing engineering pool has driven this market. In terms of dollar value this market is nearly (if not the same) as large as the handheld/portable linux market that android has conquered.
kyberias 13y ago
Let's discuss how Linux is only a kernel. It'll be wonderful.
giardini 13y ago
Sorry, Intel. The year of the Linux desktop will never arrive until I can watch Youtube videos with the goddam Flash player (or anything else) in Linux. Signed, - No-flash Giardini who cannot watch Youtube videos on his Linux box. Sorry, for an Internet user, life w/o Youtube is like being a blind man with a white cane.
- dsego 13y ago
  well, a lot of youtube videos do work in html5 mode. just visit http://youtube.com/html5 http://youtube.com/html5 and join the trial.
  - giardini 13y ago
    I've done that. Doesn't work for most of the Youtube videos I want to view. BTW why the downvoting? I'm simply stating the facts here: most Youtube and Flash videos can't be viewed on Linux, period. It's been true for several years now and sucks bananas. If you've got a Linux distribution that allows display of more than 80% of Youtube and Flash videos then please tell me what it is. Otherwise don't be buttsore and downvote me simply because I'm stating an unpleasant truth.
    - siddboots 13y ago
      Pick any distribution, any browser, and even pick which flash implementation to install (including Adobe's). Flash has worked fine on Linux for about a decade.
      - giardini 13y ago
        Ubuntu, Opera, any Flash version - fail. Ubuntu, Firefox, any Flash version - fail. Ubuntu, Chrome, any Flash version - fail.
        phaemon 13y ago
        Haven't tried Opera, but Ubuntu with Firefox and Chrome work perfectly well with flash for me. It's not a general issue that affects everyone; it's a problem with your setup.
Permit 13y ago
Linux has certainly had a number of years over the years. 2006 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1836228,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1836228,00.asp 2008 http://www.maximumpc.com/article/2008_year_of_the_linux_desktop http://www.maximumpc.com/article/2008_year_of_the_linux_desk... 2009 http://www.fastcompany.com/1116502/2009-year-linux-revolution http://www.fastcompany.com/1116502/2009-year-linux-revolutio... 2010 http://xerosphere.net/is-2010-the-year-for-linux-on-the-desktop http://xerosphere.net/is-2010-the-year-for-linux-on-the-desk... 2012 http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133669-could-this-be-the-year-of-the-linux-desktop http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133669-could-this-be-the-y...
- jamesaguilar 13y ago
  Indeed. The year where one could make do with the Linux desktop came and went not long after Ubuntu was first released. I am confident that I could give one to my parents and they could eventually learn to function with it. The question is, when will the year come where it is the easiest and most attractive option? I'm a little bearish about that being soon.
  - phaer 13y ago
    It depends on your use case. If someone did not have 10+ years of intensive windows using wants to browse, listen to music and read some e-mails for example and than Linux or rather Ubuntu is the most attractive solution. You don't to check your anti-virus software every few weeks and upgrade for all your tools a coming automatically. The hardware costs far less than a mac and the software is free, which non of the alternatives is. In fact i do see more and more non-techies with ubuntu net/notebooks (central and southern europe if that matters)
  - Silhouette 13y ago
    The question is, when will the year come where [Linux on the desktop] is the easiest and most attractive option? I'm a little bearish about that being soon. I used to be, but I'm coming round to the view that with all of the big commercial players, now including Microsoft, pushing heavily towards services and "the cloud", the decay of their traditional desktop offerings will create an opportunity for a Linux-based (or other OSS) platform to become relatively attractive a lot sooner. This is partly about the operating system itself, but it's just as much about the applications. Building a direct competitor to MS Office is something few sane people would consider attempting, given market conditions and the effort required. Implementing a native desktop competitor to a typical on-line "office suite" today is something a small team of smart people could do, reaching functional parity within months, and there is nothing close to a dominant incumbent in the market yet, nor is the user experience for these web applications anywhere near as polished. In short, as they lower the barrier to entry and open up the market, they make it easier for Linux-based applications to catch up. They also make it more attractive for someone to invest significant resources to polish up those applications as a commercial venture.
radmuzom 13y ago
And yet, in 2013, I had to search in Google for hours, read a lot of documentation and tweak a lot of settings in order to 1. get AMD / Intel switchable graphics working in Ubuntu 2. stop the CPU fan from making too much noise!! Windows 8 got both this right even without me thinking about it. (Machine: Inspiron 15R Special Edition)
mratzloff 13y ago
This is just PR for their Chromebook partnership. Intel pushing Linux has nothing to do with Linux and everything to do with the fact that Intel long ago decided to focus on speed over energy efficiency and were caught with their pants down when the future of computing turned out to be low-power SOCs (systems-on-a-chip). With both Microsoft and Sony choosing AMD x86 over Intel for the next generation of video game consoles and Microsoft and Apple clearly moving to ARM for all their digital appliances, what does Intel have left?
mratzloff 13y ago
By the way, who is the market for the Chromebook Pixel?
dgregd 13y ago
Microsoft thinks that mobile is their main enemy. Sure, tablets will replace PCs in many places. However that war they cannot win. In meantime core PC users are switching to Linux. They can do this because so many great apps live inside browsers now.
dsego 13y ago
Nope.

67 points by tanglesome 13y ago

Wow, how far has Microsoft screwed up their decades long partnership with Intel that Intel would throw public support behind the Linux desktop is pretty stunning. It doesn't matter because Windows will obviously outsell on desktop/laptop PC's from major vendors like HP and Dell, but still. Microsoft has really fallen these last few years.

wmf 13y ago
Intel has been paying lip service to Linux for years but most of their desktop/mobile Linux initiatives have failed. If nothing else, it's a great bargaining tactic to keep Microsoft in check.
ternaryoperator 13y ago
Intel has been vocally supporting Linux for years, including contributing OS code, drivers, software dev tools, and even rewrites of the OS for platforms (see Tizen). They were doing this long before MS's decline.
- bluecalm 13y ago
  Also free C compiler for Linux which costs 400$ (or w/e it is now) on Windows :( It was major pain untile recently when gcc port caught up with visual studio compiler as there was nothing else with decent performance and C99+ support.
- ansible 13y ago
  Whatever else, I do appreciate Intel's efforts in this area. My home desktop/Mythbox/media server/game machine is running all open source code (there might be a few binary blobs for device firmware though). Of course, all that available source code hasn't helped me debug a video de-interlacing issue with Intel's hardware accelerated video decoding... the next ingredients I need are time and motivation. :-)
pavlov 13y ago
Intel has been supporting Linux for a long time. They've even had their own Linux distributions and UI framework development since at least Moblin, which came out back when netbooks were all the rage - around 2008? If anything, Intel seems to have had remarkably little success considering the amount of effort they've put into Linux. Moblin was merged with Nokia's mobile Linux Maemo to create Meego, and that floated in the market like a rock tied to a solid block of concrete. Since then, Intel has been doing Tizen with Samsung. It's a closed-development mystery OS that seems to be meant for everything, with every kind of UI, but still isn't shipping anywhere with any kind of UI anytime soon.
- kyrra 13y ago
  Even beyond using linux as a desktop OS, Intel has had an internal Linux distro for a much longer time (if I remember right, they were still stuck on Linux 2.4.x back in 2007, as re-writing a lot of their custom drivers and kernel changes would was taking them a long time to move up to 2.6.x). A lot of their new CPU testing (for development and QA) is done with Linux. It just gave them the control they needed to test new CPUs, chipsets, and other components.
- outside1234 13y ago
  I worked at Intel for a brief bit in their software group - it is literally a comical place. There is no chance anything interesting is making it out of there.
georgemcbay 13y ago
Seems like a pretty good hedge on Intel's part considering how Microsoft has been pursuing a device-centric future for Windows where x86 is supported but so is ARM.
straight_talk_2 13y ago
MS and Intel have the same partnership as airlines and hotels. Each wants their partner to make as little profit as possible, as that leaves more client money for grabbing. Intel has been among the top 5 Linux kernel contributors for many years.

api 13y ago

This wolf's been cried about many times, but I do think there is a hole in the market right now: Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers. Contrary to the current hype, mobile is not going to replace the desktop/laptop except at the low end. If you want to do anything compute-intensive you need a "real computer." You have Apple of course, but Apple gets unreasonably expensive for many applications. The Mac Pro is not cost-effective for power users. Their laptops are a tad better but not great.

melling 13y ago
You're absolutely right. For the 10% of the population that runs compute-intensive apps, they're going to need a good desktop every few years. The other 90% will probably just keep their old desktop for a decade and keep upgrading their mobile devices.
xradionut 13y ago
"Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers." I have a high end laptop that doesn't run Windows as the primary OS. (I occasionally run Windows in VMs to verify that cross platform OSS software runs on it and on Patch Tuesday to fix the latest exploits...) Other than that, Linux is my primary personal machine at home for development, research, office work, music and movies, etc... I'm also shopping for a new desktop and home media server that will probably not be Windows. Windows currently has a chokehold on the desktop market with it's huge ecosystem of applications and entertainment, that's what's preventing many folks from moving. Games and accounting applications are the only reasons that my spouse still runs Windows at home.
vidarh 13y ago
> This wolf's been cried about many times, but I do think there is a hole in the market right now: Right now Microsoft is the only option for affordable really high-end desktop/laptop computers. Regardless what I think about that claim: That market segment is miniscule. One of the reasons Apple has done so well is that Apple has managed to capture the relatively price-insensitive part of that market segment, and as a result their average revenue per unit is north of $1000. The average price per unit for PC's on the other hand has been steadily declining to the ~$500 level. > Contrary to the current hype, mobile is not going to replace the desktop/laptop except at the low end. So 95%+ of the market, in other words. The PC vendors have been in crisis for years as PC's got "fast enough" that consumers started prioritising low price rather than maximizing performance within their budget. > If you want to do anything compute-intensive you need a "real computer." Most users don't do anything more compute-intensive than Facebook and Youtube on their PCs.

jmcintyre 13y ago

>"has seen Chromebooks race to a quarter of all computer sales and one fifth of all new PC school deployments." Are there any hard numbers on Chromebook sales apart from nebuluous things like "being on top of Amazon" etc.? I find it really hard to believe that quarter of all computer sales are Chromebooks. Does anyone have a source? One would expect Google to announce real shipments if they were that good. Web usage metrics from a few months ago showed that Chromebooks are used even less than Windows RT. http://www.zdnet.com/first-real-world-usage-figures-suggest-chromebooks-are-struggling-7000014102/ http://www.zdnet.com/first-real-world-usage-figures-suggest-... Also, I find it strange that SJVN likes to promote Chromebooks, which are even less "Free" and open compared to Windows machines and force the user to upload everything to Google's cloud. http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/why-the-nsa-loves-googles-chromebook/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/why-th... One of the SJVN's articles reads like PR straight from CDW and Google. http://www.zdnet.com/cdw-to-offer-enterprise-chromebook-support-7000010875/ http://www.zdnet.com/cdw-to-offer-enterprise-chromebook-supp... Not sure why that is posted in the "Linux and Open Source" ZDNet blog when it is all about taking even more control away from the user. >Outside of the community, most people don't see Linux's impact. Linux is usually invisible. When you go to any large Web site--Google, Facebook, Twitter--you're using Linux." >It's not just that even the most die-hard Windows users are invisibly using Linux every day Does that mean that programmers who claim to have gotten rid of Microsoft/Windows products are really using Windows without knowing it whenever they click on a Stack Overflow link? :)

jmcintyre 13y ago
Sorry to reply to myself but I seem to have found a source for the below. >I find it really hard to believe that quarter of all computer sales are Chromebooks. Does anyone have a source? One would expect Google to announce real shipments if they were that good. >Web usage metrics from a few months ago showed that Chromebooks are used even less than Windows RT. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-under-300-defies-pc-market-with-growth.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-u... The relevant statement: >Chromebooks have in just the past eight months snagged 20 percent to 25 percent of the U.S. market for laptops that cost less than $300, according to NPD Group Inc So, 20% to 25% of laptop sales costing below $300 became "25% of all computers" ? I don't know if the Intel guy said that in this keynote, or it's SJVN's mistake, but it's just terrible reporting.

sliverstorm 13y ago

The increasing market share of Linux in the tablet, smartphone, and cloud (server) business signals the year of Linux on the desktop? Well, I've had my laugh for the day.

gngeal 13y ago
You never laid your Android tablet on your desk? :)

mwcampbell 13y ago

What alternate reality are these guys living in? When my mom, an accountant, buys her next computer, it will almost certainly run Windows, because the accounting software she uses targets that OS. The same will be true for many other categories of software for a long time.

Touche 13y ago
> What alternate reality are these guys living in? One where accountants aren't the only people buying computers.
- biehl 13y ago
  Touché :)
hnriot 13y ago
it's the same waffle we've been hearing for years. I am running Ubuntu 13.10, but leaving OSX aside, there's no way in hell Linux is going to make a dent in the desktop market. It wont be linx, it will be some future OS, possible Android that replaces Windows. I know Android is linux underneath, but in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath - to the point that to the user, it doesn't matter much.
- shawnz 13y ago
  > in much the same way OSX is BSD underneath The difference is that Linux isn't, and doesn't claim to be a whole system. For example, Android isn't Ubuntu, but Android and Ubuntu are equally Linux. EDIT: I am not trying to make the "Linux is just a kernel" point here. Android is by no means a "traditional" distribution of Linux, but I just don't see why that makes it "not Linux". Busybox is available for it (Android is designed for embedded systems, after all) so what's the difference?
  - TallGuyShort 13y ago
    Okay then, GNU/Linux.

peterwwillis 13y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Linux#Year_of_Desktop_Linux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Linux#Year_of_Desktop_L...

KeepTalking 13y ago

The next best story for linux has been enterprise linux. A stable kernel, easily configurable(and free)toolset and a growing engineering pool has driven this market. In terms of dollar value this market is nearly (if not the same) as large as the handheld/portable linux market that android has conquered.

kyberias 13y ago

Let's discuss how Linux is only a kernel. It'll be wonderful.

giardini 13y ago

Sorry, Intel. The year of the Linux desktop will never arrive until I can watch Youtube videos with the goddam Flash player (or anything else) in Linux. Signed, - No-flash Giardini who cannot watch Youtube videos on his Linux box. Sorry, for an Internet user, life w/o Youtube is like being a blind man with a white cane.

dsego 13y ago
well, a lot of youtube videos do work in html5 mode. just visit http://youtube.com/html5 http://youtube.com/html5 and join the trial.
- giardini 13y ago
  I've done that. Doesn't work for most of the Youtube videos I want to view. BTW why the downvoting? I'm simply stating the facts here: most Youtube and Flash videos can't be viewed on Linux, period. It's been true for several years now and sucks bananas. If you've got a Linux distribution that allows display of more than 80% of Youtube and Flash videos then please tell me what it is. Otherwise don't be buttsore and downvote me simply because I'm stating an unpleasant truth.
  - siddboots 13y ago
    Pick any distribution, any browser, and even pick which flash implementation to install (including Adobe's). Flash has worked fine on Linux for about a decade.
    - giardini 13y ago
      Ubuntu, Opera, any Flash version - fail. Ubuntu, Firefox, any Flash version - fail. Ubuntu, Chrome, any Flash version - fail.
      - phaemon 13y ago
        Haven't tried Opera, but Ubuntu with Firefox and Chrome work perfectly well with flash for me. It's not a general issue that affects everyone; it's a problem with your setup.

Permit 13y ago

Linux has certainly had a number of years over the years. 2006 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1836228,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1836228,00.asp 2008 http://www.maximumpc.com/article/2008_year_of_the_linux_desktop http://www.maximumpc.com/article/2008_year_of_the_linux_desk... 2009 http://www.fastcompany.com/1116502/2009-year-linux-revolution http://www.fastcompany.com/1116502/2009-year-linux-revolutio... 2010 http://xerosphere.net/is-2010-the-year-for-linux-on-the-desktop http://xerosphere.net/is-2010-the-year-for-linux-on-the-desk... 2012 http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133669-could-this-be-the-year-of-the-linux-desktop http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133669-could-this-be-the-y...

jamesaguilar 13y ago
Indeed. The year where one could make do with the Linux desktop came and went not long after Ubuntu was first released. I am confident that I could give one to my parents and they could eventually learn to function with it. The question is, when will the year come where it is the easiest and most attractive option? I'm a little bearish about that being soon.
- phaer 13y ago
  It depends on your use case. If someone did not have 10+ years of intensive windows using wants to browse, listen to music and read some e-mails for example and than Linux or rather Ubuntu is the most attractive solution. You don't to check your anti-virus software every few weeks and upgrade for all your tools a coming automatically. The hardware costs far less than a mac and the software is free, which non of the alternatives is. In fact i do see more and more non-techies with ubuntu net/notebooks (central and southern europe if that matters)
- Silhouette 13y ago
  The question is, when will the year come where [Linux on the desktop] is the easiest and most attractive option? I'm a little bearish about that being soon. I used to be, but I'm coming round to the view that with all of the big commercial players, now including Microsoft, pushing heavily towards services and "the cloud", the decay of their traditional desktop offerings will create an opportunity for a Linux-based (or other OSS) platform to become relatively attractive a lot sooner. This is partly about the operating system itself, but it's just as much about the applications. Building a direct competitor to MS Office is something few sane people would consider attempting, given market conditions and the effort required. Implementing a native desktop competitor to a typical on-line "office suite" today is something a small team of smart people could do, reaching functional parity within months, and there is nothing close to a dominant incumbent in the market yet, nor is the user experience for these web applications anywhere near as polished. In short, as they lower the barrier to entry and open up the market, they make it easier for Linux-based applications to catch up. They also make it more attractive for someone to invest significant resources to polish up those applications as a commercial venture.

radmuzom 13y ago

And yet, in 2013, I had to search in Google for hours, read a lot of documentation and tweak a lot of settings in order to 1. get AMD / Intel switchable graphics working in Ubuntu 2. stop the CPU fan from making too much noise!! Windows 8 got both this right even without me thinking about it. (Machine: Inspiron 15R Special Edition)

mratzloff 13y ago

This is just PR for their Chromebook partnership. Intel pushing Linux has nothing to do with Linux and everything to do with the fact that Intel long ago decided to focus on speed over energy efficiency and were caught with their pants down when the future of computing turned out to be low-power SOCs (systems-on-a-chip). With both Microsoft and Sony choosing AMD x86 over Intel for the next generation of video game consoles and Microsoft and Apple clearly moving to ARM for all their digital appliances, what does Intel have left?

mratzloff 13y ago

By the way, who is the market for the Chromebook Pixel?

dgregd 13y ago

Microsoft thinks that mobile is their main enemy. Sure, tablets will replace PCs in many places. However that war they cannot win. In meantime core PC users are switching to Linux. They can do this because so many great apps live inside browsers now.

dsego 13y ago

Nope.