4 ms·

So, will 2015 also finally be the year of Linux on the Desktop?

by huskyr 12y ago

lmedinas 12y ago
I guess that's up to Chrome OS and Steam OS :)
lorenzfx 12y ago
With steam machines it might well be (or perhaps the year of Linux in the living room).
- gilgoomesh 12y ago
  Linux is already in the living room. Linux already powers many (most?) smart TVs, many digital video recorders and all Android devices.
  - lmedinas 12y ago
    And also in Cars, Mobile except the traditional Desktop computer.
  - pjmlp 12y ago
    The kernel sure. User space, not really.
    - danellis 12y ago
      You're talking about GNU, not Linux. Linux is the kernel space.
      - pjmlp 12y ago
        When people say "It is the year of Linux of the desktop", they mean GNU. Long time GNU/Linux user since 1995.
        danellis 12y ago
        Not so much for "Linux in the living room, though", as gilgoomesh said. > Long time GNU/Linux user since 1995. What of it?
  - watt 12y ago
    LG webOS based TVs are basically Linux. And it's great.
    - nieve 12y ago
      The older webOS devices are incredibly hackable on the software end compared to any other consumer electronics devices I've dealt with. Far more open than Android, much closer to an old-school Linux distro even then some desktop distros, easy dev unlocking (and good tools!), and Palm/HP even used .ipk as their package format. I loved my old Palm Pre and HP Touchpad until they both eventually died violent deaths (technically one still runs after a 5-story fall onto marble, but it's not happy). The homebrew community rather quickly got an X server working complete with a couple of common desktop environments. Or rather I should say X servers plural, you could launch more than one and flick between them like any native app. With a bluetooth keyboard and mouse I could work much more comfortably than with the exact same hardware running Cyanogenmod. Being able to do Perl/Ruby development and run a real RDBMS is possible on Android, but it's not natural. When webOS came out GUI was also more pleasant than Android or iOS for a lot of things and definitely better at multitasking, but they couldn't compete in the market. Luckily some of the webOS UI folks ended up at Google and Apple (and some had come from there), so things like the Android notification system benefited.
captainmuon 12y ago
Just thought the same thing. However, Linux on the Desktop (almost) already had its time, and it passed. It was around 2009, Ubuntu was at its pinnacle, it was the time of Compiz and Gnome 2 and transparent terminals and themes and whatever. A lot of my (non-technical) friends were suddenly interested in Linux (well, distros of GNU+X11+Desktop Environment+Free/Open Source applications). This was a free alternative to Windows, better than Vista or XP, actually easier to use for many tasks ("I can't believe that it is so easy to install new fonts, I never knew how to do that on Windows"). This was before all of the experimentation (Gnome 3, Unity, ...) that, while in principle a good thing, the way it was executed effectively killed the old lineages (Gnome 2). When it comes to languages: Python 2.7, and on-topic: Perl 5. This was also before all the annoying in-fighting for mostly political reasons (systemd cough but there are many more examples). I don't know whether politics is an issue for Perl. But that there is no golden way of transitioning to a new version in the FOSS world definitely is a problem that is harming so many projects.
- crdoconnor 12y ago
  Xubuntu. It's like 10.04 but improved.
- digi_owl 12y ago
  But there is. Make damn sure the old and the new can live side by side on the same system for as long as the user/admin see fit. Thus making the user/admin the arbiter of change, not the project devs or the distro maintainers. You find this on the kernel level, where old and new APIs sit side by side. But higher up it seems like egos override pragmatism. Or "perfect is the enemy of good".
oftenwrong 12y ago
China is making big moves to switch over to Linux. They are aiming to have a significant portion of their computers on Linux by 2020. The resources they pour into Linux may change the landscape considerably. http://www.themukt.com/2014/10/30/china-will-uprade-pcs-linux-2020/ http://www.themukt.com/2014/10/30/china-will-uprade-pcs-linu...
joshu 12y ago
I just checked with the Hidden Masters. Year of the Linux Desktop has been bumped to 2016 to make room for Perl in 2015.

So, will 2015 also finally be the year of Linux on the Desktop?

by huskyr 12y ago

So, will 2015 also finally be the year of Linux on the Desktop?

lmedinas 12y ago

I guess that's up to Chrome OS and Steam OS :)

lorenzfx 12y ago

With steam machines it might well be (or perhaps the year of Linux in the living room).

gilgoomesh 12y ago
Linux is already in the living room. Linux already powers many (most?) smart TVs, many digital video recorders and all Android devices.
- lmedinas 12y ago
  And also in Cars, Mobile except the traditional Desktop computer.
- pjmlp 12y ago
  The kernel sure. User space, not really.
  - danellis 12y ago
    You're talking about GNU, not Linux. Linux is the kernel space.
    - pjmlp 12y ago
      When people say "It is the year of Linux of the desktop", they mean GNU. Long time GNU/Linux user since 1995.
      - danellis 12y ago
        Not so much for "Linux in the living room, though", as gilgoomesh said. > Long time GNU/Linux user since 1995. What of it?
- watt 12y ago
  LG webOS based TVs are basically Linux. And it's great.
  - nieve 12y ago
    The older webOS devices are incredibly hackable on the software end compared to any other consumer electronics devices I've dealt with. Far more open than Android, much closer to an old-school Linux distro even then some desktop distros, easy dev unlocking (and good tools!), and Palm/HP even used .ipk as their package format. I loved my old Palm Pre and HP Touchpad until they both eventually died violent deaths (technically one still runs after a 5-story fall onto marble, but it's not happy). The homebrew community rather quickly got an X server working complete with a couple of common desktop environments. Or rather I should say X servers plural, you could launch more than one and flick between them like any native app. With a bluetooth keyboard and mouse I could work much more comfortably than with the exact same hardware running Cyanogenmod. Being able to do Perl/Ruby development and run a real RDBMS is possible on Android, but it's not natural. When webOS came out GUI was also more pleasant than Android or iOS for a lot of things and definitely better at multitasking, but they couldn't compete in the market. Luckily some of the webOS UI folks ended up at Google and Apple (and some had come from there), so things like the Android notification system benefited.

captainmuon 12y ago

Just thought the same thing. However, Linux on the Desktop (almost) already had its time, and it passed. It was around 2009, Ubuntu was at its pinnacle, it was the time of Compiz and Gnome 2 and transparent terminals and themes and whatever. A lot of my (non-technical) friends were suddenly interested in Linux (well, distros of GNU+X11+Desktop Environment+Free/Open Source applications). This was a free alternative to Windows, better than Vista or XP, actually easier to use for many tasks ("I can't believe that it is so easy to install new fonts, I never knew how to do that on Windows"). This was before all of the experimentation (Gnome 3, Unity, ...) that, while in principle a good thing, the way it was executed effectively killed the old lineages (Gnome 2). When it comes to languages: Python 2.7, and on-topic: Perl 5. This was also before all the annoying in-fighting for mostly political reasons (systemd cough but there are many more examples). I don't know whether politics is an issue for Perl. But that there is no golden way of transitioning to a new version in the FOSS world definitely is a problem that is harming so many projects.

crdoconnor 12y ago
Xubuntu. It's like 10.04 but improved.
digi_owl 12y ago
But there is. Make damn sure the old and the new can live side by side on the same system for as long as the user/admin see fit. Thus making the user/admin the arbiter of change, not the project devs or the distro maintainers. You find this on the kernel level, where old and new APIs sit side by side. But higher up it seems like egos override pragmatism. Or "perfect is the enemy of good".

oftenwrong 12y ago

China is making big moves to switch over to Linux. They are aiming to have a significant portion of their computers on Linux by 2020. The resources they pour into Linux may change the landscape considerably. http://www.themukt.com/2014/10/30/china-will-uprade-pcs-linux-2020/ http://www.themukt.com/2014/10/30/china-will-uprade-pcs-linu...

joshu 12y ago

I just checked with the Hidden Masters. Year of the Linux Desktop has been bumped to 2016 to make room for Perl in 2015.