Hi created this for Linux users, so the  windows discussion can be left in peace.

Basic conclusion seemed to be that system76 and valve is doing a great job of creating viable alternatives to WindowsHell that isnt a locked down games console - which have really been the only options until now.

I think a lot of the disagreements stem from thinking of them purely as operating systems, when in reality its the "ecosystem" thats important: how easy is it to get help, what content is available, how people get paid for the work they do.

Probably the biggest change Ive seen with windows vs linux in the last 5 years or so is the linux ecosystem has exploded alongside devices like the raspberry Pi, whereas help in the windows ecosystem is now virtually none existent - e.g. we just got a new ROG G5 with win 10 on it, I spent a whole morning of searching trying to find out why the windows/superkey wouldnt work, most of the results trying to get me to install stuff from dodgy websites - and in the end I had to figure it out for myself.

I had something similar recently trying gnome and clean simple instructions came out in line in the first set of google search results.

 

Also

https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2021/11/18/german-state-planning-to-switch-25000-pcs-to-libreoffice/

Edited November 25, 20214 yr by mSparks

Avoid Linux unless you wish to spend your time grasping at straws.

10 hours ago, jarmstro said:

Avoid Linux unless you wish to spend your time grasping at straws.

That's not what google says:

https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/common/

Quote

Windows had 75.55% of the desktop market share in January 2021. Microsoft's revenue for 2020 was $143.015 billion. It is a 13.65% increase since 2019. According to the usage share of operating systems, the current Linux desktop market share is between 1.74-2.18%.

There is a reason that Linux is only on around 2% of desktops.

It's been around for decades.  If it was a great, free experience, it would account for more than 2%.

It has its roles, these days its primarily running headless stuck in a rack for cloud computing.

Yes, Valve is releasing their Linux-based handheld, but that is neither here nor there.  And Apple has it "under the hood", but those are not proper Linux desktops.

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by Gulfstream

43 minutes ago, Gulfstream said:

There is a reason that Linux is only on around 2% of desktops.

There is a reason MSFS only had 2 million users

While Xplane was

And yep, it does have everything to do with Windows vs Linux popularity, just not the way you seem to think.

 

 

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by mSparks

Windows just far easier to use if you have a brain. Linux requires a degree in science and far to complex for the 95% of users out there. Though I managed to convert a friend to using it on an old laptop he got the hang of it.

29 minutes ago, mjrhealth said:

Linux requires a degree in science and far to complex for the 95% of users out there.

If that was true it definitely wouldn't be the most popular operating system on the planet.

Since it is the most popular operating system on the planet - you must be thinking of the versions of Linux targeted at people making the most successful software on the planet (which is all that tends to get talked about)

People thought NeXTStep was insanity

____

Actually, thats a good idea, I should make a version of autoatc for Linux based watches.

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by mSparks

43 minutes ago, mSparks said:

If that was true it definitely wouldn't be the most popular operating system on the planet.

Since it is the most popular operating system on the planet - you must be thinking of the versions of Linux targeted at people making the most successful software on the planet (which is all that tends to get talked about)

 

Only by you mostly must be teh best kept secret that everyone knows about.

28 minutes ago, mjrhealth said:

Only by you mostly must be teh best kept secret that everyone knows about.

https://www.quora.com/What-operating-system-do-the-Google-employees-use-How-much-freedom-do-they-have-with-respect-to-an-OS-usage

Quote

Andrew McGregor

, former Site Reliability Engineer at Google (2013-2019)

Answered 3 years ago · Upvoted by 

Seth Hettich

, former SRE at Google (2003-2018) and 

Torbjörn Gannholm

, former Senior Software Engineer at Google (2007-2017) · Author has 9.6K answers and 48.5M answer views

 

Phones and tablets can be Apple or Android, in both cases they have to be actively supported and running a version of the OS approved by security operations.

Sales and business organisation employees get Apple laptops running OS X or Chromebooks. They don’t get desktops.

For engineers, it’s more complicated.

Laptops can be OS X, Linux or Windows (not many do choose Windows, unless they’re working on, say, Chrome for Windows).

Desktops are available to engineers and a few financial analysts only, and the OS story is the same, except that the number that are anything but Linux is negligible.

The Linux builds for workstations allowed are the ones built by the corp workstation OS team, currently based on Debian, but you can more or less configure them how you like.

Many engineers have a Chromebook as well as a corp laptop.

The data centres run Linux, except maybe the corporate DCs, about which I know very little. The production data centres run the system image for Borg, and that is a custom distribution.

emphasis mine.

See also vs windows

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by mSparks

I am intruiged as to why you push this so much, its still an OS made by people and honestly I trust no one especially apple, MS$ android google none of them have our best interest at heart, and im sure linux will be no different.

Linux is good, but lacks one thing which makes it suitable of the average user: a lack of consistency to install applications.

Most of the app stores just suck, they are slow and half of the apps you would need, are not there.

Then you have the Debian and RPM installers. Most prospective users have no clue what to choose.

The easiest and fastest way to install something  there, is by command line, but which average Joe understand for example sudo apt install ... . And usually you first have to add a repository, which is obsolete after doing an upgrade.

And in worse case, you have to compile the app by hand, after fixing all missing dependencies.

 

my two cents this is the main reason why linux does not get from the ground. 

The two branches that succeeded ( Android and ChromeOS ) managed this by offering a proper app store.

 

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by soaring_penguin
missing conclusion :)

3 hours ago, mjrhealth said:

, its still an OS made by people

Yes real people, with names and reputations, not made by corporate America to spy on everything everyone does with zero accountability.

 

3 hours ago, mjrhealth said:

I am intruiged as to why you push this so much

47 minutes ago, soaring_penguin said:

a lack of consistency to install applications

Very much why I prefer the Red Hat and Android based distributions.

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by mSparks