Posted on 09/30/2015 4:57:21 AM PDT by ShadowAce
I love the Linux desktop. As far as I'm concerned, the Linux Mint 17.2 is the best desktop around. Heck, I was once editor-in-chief of a website called Linux Desktop. But today, I believe there's no way the Linux desktop will ever become the top desktop operating system.
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| The Linux desktop, here Mint 17.2 with Cinnamon, is great, but it will never be popular the way Windows was. |
That's right. There will be no "Year of the Linux desktop."
Oh, don't get me wrong, Linux, as Android tablets and smartphones and Chrome OS Chromebooks, will become the most popular end-user operating system of all. But, the desktop? That's another story.
Android devices and Chromebooks are great. I have a Samsung Galaxy 5 by my side. My favorite laptop is the top-of-the-line, with a price-tag to match, 2015 Chromebook Pixel. Neither are conventional desktops.
Chrome OS, just like Windows 10, can work without an Internet connection or the cloud, but both only really show to their best advantage with their respective clouds. They are both hybrid desktop/cloud operating systems.
You can see where I'm going. I think Linux can't possibly become the top desktop operating system because traditional desktops are on their way out.
It's not just simply that PC sales have been taking a beating for years, although that is true. We are entering a time when the Internet is as vital for PCs and laptops as hard drives used to be.
Indeed, look at Chromebooks: Most of them get by with mere 32 GB solid-state drives (SSD)s. Why? Because Google offers a minimum of 100GBs of free Google Drive storage for two years with each device. In the case of the Pixel, you get a Terabyte of storage for three years. On Microsoft's side, Office 365 subscribers get unlimited OneDrive storage.
Local storage? Who needs local storage?
Google and Microsoft both say you don't, and they're winning.
Apple is taking Mac OS X to the cloud, but as anyone who has suffered with iCloud knows, Apple has a way to go.
Looking ahead, I see 90 percent and more of users working with hybrid desktop/cloud operating systems. Most people are already well on their way to not using conventional desktop and laptops at all. This trend, even as tablet sales slow, will only continue.
There will be a few people who will still use conventional desktops. These are the ones who want real control over their hardware and software. They're the ones who want real security. In short, they're the same people who are already using Linux.
So, by 2020, in a very limited way, Linux may be the top "desktop" operating system. It's just that there won't be many traditional desktops left in use. Everyone else will be working with one foot in the cloud and the other in a variety of devices, some of which, like Chromebooks and Surfaces, will look like desktops.
We’re looking to install some Red Hat on Power 8 LPARs
Why not use Linux boot menu (grub)?
It gives you the option which OS to boot into..
No, I am avoiding the ‘cloud’ like a plague.. I prefer my own control over my own data.
Unix, not Linux, unless I am mistaken..
I am still trying to install Linux (KDE) on my Android, which I am typing on now... :/
Agreed. Mint is based on Ubuntu, though, so it should be fairly close, if not identical. (Not the GUI--the guide).
Around the world, for 3 decades, mainframes and servers have always been 98% Unix/Linux..
...or MVS
I myself messed with Ubuntu, and like you, I didn’t like the GUI.. Mint is much better.
LOL-
You guys are pretty funny
Mainframes? for linux
Making Lpars to run Linux?
any business that would do this... oh never mind
You guys must be the smartest people in the world!-
can I date your IBM sales person?
sorry - for the sarcasm
The two are very different things.
There is a lot of confusion about the difference between linux and unix. Generally, those that are confused missed the System 7 fights back in the '70s and '80s.
/johnny
The cloud-bias in Windows 10 (and the clear indication that more shoes are nearing terminal velocity) has me looking at Linux for my business machines. I cannot afford to fight with my computer to control my clients’ data, and I certainly can’t afford to have Microsoft “protect” what I am liable for, if disclosed.
Nope - If the business is responsible for securing the data (especially clients’ data), then what is the upside to having someone else take care of security for it?
Btw, never messed with Chrome OS.. But, as far as I know, it is the same as the Chrome browser, and is alongside Google..
Correct me if I’m wrong.. ;)
Since we're in the process of migrating away from AIX, but still have the hardware, we should utilize it in some fashion, and this makes sense.
Believe it or not, not every business runs with the same model that yours does. And not every business has the same needs as yours.
I've never messed with it either.
Please update me on the, ‘System 7’, fights..
I didn’t start messing with Linux until about 2001.. Befor that, I was a DOS guy.. until I was forced into using Win :p .. (may still have the 6.22 disks somewhere..).
License Google Chrome OS Terms of Service[5]
Chrome OS is an operating system based on the Linux kernel and designed by Google to work with web applications and installed applications.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_OS
No way I can give you an 'update' without spending years to do it. You can look up some of the books on the subject. ;)
It would be like me asking you to explain the transition between 95 and 3.1. Big job from what I understand. ;)
/johnny
Lol, How close was I? Alongside Google, and bastardized/took advantage of Linux in the process... X/
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