Desktop Linux the best it’s ever been—and keeps getting better

Network World ^ | 3/16/17 | Bryan Lunduke

[markomalley]

While users of proprietary operating systems suffer with new, slower, buggier, more spy-filled systems, Linux users are enjoying better performance and more support.

I can be a pretty pessimistic guy. I’m fairly convinced that the Internet of Things spells certain doom for mankind, and I’ve made a habit of standing in front of large rooms full of people simply to tell them how much I think “Linux sucks.” 

If you were to call me a Negative Nancy, you wouldn’t be far off.

To make matters worse, I’m about to publish three new articles—each of them extremely pessimistic and gloomy—over the next week.  otal “sky is falling, we’re all gonna die” sort of stuff.

Linux the bright spot in the doom and gloom

In the interest of not becoming the internet’s crotchety old grandpa, eternally spouting off about “those kids” and their proximity to “my lawn,” I figured now would be a good time to talk about something happy that I’ve been thinking about. Something optimistic and wonderful. Something I could point people to whenever asked if I ever have anything nice to say. 

And that is this: Desktop Linux, right now, is better than it’s ever been. 

By a long shot. A feat that is truly amazing. 

You know how some operating system companies (not mentioning names or pointing fingers here) tend to release new versions of their systems with the promise of amazing new features, but in reality, each release almost seems to be worse than the one before? Massive performance degradation. Huge jumps in memory usage. Decreases in stability. Increases in annoying adware or spyware built into the system. 

As I listed off those problems, every one of us immediately thought of a specific OS and a specific feature. And when that thought crossed our minds, we were either amused (because we don’t use that system) or annoyed (because we do). Regardless, we’ve all got examples of those problems added in with new releases of big-name, proprietary operating systems. 

How Linux has improved

But not Linux. Linux has actually gotten—better. At least for the most part. 

Wi-Fi driver issues are (mostly) a thing of the past. Sound problems are, if nothing else, at least quite a lot less prevalent than they used to be. As a general rule, hardware support has dramatically improved across the board. 

The availability and variety of quality software has absolutely skyrocketed. Video editing under Linux, while not perfect, is actually in a usable state now. All of my videos can be produced entirely under Linux using nothing but free software. That is, putting it simply, absolutely amazing. 

And gaming? Holy guacamole! We have games coming out of our ears now! Almost everyone I know uses Steam and has a small (or large) stockpile of professional games purchased with in it—all running natively on Linux. Gonna say it. I don’t care how much flak I get for it. 2017—Year of the Linux Desktop.

There is never a point during my day where I need to reboot into Microsoft Windows. Or even fire up a virtual machine. Heck, I don’t even need Wine anymore. 

Don’t need Windows. Don’t want Windows. Don’t have Windows. 

That, to me, is a huge statement. Not only is Linux powerful (it’s always been that), but now, at the start of 2017, it is viable and enjoyable to use for just about every purpose conceivable. 

When I think about new releases of various Linux distributions, I actually get excited. I’ve applied more than one update recently (on two different distros) that led to modest speed bumps and improvements in stability. The fact that I’m applauding that as something unique and amazing might be a sign that just maybe there is a problem outside of the free software world in this area. 

Regardless of the sadness faced on a regular basis by users of those proprietary systems as they “upgrade” to their new, slower, buggier, more-spy-y systems, I’m damned happy here in free software land. No advertisements in my desktop environments. No spyware built into the system. Speed and stability improvements rolling out here and there. 

Just downright lovely.

The hell with it. Gonna say it. I don’t care how much flak I get for it.

2017—Year of the Linux Desktop.

[taxcontrol]

AD is based on LDAP. There are several open source LDAP products. OpenLDAP and ApacheDS are alternatives that I have seen customers use

[SanchoP]

PCLinuxOS

So cool ice cubes are jealous.

[jr3000]

Speaking of wife, my wife and kids all use linux and they don’t even know it. They haven’t complained so far and its been over 10 years. Websites are slowly moving from flash to html5 anyway. Just about everything is done on a web browser including taxes. So, what else is needed? Word processor? Already on the web.

[TheStickman]

Every 2 or 3 years I give Linux a look to see if it’s improved. Linux is better than it used to be for sure. I use my Mac pro for professional audio work. Linux is making progress in this area but it still has a LONG way to go before I would even consider making a switch.

IIRC the audio plugin-in market for Linux is almost nil. I’ve read that Reaper will run on Linux nicely but I am not a fan of Reaper’s stock plugins. When & only when Steven Slate plugins are available for Linux will I be ready to make the switch.

[Rothbards ghost]

yes

[BestPresidentEver]

Its easy to dual boot windows and mac on my iMac and macbook. So I do it and its nice to have when I need it. I’ve tried setting up my puters to dual boot into Linux and its too hard to make work. For one thing, Linux sets up roughly a billion disk partitions. I’m not trying to triple boot three OSes, just dual boot mac and linux. Its just too hard. If they could make this easier I would give it a shot. But I’m not throwing away years of stuff I’ve accumulated on the mac side.

[markomalley]

I bought a Linux laptop (Mint/Cinnamon) last year.

…

I also have tried EVERY browser that will work in Linux to try to run FoxSports, ESPN, cable TV, etc. Some will partially load the graphics, but none will actually play events. My cable company provides TV viewing for subscribers through browsers, but the feature does not work with Linux/Mint.

I don't particularly understand the problem.

I'm running Linux Mint 17.2 MATE.

Follows are screenshots from Chrome Browser (taken just now):

Fox News (Verizon Fios):

Netflix:

Hulu:

Amazon Video:

As to Flash, browsers are transitioning to HTML5. Admittedly, if you want to watch DRM content, you have to use Chrome versus Chromium.

But if you really need Flash content, you need to install the Flash installer plugin (via Synaptic Package Manager) and then use Firefox.

I agree that Wine leaves a lot to be desired; however, I've had success installing both Office 2007 and 2010 with Wine in the past.

(In all candor, I have a Windows 7 VM that I run via Oracle VirtualBox when I have to run Windows software).

I used to have a dual boot system, but when I built my current computer, I didn't bother. I run a VM when I really need to use Windows (which isn't often).

[TomGuy]

I do get some regular youtube videos to run.

As some have posted, the problem is probably due to the DRM between websites like FoxSportsGo and Cox Cable subscription.

[wrench]

Tried mint twice. Though based on Ubuntu, it doesn’t work or install as easily as ubuntu.

People always complain about the ubuntu desktop environment, sounds like much ado about nothing, it does work.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

I install both all the time. It’s literally the same installer, but whatever makes you happy. Glad Unity works for you.

[WhirlwindAttack]

bump to find later.

[Don@VB]

I installed it onto hard drive, but in the past I ran Mint from a CD to see how I liked it. On this last install I dont recall seeing the “run from cd option” but I suspect it’s still available.