Kubernetes simplified I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Kubernetes is a challenge. Even for experienced admins, deploying successful pods and services is a task that is often more frustrating than it is rewarding. However, I believe there is hope on the horizon. I predict that 2021 will finally bring a web- or client-based tool that will make Kubernetes management a true point-and-click affair...
Proprietary solutions get the boot..
FOG computing FOG computing will be the big buzzword of the year. What is FOG computing? Simple: A distributed network that connects edge computing and cloud or IoT together. The purpose is to connect the location where data is created to what will either store or use said data....
Big data gets even bigger This trend of big data just keeps on climbing and should come as no surprise to anyone. The difference in 2021 is that open source will not only be leading the charge, it will dominate the sector at unheard of levels...
Linux begins enterprise desktop rollouts Thanks to companies like System76, Lenovo, and Dell, businesses have serious options for Linux on the desktop. Although the open source platform has struggled to make much headway in that space, 2021 will be a different story...
Linux on the home desktop will start to gain serious traction That success within the realm of business will start trickling down to consumers. As more and more people start using Linux at their place of business, they'll begin seeing the benefits of the open source operating system and desire to adopt it for their home computers.
FYI: Our dev team tried going from Win 10 to a System76 machine. It’s only use in my office is to raise the level of my windows machine about a half-inch.
Not compatible with most of the other 3rd party tools we use.
Right now there are a number of very good, very stable distros for desktop Linux. There's also the ongoing plethora of boutique distros of varying levels of seriousness. It seems like anyone can throw together a few packages, a window manager, office suite, installer, and create their own distro. The big "main line" distros are very good, entirely usable both at home and in the office. I've been a Linux as my primary home OS guy for 15+ years. At work yes, they're still married to M$ for typical office/business stuff. Though we've been doing our development work on Unix/Linux for 20+ years there. At least where I'm at, I don't see that split changing. We'll never develop on Windows, and without a serious champion to push the cause we'll never convert the business/admin side of the house over from Windows. Oddly enough, there's zero penetration by Apple/MacOS and no interest. Personally I would welcome Linux taking over the non-development side too. But the gotchas would include support infrastructure (mostly geared towards Windows right now) and the fact that a lot of customers and other entities we deal with are firmly in the M$ camp. It can be a challenge to exchange documents and presentations between Libre Office and M$ Office and have the fonts and formatting come out right.
Linux on the home desktop is always going to be a challenge because so many PCs and laptops come pre-loaded with Windows. It takes effort to get Linux on the desktop - users actually have to go looking for it. Installing it is a breeze, easier than Windows IMHO. Maybe it'll make inroads. Are kids bringing home Linux on school laptops? Lots of remote learning (and tele-working) going on. Maybe that's an opportunity. Maybe Chromebooks will introduce people to alternative OSes. Or maybe Raspberry Pi of all things could introduce people to low-cost, M$-free computing. I'm writing this on a Pi 4. I've been playing around with one as my primary home computer for 6 months or so. I use it for web browsing, email, even a little light software development in C++, Java, and Python. I've got a total of something like $75 invested in the Pi, a passive heatsink for it, and a micro SD card for the OS (a Debian Linux derivative). I still have a mid-tower classic PC running Manjaro for some tasks, but it is amazing the amount of day-to-day stuff you can get done with something that small, cheap, and low power. (seriously, you can run these from battery packs intended to recharge phones/tablets) You can run a Pi all day on less power than your coffee maker used making the morning pot of coffee.
We've heard "this is the year of the Linux desktop!" so many times it has become a joke, and then an old joke, and finally something of a tired/sore point. I don't think it matters. Linux has enough penetration in other markets to keep development going for the foreseeable future. On the desktop there are enough big, serious, stable distros and users to keep that going. I don't think Linux or the Linux community needs to take over the desktop. If Windows users want to convert they're welcome, but we really don't need them, we're big enough to keep going on our own just fine.