Posted on 06/08/2022 10:40:31 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Personally, I don’t see the 200+ distros as a problem. Business has already settled on SuSE, Red Hat and maybe Ubuntu. More importantly, a lot of software is running on Linux in the Data Center even if it is being fed to a Windows front end on the users’ laptops.
My biggest problem with Linux for an end-user is application software. Base is awful, and there will never be a desktop version of Claris’ Filemaker Pro (there is a server version, NOT the same thing).
I have a friend that was an early adopter and big fan of Linux. Years ago he admitted it was too much to keep up with and other than servers, he switched to Windows.
There are Mac like desktops available for Linux. My Ubuntu desktop looks just like a Mac - I switch seamlessly between my real Mac and my faux Mac.
When I was working I had access to wireless broadband cards and accounts. Every time there was a new Ubuntu or Mint (along with a number of other distros) I would load it onto a spare machine in the hopes that they had added broadband support.
Each time I would see that they hadn’t and I would walk away disappointed. Oh, they would claim that it would work but what they offered was a convoluted kludgy mess.
I have since learned how to tether my phone to my laptop for on the road internet access. It’s not as efficient as the internal broadband cards but gets me there.
My chief complaint about Linux machines remains working with Windows machines on a home network. It isn’t as seamless as working Windows to Windows.
My favorite is Linux Mint Cinnamon.
I can do everything I need with the Linux applications found in the Software Manager.
I’m never going back to Windows.
Which desktop are you using?
I have found that Linux has a lot of nice software available, but when it comes to running 3rd party applications, games, and software, it’s often not supported (written for Linux).
In fact, I could be wrong, but it seemed like 5 or 10 years ago you saw Linux install versions for many games and apps more than today.
Is that because it’s difficult to write software to support all the distros, or simply because it looks like the future promise of a Linux hay day has come and gone?
I was thinking this very same thing just the other day.
I’m thinking about getting back into IT. While I’ve not run Linux in a production environment, I was a Windows guy, what distros should I concentrate on in preparation? I mean I’ve run numerous ones at home and have 5 or 6 installed in VMs but I’d like to just concentrate on a couple.
All the different package managers alone cause me to just go ugh!
Red Hat is the biggest market out there. Oracle Linux (a RH clone), and Ubuntu see to be in demand as well, but not as much as Red Hat.
You can't have it both ways.
Anyone who turns vital data over to a 3rd party is a dunce, a fool. It is bad enough that banking crappola is funneled thru 3rd party payment agents, data transfer, etc. This is hard to dodge.
But, putting vital info on a cloud (i.e., simply a server owned by another party, serviced by another, connected to by another, etc) is like leaving the door of your shop or home unlocked but watched over by some ...... “security” outfit. Yeah, on a $$ perspective it might make sense. But, when the “security” company decides to decrease costs by not bothering to vet their door-watchers, do you feel safe?
Cloud is marketing jazz. Poor performance, poor reliability, the very worst security. And, if M$ is involved, just set fire to your cash.
“Windows users will still see what looks like a PC on their desk, but really it will just be a smart terminal hooked into a Windows 365 Cloud PC.”
This is only feasible for business users, and really only for non-resource intensive business applications. Home users that want to be able to play a modern video game, or stream hi def video, or record music, etc, will not upgrade to some “Desktop as a Service” nonsense, since it won’t meet their needs. It will be the Windows 8 upgrade debacle all over again, and once MS realizes that nobody wants the product they are pushing, after stomping their feet for a while, they will compromise and back down, again.
(You have read this before but for others) that is because Linux is the kernel, and Android is a customized version of an OS. Both Windows and any Linux distro need (well, they certainly can use) much customization, certainly including Windows 11! But despite the hype of Linux advocates (many of whom uncritically defend it), thus is simply far easier under Windows. mainly due to to the great expanse of sound freeware for it.
For Windows 11 this includes,
Explorer Patcher restores the Windows 11 taskbar to be exactly like Windows 10
Then, Classic Shell
And then, 7+ Taskbar Tweaker
Plus, Ultimate Windows Tweaker 5 for Windows 11
There is more, but in most Linux distros I cannot even right click on an icon and find to go the location source. And usually such lack even a true extensive equivalent to Windows Device manager.
My Windows 11 desktop:
For people who are computer savvy, Linux is probably a good thing with a ton of options and not limited to Microsoft.
However, based on my experience, Linux in the hands of a novice or new user is far more than they can handle and probably should be on windows, the main reason is if you get in trouble, a ton of people exist than help you, with linux not so much.
Only I can run my Python programs, and they can only be run on my machine!
Ha ha!
Says the smug holier-than-thou programmer.
Interesting reading all the comments.
I’ve tried using various distros over the years, mainly for software development (device drivers, Android OS builds). It’s certainly light years ahead of where it used to be. However, the lack of a governing body for a desktop experience (aka system libraries & middleware) leaves it without a common direction and is, therefore, undesirable for commercial SW companies to develop desktop SW for it.
Unless you have the deep pockets, like Google, where you can define an entire standardized ecosystem for applications AND get it into enough hands to give it critical mass I don’t see Linux ever dominating as a “Linux desktop”. You will only have the Android’s and Chromebooks of the world.
One mans opinion.
20 years ago you had to futz around to get Linux to run smoothly. Now it works out of the box with just about any hardware out there.
Windows is now like that, as evidenced by all the add-ons you’ve shown to make it usable.
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