I am one of those who mask my OS/information.
“I am one of those who mask my OS/information.”
I would say that unknown is mostly Linux users who wish to remain private.
I really should increase my supply of "spare" computers. Need more Linux boxes. I had Windows Subsystem for Linux almost somewhat working for a while under Win11, then gave up on it.
Thank you Ace, this is cool news... :)
Well, next year millions of users of computers less than 5 years old will have to make the choice of
1) laying out $500 to $1500 for a new computer that can do what their existing computer can.
2) use a machine that no longer gets security updates and patches and which is boycotted by software companies
or
3) upgrade to Linux.
And what about LINUX users that run a copy of Window in a Linux shell?
A number of newer laptops are essentially sealed boxes - it is a major chore to install a new battery or switch out the drive for a bigger/faster one. So GNU/Linux gives users a workable alternative to having to upgrade hardware - just get on youtube, learn a few basics, and pitch Windows in the ditch where it can rot in peace - and switch your computer to GNU/Linux which usually performs excellently on older hardware (compared to Windows).
Also, GNU/Linux is getting easier and easier to install, even for non-techies. Note that it is NOT fool-proof.
GNU/Linux is divided into distros, and each distro has one or more options of desktops available. A distro indicates the basic packaging system (Debian/Fedora/Arch/etc.), while the desktop environment (DE) designates the user interface.
Browsers like Firefox and Chrome are available, as is the LibreOffice suite for general office work, along with numerous games and music players and video players and much more.
The single greatest difference, in my opinion, is in the package managers. With Windows, you just head off into the wilds of the Internet and track down whatever software you want, frequently having to shell out money for it. You install it and hope you can get drivers to work. On the other hand, the GNU/Linux user space makes use of repositories that hold the free-to-use software for your distro. The software you find in the repositories has been specifically compiled to run on your distro, so there are surprisingly few real driver issues except for Nvidia graphic cards and a few odd network adapters. I have had almost zero driver issues in the past nearly twenty years. The kernel contains the drivers, and the kernel is updated frequently, so in the odd case where a driver seems to be missing, generally an update will install it soon.
DE’s include:
Gnome is similar in looks to Windows11, and is used by many.
KDE is a slick-looking system with lots of configurables. The plethora of options can be overwhelming, but it is quite stable and has a good package base.
Cinnamon is lightweight and solid.
Mate (my choice) is lightweight and quite solid.
LXDE and LXQt and the rest all have their fans.
Also, most GNU/Linux distros have live USB images which let you install on a thumbdrive so you can boot and test the hardware before you install.
With my yearly budget of engineering software in the $10s of thousands the OS is not important to me. I just want something so I can stop giving that wannabe nazi Gates any money.
FreeBSD .01%? I’ve got four of them here /snicker
Wife is on Linux Mint. Gates aggravated me one time too many. She’s happy.
Got a Raspberry Pi 4 too. Linux.
There is an advantage to having a small market share. The people who create viruses are less likely to write one for Linux
33 years later, it has reached a 4.45% Desk Top market share.
Mirabile Dictu!
Across the desktop market, you have Linux chipping away at the low end of the market & Apple chipping away the high end of the market.
If Linux developers were capable of producing a single desktop environment, you’d see higher gains for Linux.