Linux is mainstream ready. A lot of people still just use a web browser. For decades now Linux came with an intuitive GUI driven installer, a whole live Linux OS running on a CD when windows still used a dos like setup. Linux has worked great for decades to use a web browser, which is a lot of what people do on computers.
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2024
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Mildly Infuriating
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Therein lies the problem. The kind of people who only use a web browser have absolutely no need to use Linux as there are far better options
The kind of people who would like to switch to Linux do far more than just use a web browser, and Linux still doesn't "just work" after all this time
I mean, I daily drive it and play games and edit video in Davinci Resolve. Works for me.
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I'm kinda tired of hearing bs like βif only linux was good enoughβ.
It is. You just have to install and use it.
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My largest showstoppers with Linux is the lack of DRM support, the lack of "just works" installs, no Parsec (I've tried Moonlight/Sunshine many, many, many times, it never works for me), and ... this one little thing ...
I would use Linux more if either Virtual Desktop or Steam Link worked in Linux. As it stands, neither work, and current implementations of VR in Linux are still alpha / experimental beyond Index / SteamVR direct tethering, not an option for someone that has a cheap standalone headset.
Parsec's own website offers a linux download. I've never used the software, but are you saying it doesn't work?
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I would guess that there's some mode or version of Windows that turns those things off, because there are gonna be Windows 10 kiosk machines, and the kiosk/digital billboard crowd is not going to tolerate Microsoft throwing full screen stuff up.
Look for Windows LTSC (long term support channel) it is bot sold to private customers, but it doesnβt have all that crap nobody wants.
There is a checkbox in the settings of the normal Windows 10 Pro to turn it off.
It'd be funny if there was a version of windows for kiosks and displays that was just a debloated windows 11
~~Why do you think Linux isn't ready for mainstream use? Just curious.~~ edit: nevermind, I see you've already discussed this.
I went full switch recently, and haven't hit any major roadblocks yet. I feel like I could've done this years ago too.
I'm hoping to make the switch next month. Building out a new gaming system and going to try going all in on Linux again. Long ago I was a full time Linux user, but with the rise of Steam and the spotty support of wine I couldn't justify staying with it. Now that Proton is good enough to cover 90%+ of my games library I'm returning to where I started.
Nice! I'm excited for you! Hope it works out this time!
I bought Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021 ... a one-time non-subscription purchase. Today I found this:
I was able to figure out how to "re-activate" without signing up to 365. But damn sure seems like a dark pattern to me
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I switched to fedora on memorial day weekend, installed it along side windows. I would definitely say Linux is now ready for mainstream use based on my experience with an atomic desktop. I haven't had a reason to boot back into windows yet.
I hate how hard they try to force you to use a Microsoft account with it. And yes, the hardware requirements are too stringent. Microsoft works hard at taking away agency from users and empowering the users' corporate bosses and data miners instead.
On top of all that, it's 2024, Microsoft...a lot of people are struggling to buy groceries or pay rent/mortgage. They don't want to be forced to buy a new PC.
As for "just use Linux" crowd....you know what? I agree! And some people will migrate. But it's going to be sort of like the reddit > Lemmy migration. Don't get overly excited about it.
Lemmy > reddit
π
We don't need everyone to migrate, just enough that companies and developers feel obligated to support Linux. We're slowly getting there. Valve throwing their weight behind Linux for gaming was a massive win for Linux. Another important factor is the rise of the mobile first generations and the fact that at its core Android is Linux based. It's not completely trivial to port an Android app to Linux but it's at least no worse than porting it to Windows.
Microsoft may still have a stranglehold on corporate desktops, but they've long since lost the battle for servers and their hold on the home desktop is slipping a little more each day. Losing a significant chunk of gamers to Linux would be a massive blow to MS because it has been one of the few really unassailable markets for them historically.
You are so optimistic
Nah, Linux still only accounts for about 2% of all users on Steam (active per month) so it has a long way to go still, but at least it's heading in the right direction. If you count only English speaking Steam users that number climbs to over 5%. If Linux can get to and reliably maintain 10% that's probably good enough to make it a first class target for even AAA releases, but it's not there yet. The fact that so many games run fine under Linux these days is almost entirely down to the effort Valve has sunk into Proton making it relatively easy for devs to check Steamdeck support off without needing to really put much work in at all.
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What is it specifically about Linux that doesn't work for you?
I'm asking because I've been using it for almost a quarter of a century as my main desktop.
Not OP but personally, I've always had an impossible time trying to get drivers to work for my GPU to do more than just render 2D stuff like the desktop and basic web browsing.
Not OP, but it's still lack of hardware support for me. I tried to daily Linux on my laptop and gave up in frustration after several months because a few key pieces of hardware are not supported and seemingly never will be.
What year, what distro, which laptop?
Going to guess his pain points are the fingerprint reader and possibly wifi/blutooth chipset. There are some of those supported but that's still the spottiest in terms of driver support under Linux. Maybe also webcam but generally those work fine these days.
UI/UX mostly. Yeah you can do a lot of things, but the experience doing it isn't as easy. Ex: gimp. Which has gotten a lot of hate here recently (and deservedly so)
Not OP, but just to serve as another data point: mostly just exhaustion. I am a full-time software developer, so I just really don't want to deal with configurations and set up complex systems at home. That's why I haven't gotten into any smart-home stuff, either - I just don't have the bandwidth to deal with the issues that come along with the space.
Not sure how long ago you tried installing linux, but it has come a long way such that there are distros out there that are basically plug-and-play installable now. I installed Linux Mint on an old laptop and just went through the gui installer like you would on a Windows installation, and it was up and running. Didnβt need to open the terminal even once.
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I answered a bit further down a bit lengthier. Hope that's OK. π
To be clear, I enjoy my Linux environment. But could I leave Linux on my parents' devices who recently bought a new printer and use a facial recognition camera? I'd be worried...
It's funny how well linux works with printers, no stupid hp app, no configuration. Just hit print and done.
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Tried setting it up once on an old pc to have it as a kinda streaming thingy behind the tv. Never finished the project. First I was overloaded with options. Which Linux version, picked Ubuntu because why not? Did the download and could not find a USB stick at home that's bigger than 2gb. Tried installing on a hard drive in my pc didn't work. Gave up after that.
The only reason I don't use Linux all the time are video games - which are getting better, and streaming because DRM doesn't support it and I can tell the difference between 720p and 4k. Otherwise it's my main OS.
Video games are nearly perfect today. The only ones that don't work are the ones where the publishers have gone out of their way to exclude it by enforcing their anticheat nonsense.
15 years for me. It's pretty great.
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What are you trying to do that you don't think you can do on Linux? Also there's ways to install Windows 11 on unsupported systems.
Tbf, I work with Linux regularly and it's great for me. But for the average user who wants basically zero learning curve like your average Android provides? Linux is a hard sell. To repeat what has been said so many times here:
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Games. It's better than it used to be, but Windows just does it better. The same goes for general software compatibility. Windows Store apps, for example, generally don't run at all.
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My surrounding never wants to open or see a command line. Ever.
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Driver & hardware support. Windows still beats Linux here. And this is an important one.
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Easy compatibility between distros. What works on one may not work on another. That's a problem.
Like that.
Really, for someone willing to learn how their PC works, Linux is a good choice, maybe even a great choice. I love my Linux PCs. Am on OpenSuse at the moment and its been a fantastic experience. Couldn't avoid some of the problems above, of course. But this isn't about me.
For someone who just wants to click and install games, plug in random hardware and start using it a few seconds later, never touch an update interface and basically wants a system that just works intuitively because that's what they've known for years... Windows is a better choice. And I say this with a sad heart, because I really wish that Linux was the competitor that Microsoft fears.
Edit: thanks for the reminder; I will likely install Windows 11 (the unsupported version as it were) for my immediate surrounding, apart from some techies. π
I hear ya. I bought a AMD CPU+GPU laptop to run Linux on, but a month later I'm back to Windows.
While the default graphics driver worked most of the time, I had random graphic card crashes on a 20 year old Wine-ran game. Even the official amdgpu driver had issues (PITA to install as its not being maintained). No issues with newer games through Steam (Proton is amazeballs) fortunately. I also had random issues with a second monitor not being detected that were probably graphics driver related. Some random UI focus issues were likely a window manager issue (KDE).
Sleep/hibernate doesn't work 'out of the box' and I couldn't get it working reliably after screwing with grub. It was a gamble if it would actually power down or just go back to the lock screen. I don't know why its so difficult for a basic thing that's been around for decades.
So now I'm back on Windows, everything works as expected. Honestly I love Linux and its leaps and bounds better from what it was, but Windows is a still better choice for hardware support reasons. I'll give it another try if AMD gets it together with their driver support.
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