Wanna know the first time I heard “This is the Year of the Linux Desktop!”? 1999.
Yes, nineteen ninety-nine. Twenty-five years ago.
Linux as a desktop is still a laugh. It still doesn’t come close to Windows of twenty-five years ago.
But it’s killer as a server, or a purpose-built system. My NAS/VM server kicks ass under Linux, way better than running windows. Even VMware recently switched their desktop virtualization to using Linux. This is where Linux shines.
You could make a Windows killer desktop, except which distro? Which shell? Which set of base tools/utilities? Define “killer desktop” in the Linux community.
Windows is the general purpose OS, with a common shell. That’s what MS did, settle on one UI (mostly), so it’s a common experience everywhere.
I’ve been on Linux for 20 years. Gamer, so dual-booted for the first 10. Ubuntu -> Linux Mint -> Debian -> Mint Debian -> EndeavourOS. I think. Messed with Knoppix and Mandrake before those, THAT was definitely before the “YotLD” 😅
Ads in the OS make me kick that shit out in an instant. Yes, I know there are third-party utils but I’ve seen settings reverted on update, and if I’m fighting my own PC it’s going to be by choice and I’m going to learn to improve it along the way, which is not easy in closed-source land. If ads didn’t do it, “AI” “stealing” my data would. Somehow piracy bad but I have to agree to let Microsoft copy my data for profit in order for me to use my computer? Fuck that.
You could make a Windows killer desktop, except which distro?
Mint Debian for computer-illiterate. The built-in software manager has tens of thousands of safe Debian packages available rather than installing adware infestations from random websites. Two clicks and a password OR set automatic for getting all software up-to-date.
EndeavourOS for tech-inclined. More cutting-edge software packages from Arch (and the AUR, but adds a bit of risk/required knowledge). Still no installing random shit from websites.
Which shell/tools/utilities?
The defaults, or whatever you want or need from a wide selection. Choice is bad now?
Steam, duh. Lutris has scripts to install the older/more picky/fiddly Windows games that aren’t on Steam. For students/office work, OnlyOffice has better compatibility with MS formats if necessary. List goes on…
Naive take imo. No distro is an excellent desktop. They all have flaws and issues that are not present in windows to an “average user”. Regular users barely know how to install apps on their phones. To be excellent all intelligence groups should be able to easily use it
When people say shit like this, they seem to forget the vast amounts of issues that windows also has. How long has it been since the last time an update bricked millions of machines? Even when you only talk about things MS is directly responsible for, that timespan rarely exceeds a year. And this is even with their enormous budget and army of vendors essentially beta testing and partnering with them to keep shit like that from happening.
Naive take imo. No distro is an excellent desktop.
Wow. Not a single one, huh? I’m sure manufacturers assuming Windows and lazily building hardware that does 90% of the work in giant closed-source drivers have nothing to do with the “flaws and issues” that ALL distros apparently have some of.
No Linux distro I’ve run has had a necessary parent process like “explorer.exe” crash causing the PC to mysteriously stop working with no indication of what’s happening, an issue I’m still encountering in others’ Windows PCs 25 years later… or having the main (Start) menu responding to clicks/taps (changing color like it’s activated) but not opening the menu, seen that on multiple Windows machines with perfectly fine hardware. Maybe it was too busy loading unwanted, unsolicited ads into the Start menu to do its job.
The “average user” will either pay a not-insignificant amount of money to fix issues or throw away still-good hardware and buy new every 3-5 years, at which point they will still need help backing up and restoring their data unless they are sending it all to Microsoft cloud who is training “AI” with it for profit. Environmentally and financially taxing but I guess I can’t complain; more free/dirt-cheap Linux boxes for my friends and family!
Edit: My wife and son are gaming on up-to-date OSes on PCs that are old enough to drive a car. Truth be told, my son has a slightly newer video card than that, though. Energy use is becoming a concern although it’s not really wasted when we need to heat the house six or seven months out of the year where we are.
What process? KDE under Wayland and I’m guessing you have Nvidia?
Edit: CachyOS. I see references to pageflip kernel bugs on AMD, too. You’re running a cutting-edge OS (Arch-based), please get in touch with devs and help improve your OS and maybe learn something along the way?
Edit: Arch of all things, you are a guinea pig. Just like on Windows, except open-source so you can help.
It is sarcastic.
Wanna know the first time I heard “This is the Year of the Linux Desktop!”? 1999.
Yes, nineteen ninety-nine. Twenty-five years ago.
Linux as a desktop is still a laugh. It still doesn’t come close to Windows of twenty-five years ago.
But it’s killer as a server, or a purpose-built system. My NAS/VM server kicks ass under Linux, way better than running windows. Even VMware recently switched their desktop virtualization to using Linux. This is where Linux shines.
You could make a Windows killer desktop, except which distro? Which shell? Which set of base tools/utilities? Define “killer desktop” in the Linux community.
Windows is the general purpose OS, with a common shell. That’s what MS did, settle on one UI (mostly), so it’s a common experience everywhere.
I’ve been on Linux for 20 years. Gamer, so dual-booted for the first 10. Ubuntu -> Linux Mint -> Debian -> Mint Debian -> EndeavourOS. I think. Messed with Knoppix and Mandrake before those, THAT was definitely before the “YotLD” 😅
Ads in the OS make me kick that shit out in an instant. Yes, I know there are third-party utils but I’ve seen settings reverted on update, and if I’m fighting my own PC it’s going to be by choice and I’m going to learn to improve it along the way, which is not easy in closed-source land. If ads didn’t do it, “AI” “stealing” my data would. Somehow piracy bad but I have to agree to let Microsoft copy my data for profit in order for me to use my computer? Fuck that.
Mint Debian for computer-illiterate. The built-in software manager has tens of thousands of safe Debian packages available rather than installing adware infestations from random websites. Two clicks and a password OR set automatic for getting all software up-to-date.
EndeavourOS for tech-inclined. More cutting-edge software packages from Arch (and the AUR, but adds a bit of risk/required knowledge). Still no installing random shit from websites.
The defaults, or whatever you want or need from a wide selection. Choice is bad now?
Steam, duh. Lutris has scripts to install the older/more picky/fiddly Windows games that aren’t on Steam. For students/office work, OnlyOffice has better compatibility with MS formats if necessary. List goes on…
Pfft, several Linux distros are an excellent desktop OS and I think people who argue against that aren’t worth my time.
Naive take imo. No distro is an excellent desktop. They all have flaws and issues that are not present in windows to an “average user”. Regular users barely know how to install apps on their phones. To be excellent all intelligence groups should be able to easily use it
When people say shit like this, they seem to forget the vast amounts of issues that windows also has. How long has it been since the last time an update bricked millions of machines? Even when you only talk about things MS is directly responsible for, that timespan rarely exceeds a year. And this is even with their enormous budget and army of vendors essentially beta testing and partnering with them to keep shit like that from happening.
Wow. Not a single one, huh? I’m sure manufacturers assuming Windows and lazily building hardware that does 90% of the work in giant closed-source drivers have nothing to do with the “flaws and issues” that ALL distros apparently have some of.
No Linux distro I’ve run has had a necessary parent process like “explorer.exe” crash causing the PC to mysteriously stop working with no indication of what’s happening, an issue I’m still encountering in others’ Windows PCs 25 years later… or having the main (Start) menu responding to clicks/taps (changing color like it’s activated) but not opening the menu, seen that on multiple Windows machines with perfectly fine hardware. Maybe it was too busy loading unwanted, unsolicited ads into the Start menu to do its job.
The “average user” will either pay a not-insignificant amount of money to fix issues or throw away still-good hardware and buy new every 3-5 years, at which point they will still need help backing up and restoring their data unless they are sending it all to Microsoft cloud who is training “AI” with it for profit. Environmentally and financially taxing but I guess I can’t complain; more free/dirt-cheap Linux boxes for my friends and family!
Edit: My wife and son are gaming on up-to-date OSes on PCs that are old enough to drive a car. Truth be told, my son has a slightly newer video card than that, though. Energy use is becoming a concern although it’s not really wasted when we need to heat the house six or seven months out of the year where we are.
I have that happen constantly in KDE lol.
What process? KDE under Wayland and I’m guessing you have Nvidia?
Edit: CachyOS. I see references to pageflip kernel bugs on AMD, too. You’re running a cutting-edge OS (Arch-based), please get in touch with devs and help improve your OS and maybe learn something along the way?
Edit: Arch of all things, you are a guinea pig. Just like on Windows, except open-source so you can help.
Sorry if harsh, it’s getting late:
Oh don’t worry. I am in their discord and attempting to help in what ways I can friend! The newest Nvidia drivers are most likely my trouble
That meme is great btw lol