When my next build happens I am going to try to fully commit to a Linux rig. I have always like toying with Linux but my laziness overpowered me.
If enough people get on Linux the driver support will likely explode. It just needs a big enough market share then there will be no reason what so ever to use Windows. Yes, Linux can overcome any challenge but the problem is people need things to be plug and play to be interested in switching, but its getting better.
Call me a cynic but we're way past the point of Linux ever gaining popularity. Doesn't even matter that it could be easy as shit, I feel like societally there's like a cluster of nerds from the 90s to early aughts (they're all here) who would even entertain the idea and could pull off an installation that's more complex than "It's already done" and there's not going to be more of them. Everyone older than that doesn't know, everyone younger than that - barring the people with like a real interest in IT for both - has grown up in devices and software that "Just works" to the point a file system is alien to them.
could pull off an installation that's more complex than "It's already done" and there's not going to be more of them.
that has been the level of complexity for Linux installs now for years
edit for anecdote: I dealt with someone recently who got offended that I assumed they knew how to do technical operations just because they were able to install Ubuntu on their computer and use it full time. The "technical operation" they were offended I assumed they knew how to do? Unzip a zip file by right clicking and choosing "extract" from the pop-up menu.
that has been the level of complexity for Linux installs now for years
No it hasn't, you need to install that shit. That's already way past most people. Not like in the sense that they couldn't get it to boot if they followed the very easy directions, in the sense that they just won't, cause it's nerd shit
You have to install windows if the computer doesn't come with it, too, and Linux is easier to install now. Beyond that, you can just buy a brand new desktop or laptop with Linux pre-installed just like Windows, and have been able to do so for some years now.
You have to install windows if the computer doesn't come with it, too
But that's the thing. Most people don't know how to install Windows, they don't know how to set up a bootable thumb drive, and they don't know how to find the Windows iso. They don't even know what booting means period. We're not talking about tech semi-literates, basically your average PC g*mer, but actual tech illiterates, as in people who thought CD-rom drives were cup holders for holding styrofoam cups (yes, these people did exist speaking from personal experience).
Windows is dominant because enterprise uses Windows. The bulk of Windows machines is for business use. This is the real reason why Windows has such a huge market share of desktops and why Linux can never have double digit percentage of market share. It has nothing to do with the technical merits of the OS because if that were true, that garbage OS from em-dollar sign would've long since been relegated to the dustbins of history in the late 00s, if not sooner.
Windows being ubiquitous in business use means when those white-collars workers after spending 8+ hours a day using Windows go home, they'll obviously more likely use an OS that they've already have hundreds of hours of use instead of learning how to use a completely new OS. They'll buy a PC with the OS that they're already familiar with preinstalled.
Fundamentally, it's not a technical problem that can be solved with a technical solution. This is why I'm extremely excited for projects like KylinOS because the Chinese government can mandate that every single government PC has KylinOS installed. Those government PCs will be used by government employees, and after a long day of work, they'll be less willing to use a different OS, in this case Windows, instead of just using Ubuntu Kylin at home. Add in natsec concerns for that spying bloatware of an OS, and you could legitimately see a complete hollowing out of Windows' Chinese market share within the coming decades.
I agree that China will have a big say in what OS's the globe uses going forward. I would just say that we're in a place where I would guess the vast majority of computer users increasingly only use the browser to do their work, and this is very conducive to a environment where the OS you use is less important. I've converted some people to Linux who are extremely non technical, but they do everything in the browser so they genuinely can't tell the difference between windows or linux as long as they can find their browser. I don't think Linux is going to become the overnight number one OS but I do think everything points to it continuing to grow market share.
They definitely do, and in slowly growing numbers.
Yeah it's the year of the linux desktop like, what, 30 years running now?
That's kind of my point. This growth doesn't really mean shit because we're currently not a window where linux would ever be mass adopted for aforementioned reasons - there's hardly anybody left willing to do the tiniest bit of work to get it running.
Except that there was always a decentish windows version you could use. There are many people who are never goung to switch to windows 8 and up. And 7 is becoming increasingly hard to use. After having to edit so many driver files they are going to give up and move to linux. This is my case.
Absolutely, and there's a bunch of Linux distros that are specifically geared to make someone used to Windows comfortable. The Linux on-ramp gets easier and easier every day.
I just don't think that's a rational conclusion. Linux market share is growing, not declining, so obviously there are more people using it today both proportionally and in raw numbers than a few years ago. Linux isn't going to become the most used OS overnight, or perhaps ever under capitalism, but there's just no reasonable position that it's not easier and more common to use desktop Linux today than it was ten years ago, and it's getting better and easier every year.
im building my pc sometime within the next couple weeks, soon as the delayed parts get here and i get time. and its gonna be primarily linux mint. though im gonna have to have windows as a secondary just for the dwindling programs that require it
Occasionally a Fitgirl repack won't extract correctly in WINE. I have a Windows 7 VM for such occasions but it's still a big hassle. DODI repacks have never been an issue for me, though.
However, if I can't get a particular game itself to run under Linux, only Windows, then I probably won't play it.
When my next build happens I am going to try to fully commit to a Linux rig. I have always like toying with Linux but my laziness overpowered me.
If enough people get on Linux the driver support will likely explode. It just needs a big enough market share then there will be no reason what so ever to use Windows. Yes, Linux can overcome any challenge but the problem is people need things to be plug and play to be interested in switching, but its getting better.
Call me a cynic but we're way past the point of Linux ever gaining popularity. Doesn't even matter that it could be easy as shit, I feel like societally there's like a cluster of nerds from the 90s to early aughts (they're all here) who would even entertain the idea and could pull off an installation that's more complex than "It's already done" and there's not going to be more of them. Everyone older than that doesn't know, everyone younger than that - barring the people with like a real interest in IT for both - has grown up in devices and software that "Just works" to the point a file system is alien to them.
that has been the level of complexity for Linux installs now for years
edit for anecdote: I dealt with someone recently who got offended that I assumed they knew how to do technical operations just because they were able to install Ubuntu on their computer and use it full time. The "technical operation" they were offended I assumed they knew how to do? Unzip a zip file by right clicking and choosing "extract" from the pop-up menu.
No it hasn't, you need to install that shit. That's already way past most people. Not like in the sense that they couldn't get it to boot if they followed the very easy directions, in the sense that they just won't, cause it's nerd shit
You have to install windows if the computer doesn't come with it, too, and Linux is easier to install now. Beyond that, you can just buy a brand new desktop or laptop with Linux pre-installed just like Windows, and have been able to do so for some years now.
But that's the thing. Most people don't know how to install Windows, they don't know how to set up a bootable thumb drive, and they don't know how to find the Windows iso. They don't even know what booting means period. We're not talking about tech semi-literates, basically your average PC g*mer, but actual tech illiterates, as in people who thought CD-rom drives were cup holders for holding styrofoam cups (yes, these people did exist speaking from personal experience).
Windows is dominant because enterprise uses Windows. The bulk of Windows machines is for business use. This is the real reason why Windows has such a huge market share of desktops and why Linux can never have double digit percentage of market share. It has nothing to do with the technical merits of the OS because if that were true, that garbage OS from em-dollar sign would've long since been relegated to the dustbins of history in the late 00s, if not sooner.
Windows being ubiquitous in business use means when those white-collars workers after spending 8+ hours a day using Windows go home, they'll obviously more likely use an OS that they've already have hundreds of hours of use instead of learning how to use a completely new OS. They'll buy a PC with the OS that they're already familiar with preinstalled.
Fundamentally, it's not a technical problem that can be solved with a technical solution. This is why I'm extremely excited for projects like KylinOS because the Chinese government can mandate that every single government PC has KylinOS installed. Those government PCs will be used by government employees, and after a long day of work, they'll be less willing to use a different OS, in this case Windows, instead of just using Ubuntu Kylin at home. Add in natsec concerns for that spying bloatware of an OS, and you could legitimately see a complete hollowing out of Windows' Chinese market share within the coming decades.
I agree that China will have a big say in what OS's the globe uses going forward. I would just say that we're in a place where I would guess the vast majority of computer users increasingly only use the browser to do their work, and this is very conducive to a environment where the OS you use is less important. I've converted some people to Linux who are extremely non technical, but they do everything in the browser so they genuinely can't tell the difference between windows or linux as long as they can find their browser. I don't think Linux is going to become the overnight number one OS but I do think everything points to it continuing to grow market share.
I'm not arguing people couldn't, technically, it's that people don't
The whole post is about 3% of people using desktop linux, though. They definitely do, and in slowly growing numbers.
Yeah it's the year of the linux desktop like, what, 30 years running now?
That's kind of my point. This growth doesn't really mean shit because we're currently not a window where linux would ever be mass adopted for aforementioned reasons - there's hardly anybody left willing to do the tiniest bit of work to get it running.
I also just wanted to add, sorry if I came across as standoffish yesterday. I was working on too little sleep, my bad.
you good
Except that there was always a decentish windows version you could use. There are many people who are never goung to switch to windows 8 and up. And 7 is becoming increasingly hard to use. After having to edit so many driver files they are going to give up and move to linux. This is my case.
Absolutely, and there's a bunch of Linux distros that are specifically geared to make someone used to Windows comfortable. The Linux on-ramp gets easier and easier every day.
Exactly as long as microsoft keeps making windows worse and worse people will end up having to move.
I just don't think that's a rational conclusion. Linux market share is growing, not declining, so obviously there are more people using it today both proportionally and in raw numbers than a few years ago. Linux isn't going to become the most used OS overnight, or perhaps ever under capitalism, but there's just no reasonable position that it's not easier and more common to use desktop Linux today than it was ten years ago, and it's getting better and easier every year.
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Morlocks and the eloi
im building my pc sometime within the next couple weeks, soon as the delayed parts get here and i get time. and its gonna be primarily linux mint. though im gonna have to have windows as a secondary just for the dwindling programs that require it
Occasionally a Fitgirl repack won't extract correctly in WINE. I have a Windows 7 VM for such occasions but it's still a big hassle. DODI repacks have never been an issue for me, though.
However, if I can't get a particular game itself to run under Linux, only Windows, then I probably won't play it.
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The driver support is already there, if that's what's been holding you back, you've been scared over nothing.
What's held me back is laziness. You generally can get everything to work if you are willing to tinker with it.