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I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

theregister.com

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Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#11

Post by themitigating »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #10

This article is sort of frustrating, because the issue they have isn't like something not working, just that there are multiple competing options and they want unity around all things.

I think having too many options can be frustrating for many people, especially if they aren't experts in the options.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#12

Post by akira2501 »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #9
foobarian wrote: post #6

Suggested title edit: "I see the Linux desktop's problems, but that doesn't mean I don't love it"

More accurate title... I love the Linux desktop, but I just want one version of it so that I don't have to deal with competition and jobs with different tools. In other words, I'll likely switch to Apple.

That, and I don't understand the needless fascination with "crushing windows." That's a goal that seems completely misaligned with all the features that make the linux desktop something I want to use; and destroying competition has never been a great long term strategy.

I don't care about your market share.. I care about the quality of my own experience.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#13

Post by sliken »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #10

This article is sort of frustrating, because the issue they have isn't like something not working, just that there are multiple competing options and they want unity around all things.

Doesn't seem like there needs to be unity, just that things from the OS are handled in an OS specific way, but things not specific to the OS are handled in an identical way. Seems like container systems like flatpak deliver this. If google chrome flatpak was supported on all OSs then it wouldn't particularly matter to application developers that there were 200 flavors of linux around.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#14

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

akira2501 wrote: post #12
encryptluks2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More accurate title... I love the Linux desktop, but I just want one version of it so that I don't have to deal with competition and jobs with different tools. In other words, I'll likely switch to Apple.

That, and I don't understand the needless fascination with "crushing windows." That's a goal that seems completely misaligned with all the features that make the linux desktop something I want to use; and destroying competition has never been a great long term strategy. I don't care about your market share.. I care about the quality of my own experience.

It's because market share is important if you want hardware and software support. Right now Linux has terrible support VR, for instance, and one can only imagine that would be different if it were the majority desktop OS.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#16

Post by dylan-m »

hajimuz wrote: post #3

the hope is ChromeOS…

I hope not! Outside of the Chrome part, ChromeOS is a mess of awkwardly attached virtual machines. If you want a "native" app (unless your native app is Steam), your best option is Android, which means you're inside an Android VM, your webview component is an Android Chrome webview, you can't see other things on the network (because you have a virtual network device), permissions are granted via the Android Settings panel which is distinct from the Chrome OS Settings panel and an even more user-hostile experience than it already was, and your widgets are all slightly wrong. It is bloat all the way down. Running plain old Linux apps is a similar problem, except it's a "developer feature", so you can't expect an end user to use your app on their Chromebook.

It is exceedingly difficult for a developer to contribute any kind of improvement to this because the bug tracker is a black hole and the source code is a gargantuan monorepo with multi-page build instructions that basically require you to sacrifice a computer if you want to get anywhere.

Sandboxing is great and all, but the thing is a glorified hypervisor. It has no vision of its own for app distribution, user experience, or developer experience. It boggles my mind that they are doing this with ChromeOS: the OS that runs on the cheapest, slowest, most under-specced computers on the market.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#17

Post by wildrhythms »

hulitu wrote: post #4
hajimuz wrote: post #3

the hope is ChromeOS…

> the hope is ChromeOS… The hope is that ChromeOS dies. It has nothing to do with Linux except the kernel.

I hope some ambitious soul can port the Chrome OS window manager in some way. Chrome OS is the only non Windows or Mac window manager that handles UI scaling correctly in all cases and across all displays with differing scaling settings. There is no Linux WM that I've found anywhere near as good (don't say i3wm).

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#18

Post by twblalock »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #10

This article is sort of frustrating, because the issue they have isn't like something not working, just that there are multiple competing options and they want unity around all things.

Yeah but the fragmentation is the problem.

One reason Windows and macOS are popular is that people know what they are going to get. If you've used one Windows 11 box, for example, you can get on another Windows 11 box and figure out how to use it. It will have the same user interface and window management as the other: the Start menu, the control panel, the desktop, etc.

That's just not the case for Linux. There are several popular desktop environments that are very different from each other in look and feel. For an ordinary user, switching from Gnome to KDE would be quite jarring and it would take them a while to get used to it. For power users and tweakers, that diversity of options is an attractive feature of the Linux desktop. For ordinary users, it is a deterrent.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#19

Post by xalava »

As a desktop, Linux is now fully functional for most users. I know administrations running on Linux, law firms, and even my dad. Beginner users don't care about choices, they get Linux Mint or similar with LibreOffice and Firefox and they are good to go for most of their tasks. For advanced users, the abundance is a key benefit of this ecosystem.

No company is fully focused on the desktop OS, and I don't see why they should. This article is contradictory saying "desktop operating system will lie in the hands of Apple with macOS and us with Linux". It is not because Microsoft prioritize cloud services that it abandons desktops, it is not a priority for many Linux developers and sponsors as stated above in the article, and it doesn't seem a high priority for Apple either.

Re: I love the Linux desktop, but that doesn't mean I don't see its problems

#20

Post by hammyhavoc »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #9
foobarian wrote: post #6

Suggested title edit: "I see the Linux desktop's problems, but that doesn't mean I don't love it"

More accurate title... I love the Linux desktop, but I just want one version of it so that I don't have to deal with competition and jobs with different tools. In other words, I'll likely switch to Apple.

macOS is feeling too restrictive these days. Windows 11 feels restrictive too, not being able to move your taskbar to a vertical position is stupid on an ultrawide.

Fedora Workstation is nice, not perfect, but it's nice. Tried the KDE spin as well as the usual GNOME one. It's my favourite Linux desktop distro FWIW. PipeWire's amazing.

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