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2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

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Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#141

Post by Normal_gaussian »

gorfian_robot wrote: post #110

my 2017 mac air is getting real long in the tooth. I'd definitely considering switching to *nix with it but everything I keep reading is that process is not so easy.

I've been on linux since 2014; I'm an ocassional user of windows, booting into it with much regret to deal with client's issues. I generally dislike working with MacOS... but for someone used to macOS I see no meaningful degradation of the kind there is with windows - your time is better spent earning/buying/setting up an m series mac air.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#142

Post by newsoftheday »

I run Kubuntu on this gaming machine (AlienWare) and I run it on my 16 year old Dell laptop I used for work back then. Runs great and with RAM prices high and people looking to make their older machines useful instead of trashing them, there's a really good chance they can run Linux.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#143

Post by grugagag »

xmcp123 wrote: post #103
orochimaaru wrote: post #7

I've been using a system 76 laptop for the past 3 years. Runs perfectly, no surprises. Unfortunately, I need a mac for work because the laptop service folks do not know what to do with linux and do not have a relationship with a vendor like system76. Pros: The best development experience you can have. Everything is native linux. There is no beating that. This of course will be a problem if hobbies/work use windows. I…

Really only Photoshop is the big gaping hole I feel as a linux user. Gimp is just atrocious. There is a desktop webview of PhotoPea, but it's not the same.

2.5 hours of battery is a serious gaping hole imo.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#144

Post by nntwozz »

I'm giving Apple the benefit of the doubt until macOS 27 (but I'm still on 15.7.4 hehe).

Mac OS X and Aqua wasn't very well received either at launch.

A similar thing happened with the flat design of iOS 7.

Apple's pattern is initially going overboard with a new design and then scaling it back slowly like a sculptor.

I think they're happy with this method, even if things miss at first the big changes usually create a lot of hype and excitement for the masses.

The vast majority of users don't care about the finer things, Apple knows that the nerds can sweat it out until they straighten things out at which point everyone is happy in a hero's journey kind of way.

I just hope this pattern stays true and that this isn't an inflection point.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#145

Post by cryptica »

Johanx64 wrote: post #37
roxolotl wrote: post #4

“start menus made with React Native, control-alt-delete menus that are actually just webviews” Haven’t used windows in five years or so but I’ve kept hearing bad things. This really is the icing on the cake though. Yea the AI stuff is dumb but if a OS manufacturer can’t be bothered to interact with their own UI libraries to build native UIs something has gone horribly wrong.

>OS manufacturer can’t be bothered to interact with their own UI libraries to build native UIs something has gone horribly wrong. I honestly think that has way less to do with Microsoft, more of a representation of "software engineering" practices these days. For example, Gnome shell has bunch of javascript in it, GTK has layout and styling defined in some flavour of CSS, etc. I'm of opinion if you start writing OS u…

The last point is very astute.

The software industry has always had more juniors than seniors so this issue of juniors calling the shots is not a new one but it does feel like it's been getting worse and worse... Now it's basically AI slop vibe coders calling the shots about coding best-practices.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#147

Post by gethly »

It will take few more years before people start abandoning W10 due to security concerns(somehow "hackers" always find some insane backdoors and bugs in old windows, it must be a pure coincidence), hardware upgrade or just need to reinstall. But indeed, it looks like Linux is finally taking over. I'd say that beside Microsoft being so bad at their job, it's Valve and gaming on Linux in general. It's actually doable. What a miracle!

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#148

Post by newsoftheday »

xmcp123 wrote: post #103
orochimaaru wrote: post #7

I've been using a system 76 laptop for the past 3 years. Runs perfectly, no surprises. Unfortunately, I need a mac for work because the laptop service folks do not know what to do with linux and do not have a relationship with a vendor like system76. Pros: The best development experience you can have. Everything is native linux. There is no beating that. This of course will be a problem if hobbies/work use windows. I…

Really only Photoshop is the big gaping hole I feel as a linux user. Gimp is just atrocious. There is a desktop webview of PhotoPea, but it's not the same.

I'm in my 60's and have never run Photoshop. Nor my wife, my kids, none of my relatives I'm aware of for that matter. Come to think of it, of all the people I know, no one runs PhotoShop that I'm aware of.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#149

Post by maxbond »

subjectsigma wrote: post #86
breve wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is Linux worse? Why, for example, is KDE worse that the macOS desktop?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46092464

`apt-get update` bricked your system multiple times? How, by filling up your disk? That doesn't install or upgrade any software. It just updates the local cache of the registry. I believe you that there was a real problem I'm just confused about how it happened.

I've been unable to login after filling my disk before, I wouldn't call the system bricked because I was able to fix it by mounting the disk on another computer and freeing up space, but I wouldn't quibble over the term either.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#150

Post by grugagag »

etempleton wrote: post #121

I do think Linux is accessible to many more people, but I would not say it is ready for the masses. The terminal is going to be a non-starter for your average computer user. But, with that said, I started seriously using Linux for the first time in 2025. I bounce between Debian, Windows 11, and MacOS, and Debian is probably the most refreshing to use. I don’t find Windows 11 as oppressive as other seem to, but I have…

>I don’t find Windows 11 as oppressive as other seem to, but I have turned off most of what people cite as the issues.

So you debloated your windows but at any update you have to spin your wheels and try to remove any crap they put back in. At any time there’s the possibility you can no longer remove x or y. The vast majority don’t have the energy to play this game or don’t know how to.

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