Let's use the influx of new users to get some money flowing!
It would be great if all those "I switched to Linux" articles would mention a few ways to donate to some important projects, helping to make FOSS thrive.
2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
391–400 of 658 posts
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#392I don't really understand why everyone is complaining about Windows here, I'm not at all experiencing the same issues. The ARM64 version of W11 absolutely is the best OS I've ever used. I enjoy using Fedora but it's not coming close for professional use in my opinion.
If you want to understand why everyone is complaining about Windows, you just need to read what is said in those comments. On the other hand, if I want to understand why you think W11 is absolutely the best OS you've ever used, I... guess I'll have to ask you. So, would you mind sharing what makes W11 great for 'professional use'?
I'll obviously depend on what you're doing for work. Most people here are programmers, and I'm not, so your mileage may vary.
I find that W11 just works: the multitasking is awesome (especially window and monitor management, huge improvement over W10), everything is snappy, the ARM64 battery life (especially in standby) is Macbook-like, I never have issues with USB-C docks and monitors (unlike Fedora where I always have to tinker with the terminal at some point), and the Windows version of Microsoft Excel is still unmatched.
Also, the UI is very pretty, but that's obviously subjective! And you get way more customization options on Linux.
I am not encountering most issues listed here, which I why I was confused, although I agree that Microsoft AI-bullshit-driven "vision" for Windows is a bit worrying.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#393For me Windows XP was the intolerably ugly release that made me switch once and for all in 2002. Never looked back.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#394Windows still have the gamers. A lot of anti-cheat system completely block out Linux users. The Year of the Linux Desktop will still be a meme at the end of this year as well.
Except ProtonDB website reports that completely blocked games make up 3% of the top 1000 Steam games. Meanwhile, 84% is perfectly playable (some with minor tweaks). https://www.protondb.com/
I saw someone make a good point about this the other day that that 3% of games represents a much larger percentage of the gamer population - Pareto distribution comes into play with popular games where a small number of games account for a larger share of gamers' attention.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#395Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#396> I haven't booted into Windows in over 3 months on my tower and I'm starting to realize that it's not worth wasting the space for. Kind of glad to read this, I went into it thinking it will be another person saying "I'll use Linux forever!" the day after installing it, similar to everyone who says their new years resolution is to work out more, then proceeds to go to the gym 2 times total :) (oh, and then, I noticed…
Moved to NobaraOS back in April (gaming focused Fedora based distro) on my desktop tower and haven't used Windows since, nor have I felt the need to. Some minor tinkering with launch options for Steam games aside it's been a smoother experience than Windows was the previous 5 years.
The last Windows computer that I have is my work laptop, which is an acceptable compromise as far as I"m concerned.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#397Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who installed linux and did the initial setup? And then I think there is a class of user that is savvy enough to say, update their graphics drivers but not willing to use a terminal and that is before you get into the mess that is Nvidia on linux. I agree, under a managed setup scenario where a user is only really going to use a web browser and a few apps. Linux is just fine.
Installing is straightforward these days. You live boot a USB and install it from the actual OS
Booting from a USB is not straightforward to the average person. Even understanding what that means is advanced.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#398If this wasn’t HN, I would swear that my personal recommendation algorithm has gotten Linux desktop-pilled and that’s why I’m seeing so many posts like these every day. But in reality I think there is a groundswell of momentum happening here, and with component prices rising, I only see this continuing as more people look to breathe new life into older hardware.
I've been seeing it a lot on reddit as well, with a lot of non-technical users asking "how do I get started with linux?" I think this is a real thing and I think a combination of MS demanding everyone get new hardware and Valve really polishing a lot of linux has gone a long way to get non-technical users to start seriously considering linux. It's a huge added bonus that old hardware simply flies with linux. I have a…
Yeah, I think a big part of the momentum toward Linux is from the end of Windows 10 support, and Windows 11's increased hardware demands.
Given how rough and uncertain the economy is, this creates a large group of people who can't or aren't comfortable upgrading their computer, but at the same time don't want to be stuck on EOL Windows 10 forever either.
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#399If this wasn’t HN, I would swear that my personal recommendation algorithm has gotten Linux desktop-pilled and that’s why I’m seeing so many posts like these every day. But in reality I think there is a groundswell of momentum happening here, and with component prices rising, I only see this continuing as more people look to breathe new life into older hardware.
I've even seen gaming YTbers I occasionally watch being fed up with that shit and moving or at least trying Linux MS fucked up
Pewdiepie’s linux video alone is almost at 8 million views. There’s another 3-4 million views in reaction videos to it. I think primagen also stayed on archlinux after his ricing experiment
Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop
#400Earlier quoted context omitted.
KDE's income from individual donations has doubled recently, and many of the comments we get with donations are from recent Windows switchers. As I wrote on HN just yesterday, I've been working on the Linux desktop for 20 years and the momentum has never been higher. 2026 will be fun.
That increase in donations may also be due to more prominent prompting for them. Got me to donate, at least. But I would be pretty sad if the prompting were to get any more in-your-face than it currently already is.
It's a difficult balance, though I think most open source projects are too modest in asking for donations, which, fair enough is pretty uncomfortable at first. You can definitely be too in-your-face, like Jimbo Wales is the sad-eyed picture of taking this too far sometimes.
Thing is that explicitly asking for money works, it gets results. If you can get people to pay money to watch you screaming at video games on Twitch, you can definitely get people to pay money for working on useful software.