Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

linux.slashdot.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 89 posts

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#51

Post by ajvs »

yissp wrote: post #38
goda90 wrote: post #19

I think 2022 has the potential to be the Year of the Linux Desktop due to the Steam Deck. Valve has promised that Proton will allow almost all Windows games to run on it. Guaranteed they'll also be working hard on SteamOS polish. If Windows 11 turns out to be messy, then gamers could consider Linux more attractive now.

Millions of people are using Linux via Android and Chrome OS, but I'm not sure the success of either of those has benefited the general Linux ecosystem in a meaningful way. I think the Steam Deck will be a similar situation. It's cool that it's Linux-based, but I suspect most users will just think of it as a Valve product and not really care about the internals.

The Android ecosystem has. Currently most mobile devices in the world run the Android Common Kernel, which is only a few patches of differences from mainline Linux kernel, plus proprietary drivers. Considering the current state of fully Linux phones, we'd have never had a shot at being the market leader on mobile otherwise.

In Android 12-based devices these drivers will become simply plug-in kernel modules, so all devices will run the same kernel and it will finally be able to be updated without messing with the drivers. This is in addition to less and less out-of-tree patches each year as more of them get upstreamed.

This means Android is creeping very close to mainline Linux, and already some projects like postmarketOS have devices they've done the last few tweaks needed to run it on existing phones like the Poco F1. I don't think it would have happened otherwise that most mobiles worldwide would run almost-mainline Linux, so I'd say the Android project has been a net boon for Linux enthusiasts.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#52

Post by lordgroff »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #49
lordgroff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider me incredulous. I've been using Linux since '97 and for well over a decade now, I've rarely hit an installation problem. I'm not saying there's never going to be a problem--especially with brand new hardware fresh off the press, especially combined with a slow moving distro. But trying once or twice every year, and it never working? Either you're running the most exotic hardware on the planet, or you're runn…

Is a P51 (what, 3 years old now?) and two HDMI monitors. Is that exotic? Last time I tried it was Ubuntu 20.04 when it was out. The result is in my post above. I work in IT for 25 years and I am a geek at heart. The state of the Linux desktop is horrendous. This is not a problem per se - Linux has a good and stable place on servers. It just means that peopel who want to run a desktop with linux must be ready for a lo…

Not at all. I'd suggest booting into a live CD environment of a newer kernel distro (personally I am a fan of Fedora which provides a very stock experience). I can't see you having much issue with P51.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#53

Post by BrandoElFollito »

lordgroff wrote: post #50
mgkimsal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the OP's standards are higher than yours? Things you may gloss over or accept as 'good enough' are unacceptable to people looking for "just works" on par with a comparable windows install on the same hardware.

Well let's hear it then. Because everything "just works" on my current setup. It's not always so of course, if you buy a laptop with a bunch of OS hostile components, sure that won't work well, but how's that the fault of Linux? And even then, I have a Lenovo that was a very hostile driver experience to start with, and yet everything is now supported in the kernel minus the fingerprint reader.

Have you read the first line of my post? Lenovo P51 with two monitors (HDMI) - hardly exotic stuff.

You may be lucky, I was not.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#54

Post by pschastain »

Been using Mint w/ Cinnamon for a while, tried Kubuntu as well and will probably switch back to a KDE-based distro at some point when I have time. Both are fine but I don't find either as functional for me as macOS (which has lost a lot of usability over time as well)

More and more I find myself using the CLI...

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#55

Post by twobitshifter »

cloudbonsai wrote: post #13

The original article is: https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/2021-is-the-year-of-linux-on-... The basic thesis of the author was: 1. In 2021, Chromebooks are everywhere. 2. Chrome OS is Linux. 3. Therefore, 2021 is the year of Linux Desktop. Honestly, I'm not sure this is such a great argument. Isn't it rather like "2021 is the year of Chrome dominance"?

I agree not a great argument, they even mention the difference between Linux and chromebooks and Android, but call it political. I don’t think it’s political but really technological. Android and off the shelf chromebooks hide Linux away and might as well be a toaster running the Linux kernel.

“There's a difference between Linux the technology and "Linux" the political movement, and the political side of Linux has always obscured the practical. Listen to Linux fans all the way back to the 90s, and you hear at worst a mashup of "fight the power" free software advocacy and triumphalist hacker manifestos. But most buyers rank philosophy really low in their purchase choices, behind things like price, ease of use, and software availability.”

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#56

Post by ajvs »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #49
lordgroff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider me incredulous. I've been using Linux since '97 and for well over a decade now, I've rarely hit an installation problem. I'm not saying there's never going to be a problem--especially with brand new hardware fresh off the press, especially combined with a slow moving distro. But trying once or twice every year, and it never working? Either you're running the most exotic hardware on the planet, or you're runn…

Is a P51 (what, 3 years old now?) and two HDMI monitors. Is that exotic? Last time I tried it was Ubuntu 20.04 when it was out. The result is in my post above. I work in IT for 25 years and I am a geek at heart. The state of the Linux desktop is horrendous. This is not a problem per se - Linux has a good and stable place on servers. It just means that peopel who want to run a desktop with linux must be ready for a lo…

You are an exception I'm sorry to say. I've used two ThinkPads with Linux over the past few years with no issues, and am now on a Dell XPS with again, no issues.

Try running Kubuntu off of a live USB (you can do this with any Linux distro, you don't need to install it just to test it). I'd honestly baffled if it didn't run perfectly as long as you agree to install the drivers when prompted to.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#57

Post by selfhoster11 »

lordgroff wrote: post #41
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #30

I tried to install Ubuntu 20.04 on my Thinkpad P51 with two monitors. Fonts were funny and the mouse never got the monitors right. Horrible things were happening when I was recovering from sleep mode. I installed Windows 10 on my Thinkpad P51 with two monitors. Everything worked out of the box. So at least for me 2021 is the year of Windows Desktop and certainly not Linux Desktop. Disclaimer: I try 1-2 times a year t…

Consider me incredulous. I've been using Linux since '97 and for well over a decade now, I've rarely hit an installation problem. I'm not saying there's never going to be a problem--especially with brand new hardware fresh off the press, especially combined with a slow moving distro. But trying once or twice every year, and it never working? Either you're running the most exotic hardware on the planet, or you're runn…

Most laptops have issues. I have what I consider to be the best-supported Linux laptops around, and it's still so janky that it's hard to get used to.

My opinion is this: Linux does work, but it doesn't work cleanly for desktop/laptop use. There are rough corners galore, especially around support for specific hardware or hardware features. You get used to them eventually, or you're irritated, but they are there.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#58

Post by selfhoster11 »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #49
lordgroff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider me incredulous. I've been using Linux since '97 and for well over a decade now, I've rarely hit an installation problem. I'm not saying there's never going to be a problem--especially with brand new hardware fresh off the press, especially combined with a slow moving distro. But trying once or twice every year, and it never working? Either you're running the most exotic hardware on the planet, or you're runn…

Is a P51 (what, 3 years old now?) and two HDMI monitors. Is that exotic? Last time I tried it was Ubuntu 20.04 when it was out. The result is in my post above. I work in IT for 25 years and I am a geek at heart. The state of the Linux desktop is horrendous. This is not a problem per se - Linux has a good and stable place on servers. It just means that peopel who want to run a desktop with linux must be ready for a lo…

> I work in IT for 25 years and I am a geek at heart. The state of the Linux desktop is horrendous.

I share your exasperation (or at least I think that's what I can read between the lines). I really want to like the Linux desktop, but... I just don't. I'm holding out hope for Haiku and Serenity OS. Perhaps one day they will be the ones to achieve the Year of the Linux Desktop, as a successor platform.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#59

Post by beardyw »

lordgroff wrote: post #42
yagodragon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dual monitor setup is a huge problem with linux distros. I haven't found yet any DE that works out of the box. I'm really looking forward to KDE with official stable wayland support, until then 2021 is not the year of linux desktop

What's the issue with dual monitors and GNOME?

Never had any problems.

But I think there is a general problem with sleep modes as mentioned. Luckily it boots in a fraction of the time Windows took.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#60

Post by selfhoster11 »

quantumsolace wrote: post #8

This "year of the Linux Desktop" joke is getting a bit tiresome. What is missing exactly? Sure the desktop is a bit ugly. But pretty much everything works out of the box. If MS released a native Office for Linux I could get rid of my Mac.

I don't think it's a joke. I consider this concept a milestone, an "are we there yet" check for whether Linux is actually ready to use as a desktop OS. So far, the answer has been varied.
Post reply on HN