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People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

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Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#51

“Microsoft president Pavan Davulur tweeted on Nov. 10 that ‘Windows is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere” Apple could probably run a Mac vs PC billboard on this tweet alone.

Apple is only bottlenecked from doing the same by their AI products not working.

I’m currently evaluating a move to Linux from macOS for this reason. Unless they speed up a major internal shakeup they don’t seem to be in a position where their products will be interesting. Amazing hardware though.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#52
post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

My parents run a Windows PC as, from what I can tell, a home for stray botnets. The main uses are checking email and working on Word documents. (They have a laptop and iPad, respectively, which does most of their work, so it's an infrequently consulted machine.) What Linux build would you recommend that I can fire and forget, that would be compatible with the Windows 10 machine they have running and will likely never…

Solus. Same install for five years running, rolling release, no breakage.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#53
> "Zorin OS 18 has amassed 1 million downloads in just over a month since its release." What makes it especially interesting is that over "78% of these downloads came from Windows" users.

That's not interesting, the most common os is Windows, ergo most downloads are going to come from windows.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#54

> "Zorin OS 18 has amassed 1 million downloads in just over a month since its release." What makes it especially interesting is that over "78% of these downloads came from Windows" users. That's not interesting, the most common os is Windows, ergo most downloads are going to come from windows.

It is interesting because most people installing a new linux distro are very likely already running linux. Every download of a linux distro from a windows machine is a potential conversion.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#55
post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

Which libraries have you tried for writing small Wayland GUI apps?

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#56
post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

Made the switch recently too, I only use the windows box for gaming so went with bazzite-kde. Games were up and running in no time, though I am still noodling over getting Japanese IME working in one though haven't given it any effort yet.

Other issues were Bluetooth dongle not being compatible though I happened to have one that is. Ironically the old one doesn't seem to have the same temporary connection issues I was seeing on Windows. And also fingerprint reader is probably in the worst spot, "compatible" but not functioning, i.e. can enroll a print but never recognize it.

All-in-all I'm fine with it, especially once the IME works. But there are still too many issues to recommend to users that want a working experience out-of-the-box, which should be most users.

Unfortunately I am somewhat skeptical on how things will improve. One issue I see is there are way too many forks, many versions of wine, even the xiv launcher I use is a fork. There was a fork of libfprint that I was curious to try but in the end avoided given the sensitive nature of the library. Appreciate the enthusiasm, but it doesn't seem like moving towards a stable state when there is so much forking happening.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#57

What I want is some hardware that, if Linux stops working on it, it's someone's job to fix that. Which is why I'm strongly considering a Steam Cube.

A thinkpad then? Not exactly someones job, but hardware support for them is very good.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#58

“Microsoft president Pavan Davulur tweeted on Nov. 10 that ‘Windows is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere” Apple could probably run a Mac vs PC billboard on this tweet alone.

Apple is only bottlenecked from doing the same by their AI products not working. I’m currently evaluating a move to Linux from macOS for this reason. Unless they speed up a major internal shakeup they don’t seem to be in a position where their products will be interesting. Amazing hardware though.

That's the thing: amazing hardware. I want two things: good hardware and software I trust. It's going to be hard to trust a for-profit company selling a closed source OS, but Apple is doing a much better job of consistently talking and walking respect for user privacy for many years. There may be another reason beyond incompetence that they're not rushing out half-baked chatbots wrapped in privacy disasters.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#59
I remember during my last (unsuccessful) startup, I was surprised at how many people actually used linux. It's not just techies, there were lots of plumbers and blue collar workers who used it, and their perception of it was similar to just using another tool (like I can build a dresser by hand, and I can plumb a house by hand, why can't I install an OS by hand?)

Of this demographic I found they were mostly conservative/right wing. It makes me wonder if there are a bunch of influencers like Luke Smith out there telling them how to use this stuff, or if they're just figuring it out on their own through forums. I think the word "flocking" is too strong, but there is definitely a large and growing non-technical userbase of people who use linux.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#60
post #13

Why? I’ve been using Unix workstations since the motif days through gnome whatever, but and every single one has seemed clunky as heck compared to the contemporaneous windows. Win 11 file explorer is 20 years ahead of nautilus. Not to mention all of the other windows perks like HiDPI & multi-monitor scaling polish, rdp, vastly superior accessibility, … And you can run wsl2 if you need to.

Epic ragebait. > Win11 file picker is years ahead of some random file picker option available on linux First it would be nice to know why you would think this and maybe provide an example, second there are other file pickers. It should also be noted that you don't need one at all, but if you want one, there are so many options, try nemo > HiDPI Wayland > Multi monitor scaling polish What did he mean by that? Wayland…

> Hahahahaha

Speaking as a Linux desktop dev, that one's right. We have a lot of homework left to do, and accessibility is an area both Windows and MacOS are more fully-featured and mature in.

Part of treating users really well is also being honest about our shortcomings (and fixing them).

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