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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

#71

Post by Nextgrid »

torben-friis wrote: post #51
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #8

“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.

> AI products not working

Are Microsoft's AI products built into the OS any better?

It may very well be that the reason Apple got such bad press for their AI efforts is that people genuinely wanted to try them and hoped they'd be good, where as nobody wants to try Microsoft's and already expects it to be bad, thanks to their stellar reputation since Windows 8.

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

#72

Post by Nextgrid »

Rohansi wrote: post #68
fracus wrote: post #38

I've been a Linux user without Windows for longer than I can remember. My biggest worry is Linux dominates the market because a FOSS OS can't dominate the market. A capitalist market won't allow it. Of course though, if say Ubuntu was heavily monetized in some way, then it simply becomes the new Windows and the FOSS community will simply present an alternative. I'm sorry you had to go on this circular journey with me…

Why can't a monetized OS also be FOSS?

Because the monetization wouldn't work; anyone can just recompile the FOSS code and legally distribute a free build and users & PC manufacturers would flock to that.

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

#73

Post by tim333 »

hermitcrab wrote: post #26
wffurr wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SPARC is scheduled to start operations in 2026, with the goal of demonstrating net power in 2027.

I really hope they are successful. But I'm not holding my breath.

Also even if it works the too cheap to meter thing seems unlikely with fusion. Solar on the other hand is showing signs of that when it's sunny.

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

#74

Post by keyringlight »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #29
shermantanktop wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The great thing about open source is that there’s always at least one person who can take on the job of fixing your obscure hardware problem…you. The terrible thing is that you are probably unqualified to do driver surgery without taking on more work than the problem is worth to you to fix.

Yeah, with two small kids, the last thing I want to spend my spare time doing is playing with drivers. I want things that just work.

Another aspect to "just work" is it'd be great if component vendors mentioned the state of linux support. For example with motherboards it's expected that there will be windows drivers and tools there for all the functionality, but while the source of software support is different under linux from looking at a random product page it's a big question mark on which one is wise to buy to get the best experience or if full/partial support is available now or soon. Even for Asus gear which I'm aware has efforts going on for linux (or just their laptops? just their ROG branded laptops?) there's precious little mention of it on product pages to confirm the status.

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

#75

Post by stavros »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #19
kylec wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about a Mac? macOS isn't exactly Linux, but you can run a lot of Linux command line things just fine on it, and Apple will always make sure macOS works 100% on the Macs they sell.

How are they at running all of the games I own on Steam?

Game selection is terrible on a Mac. I find it mindblowing that my Linux desktop/laptop run all my games, bar none, but a very small percentage runs on my Mac.

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

#76

Post by andrekandre »

pjjpo wrote: post #56
Ciantic wrote: 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 wa…

  > getting Japanese IME working
same issue, for me its mostly working but properly recognizing jp keyboard is still a wip for me (can't get forward-slash/yen symbol or kana keys working smh) probably i am kissing something obvious...

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

#77

Post by stavros »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #12

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.

I installed Bazzite on a NUC, and what it did was really sell me on getting a Steam Machine. Bazzite works well enough, but it has a few small bugs (e.g. performance degrades if I run Gamescope), and my NUC is old and underpowered. The general Steam experience, though, is fantastic.

It's basically a PC console, except it's not locked down to hell, and I already own hundreds of games for it. I'm very excited for the first-party hardware. If it's anything like the Steam Deck, I'm going to love it.

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

#78

Post by gerdesj »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #33
Ciantic wrote: 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…

Kubuntu.

KDE is generally considered close to a Windows experience, although, I'm afraid the "start" menu is still affixed to the left hand side and not in the middle of the taskbar (which is weird). It also doesn't bother with too much telemetry and all that stuff.

Kubuntu is Ubuntu but with the KDE front end, instead of the Gnome one or whatever it is. Being Ubuntu it supports Secure Boot which ticks a box.

It is just as easy to install as any other mainstream Linux distro, which is very easy. Its also quite easy to upgrade. I do recommend that you stick to Long Term Supported (LTS) releases.

I took a customer's "redundant" laptop (destined for land fill, too old, ran slow for Win10) about five years ago and repurposed it for my grand-daughter and stuck Kubuntu on it. If you recall we were heading into Covid related lockdown back then and this was for her to access school remotely.

She is still using it! I have updated it from 18.04 to 24.04 remotely through an OpenVPN tunnel. Try doing that with Windows ...

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

#79

Post by talys_cat »

powerclue wrote: post #63
talys_cat wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

*torture screaming at the background ARE YOU ENJOY MY LINUX? IT'S FULL OF JOY, RIGHT? YOU ARE HAPPY!!! YOU ALL WILL BE HAPPY!!! ___ seriously though, I do enjoy my arch, but I would never force someone to use linux by not providing help. It's basically same vibe, as with Microhard forcing it's AI vision of OS. Don't be that toxic, your relatives needed your help, and not your narcissism. If you really think, they nee…

It's not toxic to not offer infinite support for a platform you don't have familiarity with. Just like if you are vegan it's not toxic to refuse to prepare a meaty hamburger. Yes, a toxic version of this exists, but simply refusing to do a thing isn't toxic.

So we compare living creatures killing with helping to setup a wi-fi.

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

#80

Post by Dylan16807 »

rossy wrote: post #46
ahartmetz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are another somewhat closed ecosystem and becoming more closed over time. Better than a TV that runs Linux, (so far still) better than Android, worse than any "real" Linux distribution. They are mostly on the wrong side in the war on general-purpose computing.

> They are mostly on the wrong side in the war on general-purpose computing. All modern Chromebooks can be put into developer mode without opening the case, which gives you root access.

They're pretty hostile to it though. With normal developer mode, every boot it actively prompts the user to factory wipe it!
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