This is a school-sponsored post. Next week’s podcast will not be a school-sponsored podcast.
When will Linux make it to the consumer household as a popular OS?
Listen to the interview below!
The Year of the Linux Desktop? [Podcast Interview]
When will Linux make it to the consumer household as a popular OS?
Listen to the interview below!
bitsandbytes1010.wordpress.com 
I hate to say this, but it will be almost impossible for any year to be the “Year of the Linux Desktop.” This is not due to any fault overarching fault in Linux distros, but in the sheer number of them. There are so many, that John and Jane Average will not flock to any single distro with enough numbers to make any one distro a runaway success. Think of it this way, there used to be hundreds of automobile manufacturers here in the US, but one-by-one they went under, merged, and otherwise fell by the wayside until only three–Ford, GM, and Chrysler–were left. This was largely due to three factors: design, quality, and public acceptance. To successfully penetrate the desktop market, the public must be presented with one or two Linux offerings at the most. Those with refined desktops, easy maintainability and personalization, rock-solid stability, and absolutely no “techie only” elements would be the best candidates for the Linux community to push. At this point, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, and PC Linux OS would be high on my candidate list. However, they are still not quite there yet. Their ease-of-use falls a bit when the need to install software from sources other than their official repositories is required. Regardless, Linux is close. It needs just a little more time, a lot more public awareness, and a targeted presentation to lead the way.
All the best,
Keith
LikeLike
respectfully, keiths wrong of course.
there are already two offerings for the public: redhat and ubuntu. i bought redhat at walmart for $30 almost 20 years ago.
it came in a box, with a manual. it did NOTHING. wouldnt install.
so i bought mandrake– shrinkwrapped cd, no box, no manual. five bucks. installed fine– couldnt use it (all the permissions were locked, and i didnt know how to become root, lol.) <- this was probably my fault. by the way: their icewm theme looked way cooler than windows 95.
today, i offer my own distro with icewm. (no nifty theme by default.) i got ubuntu in the mail about 12 years ago– it was great, gnome made it too slow. installing/uninstalling was made tedious by gnome and synaptic.
what hurts gnu/linux most is fud (much from open source types, claiming its out of love and to push for improvement– but without knowing what improvement really is) and fads.
fads promise the moon but only deliver in the short term. they drive happy "customers" to "love it or leave it" and people leave, because like with windows they wanted to use the distro of their choice– not follow corporate-emulating whims of developers chasing new entirely new userbases every 6 months. there are plenty of honest critiques, and plenty of valid critiques. but most of the "honest" critiques youll find really boil down to "im sorry, this just isnt windows." hey– thats a feature! mac isnt windows, either.
"its like he wants us to be liked by everyone. led zeppelin didnt care about being liked by everyone, they left that to the bee gees." – wayne campbell
LikeLike
IF we are being technical, Redhat and Debian. Not Ubuntu. There are a few independent OS’s that don’t use RPM or DEB (Solus, Slackware, etc).
The point is, there is a HUGE fragmentation of Linux based operating systems. You’ve got Debian, which Ubuntu derives from. And then you got hundreds (if not thousands) of Ubuntu-based distributions. Or Debian based.
On the RPM side: Redhat > Fedora > Mageia Linux > [insert name of RPM-based distro here.]
It’s just too confusing. Giving the user too many choices is both a good and bad thing. In the case with Linux and the average consumer, it’s looking bad for ol’ Tux.
People will stick with whatever is on their computer.
The critiques are right, though. Many are familiar with Windows. Have you tried getting a Windows user to use a Linux distro?
Hell, I installed Debian on a friends computer. He had no idea how to use it. So, I installed Cinnamon, got a Windows 10 theme, windows 10 icons, and made Firefox look just like Microsoft Edge.
He swears up and down he’s using Windows 10.
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh i treat ubuntu as entirely separate from debian. thats out of kindness to debian– and how do they thank me? they go and try to be more like ubuntu. but all jokes aside, in the early years of this century ubuntu had lots of potential and was an enormous help to me personally.
LikeLike
“Have you tried getting a Windows user to use a Linux distro?”
i am an *expert* at getting windows users to use a distro. i specialize in grandmas. trying to make gnu/linux into windows is the “denial” stage of migration. its fine– lots of people do it. i did it. is it necessary? absolutely not– does (almost) anyone use a phone that looks like windows? of course not.
LikeLike
You are lucky. Last time I didn’t make it look like Windows, they flipped SO much shit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yeah, cause you broke their computer. honestly, people adopt their machines, even if theyre not literate about them.
you couldnt babysit for a person, do a makeover on their kid, and then expect to not be in major trouble when they got back. but you can give them another kid (this metaphor needs some work.)
anyway, i just give someone a computer with debian on it. lxde works usually, xfce if necessary.
then i wait for someone to have windows trouble. then give them a desktop or second laptop– even if its old…
sure, you can screw this up. its not foolproof. it is pretty foolproof though– ive had retired people refuse to go back to windows after that. and windows 8(.0), moreso. that thing is a nightmare! when you think about people switching to a mac, or to android or ios tabs or phones– it shouldnt be that surprising. the attachment is to the device working as expected– its not to the os. really.
LikeLike
Most Windows users don’t really install software from a central location anyway. That would take some time getting used to.
I do agree with the sheer amount of distros available. There’s just too many. Ubuntu looks too much like Mac, so Mint may feel more at home for Windows users.
What if their computer is slow? Xubuntu. Would they want to? Nah. They don’t know what the hell that operating system is.
With Windows, they’re used to how Windows looks. There’s no alternative desktop environment, no third party icons available without having to find them.
Basically, people keep things the way they are.
LikeLike
You misunderstand one thing: My comment regarding software installation was geared for Linux since that features one-off installations that can be tricky. Conversely, performing such an installation through Windows (for Adobe and such) is normally a piece of cake. Linux needs to get to this point. That’s one of the points I was trying to make.
LikeLike
Sorry about that. Yea, with Windows it’s super easy to install software. Aren’t they trying to do that with Flatpack or Snap?
LikeLike
HA! Sir, I am an iSeries guy who has an interest and deep respect for the Linux community. I am not, however, a Linux specialist, and I am certainly not aware of any aspects of its current development. I wish I were, though…
LikeLike
and of course, my favorite gripe from the open source crowd: “linux makes it harder to reliably package my proprietary software, without creating an entire subsystem like steam or some faddish ubuntu offering!”
LikeLike
Respectfully, codeinfig is wrong, of course. The issue at hand is how/when Linux desktop could have a breakout year. I provided a possible, real-world, market-based solution to that issue. Conversely, codeinfig relates an experience from 20 years ago before providing stretches of poorly written sentences, none of which addresses the public’s acceptance of Linux. Additionally, codeinfig is wrong regarding the number of available distributions as there are far more than two. Just go to distrowatch.com to see the wide variety of Linux flavors that are available.
In closing, none of the text provided by codeinfig explains how to position Linux so that it becomes a widely accepted desktop. Again, I responded with a rational answer that employs the rules of proper English, while codeinfig did not. Here’s one clue, codeinfig: Sentence case.
LikeLike
“The issue at hand is how/when Linux desktop could have a breakout year.”
it wont have one. it also doesnt need one.
“I provided a possible, real-world, market-based solution to that issue.”
you provided a non-solution that has never worked when tried, and never will.
“Conversely, codeinfig relates an experience from 20 years ago” — NO.
“before providing stretches of poorly written sentences, none of which addresses the public’s acceptance of Linux.”
pointless ad hom– mostly your opinion.
“Additionally, codeinfig is wrong regarding the number of available distributions as there are far more than two.”
you didnt get it.
“Just go to distrowatch.com to see the wide variety of Linux flavors that are available.”
yeah, i know. they published an article about my project this year.
“none of the text provided by codeinfig explains how to position Linux so that it becomes a widely accepted desktop.”
because it wont happen, and isnt necesary– and your solution has FAILED year after year (after year, after year.) so no, you dont have a solution EITHER.
“I responded with a rational answer” <- reasonable, sure– but still wrong, though.
"Here’s one clue, codeinfig: Sentence case."
funny that you talk about making things relevant, and then waste time with THAT. have fun, keith! have someone that cares bitcoin you a quarter for your trouble.
LikeLike
Well, looky there… he used capitalization!
LikeLike
Hey, what project are you involved in?
LikeLiked by 1 person
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20170102#fig
and sorry for unfollowing. i just get my fill of silly superficial people (not you, obviously) and sometimes go to lengths to avoid them when they never learn anything. i will just re-follow you later.
i coded in BASIC for about 25 years, believing in its merits for education. i spent 5 of those looking for the 21st century equivalent. i settled on (i adore) python, but trying to teach python and basic to friends and family wasnt all that great.
its not the indentation (which i love too) but that really is part of it. anyway, i designed a language (not the best one, nor the fastest or fullest-featured) designed for teaching, and i use it all the time– i like it more than pure bash, which is a good sign. and i like it more than pure python, which it lets you add in.
i never thought i would make a linux distro, not even a customization or “spin” like fig os is to refracta. but then if id had to do it in bash or python or basic (or by hand) i wouldnt have done it. its all done automatically in a fig program thats about 50% bash. is it fancy? no, its inspired by simpler times. but its a lot more up to date.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i know a lot of the examples of what i do may look trivial or simple. theres a good reason for that– i dont just want to inspire experts. i want to inspire beginners, too. i want them to see how these things tick, the way i do– in the simplest terms.
LikeLike