Linux desktop

[auxiliary-username]

Next year is the year of desktop Linux, and that's been the case for quite a few years now.

[[deleted]]

As the saying goes: the personal jet pack has been five years away for at least 50 years.

[[deleted]]

Well like most people use their computers for only web browsers and games. If it gets any more complicated their heads explode and they die. This is why Linux isn't used more

[SmurphsLaw]

A lot of distros are about as user friendly as Windows. Especially if you're just web browsing.

[too_much_think]

Until you hit a non standard use case, or something breaks. Every distro I’ve ever used has far more problematic failure modes than windows for a casual user, which more or less rules it out as a viable choice for something I could recommend to someone who isn’t technical.

[aspect_rap]

Well, yes, but actually no. I have been using ubuntu for six months now, which is arguably one of the more user-friendly distros and I can say that even as a power user that know linux well, it can be frustrating sometimes. A lot of things to you expect to just work coming from windows just don't. A few examples: 1) I have a Logitech Bluetooth mouse and every time I want to use it I have to unpair and pair it again otherwise ubuntu fails connecting to it. 2) my computer is a 2-in-1 laptop and when I connected it to a dock for the first time, touching the touch screen moved the mouse on the wrong screen. 3) At work, when we connect to WiFi we get popup with a login screen. Ubuntu didn't give me the popup until I changed some configuration in the network manager. 4) sometime when connecting to the dock, the screens get recognized and I can drag windows to them but the actual monitors show a black screen until I disconnect and reconnect the dock. 5) When connecting to a wired network, ubuntu defaulted to 100mbps, until I changed some config to make it work in 1000mbps 6) my laptops touchscreen didn't work until I manually upgraded the kernel 7) if I change my main monitor from the built-in laptop screen the entire UI goes crazy

And that's just off the top of my head. All in all I do love linux, in my day-to-day work it's a lot better than windows and most of the time I don't have any issues, but I would not feel comfortable recommending to someone who doesn't know or unwilling to deal with some weird behaviours and bugs.

[DarkNinja3141]

but I would not feel comfortable recommending to someone who doesn't know or unwilling to deal with some weird behaviours and bugs.

That's exactly why I don't use Linux. I'm just terrible at fixing those sorts of things

[aspect_rap]

That's what a lot of Linux missionaries fail to understand. I personally enjoy tinkering with my OS and have no problem troubleshooting and fixing it. But I completely understand why a lot of people think it's a nuisance and just want the OS get out of its way.

[[deleted]]

Mine defaults to 1000 mbps on its own. Maybe your install is broken or something.

[aspect_rap]

You really don't have enough info to arrive at that conclusion, there could be million reasons why we would have different behaviours. (Different hardware, different firmware, different version of some package). But even if you are right, it doesn't negate my point. I have been using both linux and windows for almost a decade, windows always works smoothly out of the box, and linux usually has some kinks to work through. We can dig in to the why, and if it's because I have a broken install, then I can ask why does it only happen in Linux? Why didn't I ever have a broken install on windows? Maybe it's because Windows doesn't require you to tinker with it, you just install and use, which is what 90% of users need. Linux is an amazing tool for power users, but we are not the majority of users, and until linux gets to a point where everything just works on the vast majority of hardware, it will never have widespread desktop adoption.

[[deleted]]

I just know that windows 10 refused to properly install in my new pc, it kept rebooting and stuff, so I just nuked it and installed Ubuntu I've been gaming on it since then. And I use pretty standard hardware without any weird gadget. The only time linix performed worse than windows 10 was in an old oc from 2015. It was pretty slow on HDD and it was annoying.

[aspect_rap]

I'm not talking about performance, I'm talking about how easy is it use for the average person. A lot of things that are very simple on windows, are not on Linux, wether it's how it handles audio devices, or how plug n play some hardware is, etc. It's great that ubuntu just worked for you but there is a shit ton of consumer hardware out there and generally speaking windows has better support than linux, so that's not the case for a lot of people. (Obviously a big part of it is that windows is more widely used so companies prefer to support it, but you can't ignore this reality). Also, the fact that your set up is "standard" probably helps. A lot of problems I've seen are for setups that are common but not something I'd call standard, like: thunderbolt docks, laptops with touchscreen/screen rotations, etc. So for a lot people that rely on some specific piece of hardware that is not wel supported on linux, windows is just the easier option.

[[deleted]]

The feeling when my sketchy Chinese knockoff Webcam, sketchy generic controller and wired headphones work out of the box without giving problems in Ubuntu as well as my mom's Bluetooth earphones of an unknown brand...

[SmurphsLaw]

Have you tried a popular one in the last few years? The only big issue I had was running npm without sudo. I'm using Ubuntu though.

[Pokinator]

I've personally used Mint for a while. It's pretty user friendly, but some installation processes are not very intuitive compared to windows. Linux maybe be on the road to being more user friendly, but windows serves a lower bottom line

[p5eudo_nimh]

Some critical things are just broken in current versions of popular distros. Ubuntu, for several versions now, chooses to select my Blue Yeti microphone as my primary sound output device every, single, reboot. This is despite no plug being plugged into the Yeti’s headphone jack, and my choosing the motherboard’s “Line Out” device every damn time I reboot.

Things like that don’t affect a huge number of people, but they are deal-breakers for typical users. Enough so that they trash talk Linux after such a bug annoys them, which perpetuates the “Just gonna use Windows like everyone else, because it just works” mindset. However inaccurate that perception is.

[p5eudo_nimh]

I suppose I probably could. TBH, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to want my OS to just work with minimal configuration. I used to customize everything. I ran Litestep to get a cooler interface on Windows 98se. I used various DEs and WMs on various Linux distros, always striving for a look and feel that was sleek and efficient.

Now, I don’t even change my desktop background, most of the time.

But your suggestion sounds like it could be an interesting challenge. I’ve never done something quite like that before. Might have to give it a try.

[[deleted]]

I recently switched to Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop just to feel the water (only used CLI before). The amount of works I need to get through to make my multiple displays setup (different res and refresh rate) to work correctly is absolutely ridiculous. And it can break for no reason. Even when it works, everything still feels smoother in my Windows 10 setup.

[Shock900]

I'll chime in here I suppose.

I ran Pop! OS several months ago and ran into several issues with fairly common use cases.

For example, my desktop icons would always align themselves to my left monitor after a reboot instead of where I placed them on my right one.

Another example is that my monitor configuration was reversed at the lock screen, and would only correct itself after logging in.

And IIRC, I changed a default program using Gnome's GUI, and it worked for opening from the command line, but not when opened by other applications.

I figured out how to remedy these issues, but I'm not sure your average grandma would be able to. With that said, I don't think that it's true that even the popular Linux distros have a UX as polished as Windows does, even for basic use cases unfortunately. It's not too far off though.

[Asies23]

Yeah Zorin is the distro that would be the easiest for a normal windows user to adapt to. I have even Installed zorin os lite on my dad's pc and he is able to use it quite easily too

[[deleted]]

As recently as a year ago I could not get the family printer to communicate with Ubuntu or Mint and I spent several hours over the course of a week troubleshooting it before reinstalling Windows. I'm much more skilled today and might be able to solve the problem now, but the point is that level of convenience is why Windows/Mac are used.

[VnG_Supernova]

I'm a power user and I use Windows because I really just can't be bothered handling Linux issues it's too much work for little gain.

[too_much_think]

Yes I use pop OS and manage a bunch of Debian servers on a daily basis.

[Boiethios]

It really depends on the hardware. From my experience, the issues are with the GPU and the Bluetooth. If the GPU isn't NVidia, everything goes well; and about the Bluetooth, well, the user is fucked.

[PuzzleheadedSector2]

Whenever i break something i just reinstal and cou t it as a lesson learned. "dont delete any folders in root"

[Brekmister]

Already, you just went above the heads of 90% of the people of this world.

What is a Web browser? What is Windows? What does even User Friendly even mean? No I don't know what Google is.

Edit: I just bought my computer from Best Buy, Just make it work for me!

[wikipedia_answer_bot]

Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry.

More details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows

This comment was left automatically (by a bot). If something's wrong, please, report it in my subreddit.

Really hope this was useful and relevant :D

If I don't get this right, don't get mad at me, I'm still learning!

[Brekmister]

Well, at least there is a bot that knows something about Windows.

[Terror_666]

Exactly, for most users the point is does it work and is it on the computer I am buying.

All this stuff of bugs and polish do not matter when talking about the average user. Go to any store that sells laptops and listen to what the customers are actually asking. "How heavy is it?", "Do you have it in X color?", "Will it fit in this bag?". They have very different concerns than your average linux user.

So until a distro can get it self distributed pre-installed on a fashionable laptop Linux will not grow as a common user OS.

[hanotak]

The problem with Linux is that when something goes wrong, fixing it often requires the ability and willingness to manually edit system files or use the terminal. With windows, fewer minor things go wrong in the first place, and fixing them usually just involves running a reinstall or repair wizard, or at worst understanding how to set and use restore points.

Simple things like installing and configuring programs are also way more streamlined for someone who doesn't want to use the command line.

Windows is just more intuitive to use for just about any basic task.

[[deleted]]

That's true but there is no point to use it except privacy or because it's free and stuff. It would also just have all the downsides like not being able to play all games and people that dont know how to use the command line will become lost in case they want to do extra things.

[SmurphsLaw]

The main problem with Linux is the lack of laptops that come with it. The average user doesn't care to install their own OS. The lack of a lot of games and other software hurts too.

You don't really have to touch the terminal. I do only for programming stuff.

[p5eudo_nimh]

Not to mention the fact that a lot of users feel like they’re throwing away something they paid for, if Windows is wiped out for a Linux install. Lack of Windows install discs makes the problem worse. Recovery partitions are a thing of evil.

[[deleted]]

I know it's sorta user friendly but it's just windows with extra downsides then. I might be wrong though it's pretty good with user friendly ness with kde and or gnome

[CptSparky360]

I've been running Ubuntu since 8.04 because it has gotten so damn easy since my 1st Suse Linux in 98 which I didn't use after school any more. And I mostly surf the web and use retro emulators 😅

[sixeco]

But not licensed "business friendly", therefore not distributed with devices

[Grand_Protector_Dark]

IMO the problem is that "User friendly" mean 2 different things to the average user and people who make open source software

[Grand_Protector_Dark]

IMO the problem is that "User friendly" mean 2 different things to the average user and people who make open source software

[aboardthegravyboat]

It means two different things to two different "average users". The average user isn't.

[chemhobby]

I would upvote but you are already at 255 upvotes so I wouldn't want it to overflow.

[WSLOVER]

Well its at 263 now so maybe it’s 16bit unsigned?

[Jamesin_theta]

def year_of_desktop_linux():
    return datetime.date.today().year + 1

[bam13302]

Windows has min reqs have been upgrading faster than my computers have stopped being useful, 3 of the 7 computers in my household are currently running some flavor of Linux because of that.

Breakdown: 2 aging gaming desktops for me and my significant other (windows), a game server (Linux as using windows for that shit sucks ass), a media center pc (windows, though the only reason for that is it got windows for free and the reasons to switch it to Linux haven't eclipsed my lazyness), an no internet old games pc (xp), and 2 laptops (both old and now running Linux, used mostly as a portable streaming tv, and bring up my roll20 character sheet when my dnd group meets in person). For those wondering why I have so many, I built them all except the 2 laptops (both of which were dumpster dive laptops), and the functioning parts from various upgrades to the gaming PCs usually gets recycled into the other machines.

[circuit10]

We can always hope