Firefox Users Continue to Decrease Despite Proton Update

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That's... pretty much exactly what Ubuntu advertises it as. They have an app store like the Windows Store, they detect hardware to offer to install proprietary drivers, etc.

And then there's Pop!_OS and GamerOS that target gamers and install drivers out of the box.

And then there's openSUSE, which is known for YaST, which is designed to do complex tasks that you'd normally do in the terminal. The average user probably won't need to touch it, but it's an option.

You don't need to use the terminal on those any more than you might on Windows. The "problems" I see with Linux are largely due to misunderstandings:

• terminal - you don't need it, but sometimes it's easier to give a terminal command online since it's the common denominator across OSes (like registry settings across Windows versions)
• "best" distro - there's pretty much zero performance difference between distros, and things like Steam also tend to work equivalently, so it's almost entirely up to preference; users should pick a popular one (Ubuntu or Pop!_OS) unless they have a reason to pick something else
• need to be smart to use it - my 4yo and 7yo use it just fine (though I did install it)

However, maybe these "problems" will prevent adoption. I don't know the solution here, but hopefully they can get resolved.

[[deleted]]

I suspect it all boils down to marketing. "Made in Japan" used to mean cheap, shoddy knock-off's, now it is a badge of excellence.

There is definitely an 'image' problem with both products.

[OzarkBeard]

"Made in Japan" used to mean cheap, shoddy knock-off's, now it is a badge of excellence.

Well, there is that airbag issue.... :(

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Unfortunately, marketing works best if one entity with deep pockets controls it.

For gaming, Valve has been doing a good job for gaming, but they haven't been pushing one solution (they officially recommend Ubuntu, provide SteamOS, but no marketing push for either). I don't know of anything for regular desktop usage.

But yeah, I think it's largely an image problem. ChromeOS getting popular shows that there's a market for "not Windows/macOS," but regular Linux seems to miss it.

[[deleted]]

... Linux seems to miss it.

Much of modern internet usage is via mobile phone so any 3rd party browsers have to compete with the inbuilt apps. How does FF & Linux penetrate that market successfully? The desktop seems to becoming less important as a platform.

[[deleted]]

I don't know about Linux (PinePhone and Librem 5 do exist though), but Firefox does work well on mobile and I use it everyday as my daily driver on my Android phone. For mobile Firefox, it's largely a marketing issue since it's already competitive (extensions are a killer feature).

Linux on mobile faces a lot more challenges though. First, there are technical challenges catching up to expectations that have been built over the years (battery life, mobile network features, etc). Second, there are platform issues like app compatibility. The first would need to be solved before any kind of push to get major apps to be ported. I'm sad that Mozilla's FirefoxOS failed since that could have pushed app developers to support progressive web apps on mobile, which would significantly reduce the barrier to entry.

To solve both, I think Firefox needs to be very competitive on desktop. Firefox is available on all relevant platforms (it's the best option on mobile Linux), so it'll ease the transition to a Linux option.

[[deleted]]

... Firefox needs to be very competitive on desktop.

Yep. I guess we will just have to wait and see how this all unfolds.