Posted on 09/30/2015 4:57:21 AM PDT by ShadowAce
I love the Linux desktop. As far as I'm concerned, the Linux Mint 17.2 is the best desktop around. Heck, I was once editor-in-chief of a website called Linux Desktop. But today, I believe there's no way the Linux desktop will ever become the top desktop operating system.
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| The Linux desktop, here Mint 17.2 with Cinnamon, is great, but it will never be popular the way Windows was. |
That's right. There will be no "Year of the Linux desktop."
Oh, don't get me wrong, Linux, as Android tablets and smartphones and Chrome OS Chromebooks, will become the most popular end-user operating system of all. But, the desktop? That's another story.
Android devices and Chromebooks are great. I have a Samsung Galaxy 5 by my side. My favorite laptop is the top-of-the-line, with a price-tag to match, 2015 Chromebook Pixel. Neither are conventional desktops.
Chrome OS, just like Windows 10, can work without an Internet connection or the cloud, but both only really show to their best advantage with their respective clouds. They are both hybrid desktop/cloud operating systems.
You can see where I'm going. I think Linux can't possibly become the top desktop operating system because traditional desktops are on their way out.
It's not just simply that PC sales have been taking a beating for years, although that is true. We are entering a time when the Internet is as vital for PCs and laptops as hard drives used to be.
Indeed, look at Chromebooks: Most of them get by with mere 32 GB solid-state drives (SSD)s. Why? Because Google offers a minimum of 100GBs of free Google Drive storage for two years with each device. In the case of the Pixel, you get a Terabyte of storage for three years. On Microsoft's side, Office 365 subscribers get unlimited OneDrive storage.
Local storage? Who needs local storage?
Google and Microsoft both say you don't, and they're winning.
Apple is taking Mac OS X to the cloud, but as anyone who has suffered with iCloud knows, Apple has a way to go.
Looking ahead, I see 90 percent and more of users working with hybrid desktop/cloud operating systems. Most people are already well on their way to not using conventional desktop and laptops at all. This trend, even as tablet sales slow, will only continue.
There will be a few people who will still use conventional desktops. These are the ones who want real control over their hardware and software. They're the ones who want real security. In short, they're the same people who are already using Linux.
So, by 2020, in a very limited way, Linux may be the top "desktop" operating system. It's just that there won't be many traditional desktops left in use. Everyone else will be working with one foot in the cloud and the other in a variety of devices, some of which, like Chromebooks and Surfaces, will look like desktops.
Open source vs. commercial mindset.
I once had to try to explain to management how you can make money on something that is 'free' (like linux). Not an easy task.
/johnny
Duly stolen.
We run Linux guest images on z mainframe hardware. It’s extremely efficient and cost effective.
Lol :)
You mean from 3.11 to 95. ;)
I actually had to install 3.0 (and later 3.1..then 3.11) onto the “IBM Clones” onto USAF PCs...
Made a few DOS based batch files to simplify some input for some DD forms too... Shame I never got paid for it :/
Darn noisy dot matrix printers... (daisies were worse)..
Motorola didn’t, or wasn’t able to, update that chip as fast as they lead Apple to believe. The user base was not as large as that for the x86 Intel and Moto kind of went in a different direction for the chips use so Apple had to make a decision. The rest as they say...
Just tell them it’s free to them.. and that they can make $$ software :D
:)
I could never -igure out why the x86 was more powerful than the x88.. (timewise).. tech is supposed to get better, not worse. :p
It sure sounds like you’re describing System V (five) vs BSD.
Linux is the only “desktop” one owns. The rest are paid subscriptions.
Dependence on Internet and “cloud” connections are single points of failure when required for daily computer use.
I’ll keep my Linux, amateur radio, and Chirp.
Lots of that kind of stuff out there.
/johnny
People are rushing headlong into exactly what they swore they were going to be freed from by the micro and Linux but there's no slave like a willing slave I guess.
If you're going to be bound hand and foot to something you pay for every month what difference does it make if you get to choose the color and brand of your chains ?
The Internet initially almost all ran on BSD, which was and is a free OS, and all I see Linux having done is to break down the discipline behind BSD to take over the same niche without accomplishing much of anything other being more entertaining for geeks.
People who can't set the time on their VCR are going to move to a geek OS because it's technically better, just like the all flocked to Beta rather than VHS, gotcha.
The market decides, hardware vendors want free rather than paying anything, so, free wins. Bound and gagged and tied to services you pay for so the vendor gets the free and you don't.
For all it's failings, Windows is the most universal standard that's ever existed in the computing community and just like the bad news for fans of machines like Burroughs, too bad if there's something better.
Should we restart the RISC war again (or is that still simmering with guerrilla bands hiding in the mountains and low rent urban enclaves) ?
The real computer revolution died when they stopped shipping BASIC with every machine. We're back to notations instead of languages and pay per use rather than independence.
JMHo
Perfect!!
And exactly why nothing of mine will ever be in the cloud. It’s my data it should live on my desk (or on my server). Why should I just hand it to my competitors.
Prosche made the 914 for the U.S. market long after stopping production elsewhere - because Americans still “liked it” even after industry technology had moved on to better things. Audio codexes for the first generation (and succeeding) digital players was inferior to CD quality disks but convenience held the day. I’m sure there are plenty of other examples - but I haven’t had my coffee yet and typing on my Mac SE 30 is a bit of a struggle ;- )
Nope.
Our family IT guy enabled me to create a low cost desktop for my Acer Chromebook 15 and Win 10 Toshiba 15.6 laptop to replace my terminal HP Pavilion and 22 in monitor.
I had been considering getting the LG Chrome Desktop or the new Acer Chrome Desktop. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one considering this as Amazon kept upping the price on two year old LG and never discounting the Acer Chrome Desktop.
On his recommendation, for a little over $100, I bought a 22 inch View Sonic with a HDMI connection and a HDMI connecting cable. Now, I have a terrific and clear monitor image with either laptop.
He told me to use an RJ45 connection to either laptop for better security and faster internet linkups. Then, to use a USB wireless keyboard and mouse with either computer.
So for a little more than $100, I have an incredible monitor and a desktop that works with either laptop.
I remember seeing articles back in 1999 spouting about the year of Linux.
Unfortunately too many Linux users are too self-righteous to ever figure out what people need when it comes to an OS to ever get why Linux is not the best solution.
They can’t even agree on one of the 100 distros to even get behind.
BOL: “Lol, How close was I? Alongside Google, and bastardized/took advantage of Linux in the process... X/”
One of our younger non techi relatives, who survives in today’s world without a personal pc. He uses his Iphone 6 and IPad. Early this year, he watched a late night PBS show on computers and their operating systems.
He said the experts, phds from the bay area/Sillycon Valley finally agreed with a Stanford PHD, who said that all operating systems were incestful. He challenged the pro Apple guys to prove him wrong re how they turned a Linux kernel/system into their system.
Our relative said no one on the panel really challenged him.
Oh, forgot to thank you for the ping ;)
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