As Torvalds pointed out in 2019, is that while some major hardware vendors do sell Linux PCs – Dell, for example, with Ubuntu – none of them make it easy. There are also great specialist Linux PC vendors, such as System76, Germany’s TUXEDO Computers, and the UK-based Star Labs, but they tend to market to people who are already into Linux, not disgruntled Windows users. No, one big reason why Linux hasn’t taken off is that there are no major PC OEMs strongly backing it. To Torvalds, Chromebooks “are the path toward the desktop.”
Linux don’t need anything to challenge Windows. Windows is doing great on their own.
For gaming and home use I think Windows will slowly die off. But I see precious few enterprise customers who are willing to consider Linux desktops for anyone other than sysadmins or programmers. Some will allow Macs for general users but I’ve never seen one that allows Linux.
Enterprise is where windows has deep claws embedded.
Hard to enforce a GPO on Linux, unless it’s locked down like ChromeOS.
That’s really the limiting factor: liability and support costs.
I think you can:
I’m not sure it’s much more work than what I’ve seen in corporate environments with Windows.
I’ve managed Linux desktop fleets in enterprise-like environments. I’ll modify your list a bit:
And as you have guessed, on Windows this requires a bit of point and click in SCCM to do decently.
On Linux, you’ll wanna start by getting a few really good sysadmins to write a bunch of Puppet for a year or so.
(If we include remote desktop capabilities in the discussion, I’ll do my yearly Wayland-rant.)
The other thing you’ll need is for compliance and risk management frameworks (e.g. CMMC, ISO27001, CIS, etc.) to fully embrace Linux controls and environments. As of right now, it’s a patchwork full of holes and if you need to demonstrate compliance, it’s likely to be a lot more challenging running Linux workstations.
I came here to say that too