I’m as happy about this news as the next tech enthusiast, but bluntly, it’s not a big shift. Going from … What? 5% to 6%? That’s great and all but it’s hardly moving the needle.
If we want a significant shift we need OEMs selling prebuilt PCs with some flavor of Linux pre-installed, that’s as easy to use as the competition (Windows/mac) with compatibility that’s both good enough and transparent enough that people don’t need to think about it much.
Before we get Linux OEM PCs on store shelves, we need to figure out that last bit first.
That still hasn’t happened yet. We can’t even agree what window manager should be used, nevermind any of the dozen or so other critical services on the system…
The thing that makes Linux great is that anyone and everyone can, and does, make stuff for it. That’s also the thing that’s going to hold it back from being put on store shelves pre installed on prebuilt PCs.
That’s an important step, for sure, but that’s not going to push the majority.
I’m that guy for plenty of people and the number of times a conversation starts with “so I bought…” is crazy. It’s basically the first thing anyone says to me when they need help.
The one step that would really push a lot would be if you can go to your local electronics store and buy a PC there with Linux preinstalled and completely setup, just like you can with Windows, Mac and ChromeOS.
That’s why the Steam Deck actually pushed the Linux market share quite a bit.
I mean, there is a thing like that and it’s called Chromebooks, but we, the tech people, deemed ChromeOS not Linux enough and told everyone not to buy chromebooks.
But still ChromeOS is by far the most popular Linux distro with about 5x the market share of the next most popular Linux distro (which is Arch, thanks to the Steam Deck).
If you look at the commercially successful variants of Linux (ChromeOS and Android), you’ll see that taking away freedom/choice was the first thing they did.
And ultimately, if you are targeting the mass market, that’s almost required.
I’m as happy about this news as the next tech enthusiast, but bluntly, it’s not a big shift. Going from … What? 5% to 6%? That’s great and all but it’s hardly moving the needle.
If we want a significant shift we need OEMs selling prebuilt PCs with some flavor of Linux pre-installed, that’s as easy to use as the competition (Windows/mac) with compatibility that’s both good enough and transparent enough that people don’t need to think about it much.
Before we get Linux OEM PCs on store shelves, we need to figure out that last bit first.
That still hasn’t happened yet. We can’t even agree what window manager should be used, nevermind any of the dozen or so other critical services on the system…
The thing that makes Linux great is that anyone and everyone can, and does, make stuff for it. That’s also the thing that’s going to hold it back from being put on store shelves pre installed on prebuilt PCs.
It’s huge because the people who do the tech support in the families are moving.
That’s an important step, for sure, but that’s not going to push the majority.
I’m that guy for plenty of people and the number of times a conversation starts with “so I bought…” is crazy. It’s basically the first thing anyone says to me when they need help.
This.
The one step that would really push a lot would be if you can go to your local electronics store and buy a PC there with Linux preinstalled and completely setup, just like you can with Windows, Mac and ChromeOS.
That’s why the Steam Deck actually pushed the Linux market share quite a bit.
I mean, there is a thing like that and it’s called Chromebooks, but we, the tech people, deemed ChromeOS not Linux enough and told everyone not to buy chromebooks.
But still ChromeOS is by far the most popular Linux distro with about 5x the market share of the next most popular Linux distro (which is Arch, thanks to the Steam Deck).
If you look at the commercially successful variants of Linux (ChromeOS and Android), you’ll see that taking away freedom/choice was the first thing they did.
And ultimately, if you are targeting the mass market, that’s almost required.
ChromeOS isn’t successful.
Yes. By the porn stats, Linux already crushes ChromeOs. Let’s not take any advice from it.
Well, all Linux distros combined are more than ChromeOS. If you split up by distro, ChromeOS is still the top Linux distro by far.