this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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It sounds like many of your problems could be fixed by installing kde plasma6 instead.
I think this supports his argument. Having to research desktop environments to decide which is optimized for the potential problems a new user may face, then finding a distro that packages that DE is quite frankly too much for the average user.
I’d argue between 3% and 5% of PC users are willing to research and experiment to find the flavor of Linux that truly works for them.
Linux has come a long way, I still remember using Gentoo as a daily driver and seeing Linux cross 1% of desktop share, but the average desktop user doesn’t know the difference between a kernel and a colonel, and they don’t want to.
Nah, completely wrong take.
Linux can be adapted to fit any use case you have, and that’s an important part of its flexibility. What you really are getting at is that mass producing a machine with an OS built into it is convenient for consumers. See Android phones or Steam decks for evidence of this convenience being important to the sale of Linux based devices.
In the not too distant future, windows will go out of fashion for the home desktop PC. Someone will sell a cheap and cool arm based PC with a decent distribution. It will be a slow win, nothing like what we saw from macOS.
he was wrong but you are way overcompensating. if windows suddenly became exorbetantly expensive, most people would just stop using computers altogether (its already easy for many people live with just a phone no PC). The remaining computer users (not counting businesses) would be enthusiasts, who are much more likely to enjoy the tinkering of Linux, or put up with it to avoid exorbetant costs. so without even gaining anymore users, Linux's desktop market share would shoot up.
to be clear I don't think Linux Desktop taking over is imminant or "near future." thats nuts, it will probably always be a niche for enthusiasts and thier families/friends. but its also not going to stay eternally at 2-4%, the user experience is constantly improving and encompassing more hardware.
I know several people who would switch over to Linux if Windows cost that much and it would be: everyone I know.
It's a moot point, because the average user doesn't install any OS on their system. They get people like us to install it for them.
They don't generally solve their own Windows problems either. OEM is the real bulwark of of Windows dominance. Usability and familiarity is one aspect, but I've set a good few people up with Linux at this stage and very few of them know what a kernel is, or what Plasma/Gnome are, because they don't need to (same way they didn't know or care what NT was either).
Whoosh. This happens literally every time anyone comments about how difficult Linux is, someone just recommends some other distro or obscure fix (this time a new desktop). You’re literally missing the actual problem here because you’re always trying to solve strange problems on Linux. The fact that you know a solution to this and the solution isn’t continue using your current system but instead install a new graphical interface is the exact problem that the person you’re responding to is complaining about.
You're just assuming that installing KDE was a solution to some obscure problem he had instead of it being his existing system.
That's how it's been for me at any rate. I read a lot of the original post while thinking 'I've never had that problem.' After the first day of setting up the installation, I don't really do any meaningful tweaking of the OS. Personally, I switched over from Windows because I was tired of fighting it to make it behave how I wanted and solving obscure problems with meaningless error messages.
I’m not assuming anything. He’s suggesting it as a solution. If your suggestion of a solution is to switch distros then Linux is not ready to be a desktop env. And I’ve seen multiple people recommend KDE as a “solution” to people’s problems so forgive me if I took them suggesting it as a solution as them suggesting it as a solution.
I'm responding to the more general sentiment you and BearOfaTime expressed, which is that one is 'always trying to solve strange problems on Linux.' KDE is being offered as a solution in this instance, but it's also just a default in its own right. Contrary to how you're characterising it, it's not a distro, it's not difficult to install, and it absolutely is not obscure.