Is Linux The New Windows?

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michael diemer

michael diemer

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Feb 2, 2013
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With all the angst surrounding Windows 10 (forced updates, the new "No Privacy" Policy, involuntary downloads of the complete W10 package, etc), I am wondering (indeed hoping) that Linux devs will seize the moment, and step in to save the PC from being turned into a phone by Microsoft. I personally use W7 on one drive, and Zorin9 on another. I also have another computer which I use only for music creation, and that is also W7. But when W7 bites the dust in 2020, I would like to be able to switch completely to Linux. So, which Linux distro is best positioned to ride to the rescue? I have also used Mint 17, and far back in time, Ubuntu. I like Zorin best. But it needs to be more user friendly. Installing and removing software needs to be easier. So, what chance is there of Linux stepping in to fill the void that will surely come when more people discoverer that MS has gone crazy?
 
if ms got away with vista (and it pretty much did) and with windows me it's gonna easily get away with the win10 changes that it wants.
-the forced updates i actually think are a good idea in keeping the os more secure. users that know what they're doing will have switched the mode to manual anyway, and for everyone else it's a simple/clean way to always stay uptodate. this should help a lot with zero day vulnerabilities exploits.
-the no privacy part.. well... we haven't had privacy for quite some time already, this is actually politically correct, at least now we're told about it.
-involuntary downloads... yep, happened to me on a win7 install that i can't convince to drop the win10 upgrade. doesn't really hurt, i'm doing a clean install anyway in a few days
 


you can boot to a live linux distribution to remove that pesky windows.~BT folder. reboot

 
I consider myself quite competent and I couldn't get Java on Mint, while following online instructions. Linux in it's current condition will never be the OS for the masses. Windows is simply plug and play comparatively, and for the Apple world, Windows is too complicated.
 


That is my point. In its current state, Linux OS will never replace Windows. What I want to know is, could a Linux distro be improved to the point where it can?

 


So, because we haven't had privacy for a while, we should just give in and let Microsoft sell everything we do on line to every business and government agency it wants? What kind of argument is that? I've closed my MS accounts and One Drive and gone to Proton Mail. If you don't fight back, you will have no one but yourself to blame when you find you have lost your freedom.
 


Could it? Yes. Once you overcome a couple decades of inertia, and several hundred billion dollars of installed infrastructure.

Now...what is really happening is...alternate OS's are actually taking over. iPhone, Android, etc. Just not on a traditional desktop platform.
 

it is not just the OS which defines "user experience" - it is the applications.
As long as major software OEMs do not port their applications to Linux (and I doubt they ever will, with proliferation of mobile OSs), Linux users will be left at what enthusiast have developed.
For example - I doubt there will be Photoshop running natively on Linux. Linux users do not like to pay for software, and Adobe is not going to make Linux PS version for free. Same applies to Office, same apples to Premierre.
 


Ah, now we come to the heart of the matter. Cost. Linux has always been free, along with most of its applications. So, charging for an OS to replace Windows goes against the whole philosophy of Linux. I get that. But I really think there could be a market for an OS that is reasonably priced, easy to use and well supported by OEMS. What Windows used to be, without the intrusiveness, loss of privacy and just plain arrogance of Microsoft these days. I personally would gladly pay up to 50% of what windows 7 retails for, for a Linux (or other) OS that respects my privacy, is easy to use and third-party-friendly. That would be the really hard part, getting stuff to work on it easily, when it isn't designed to run natively. Perhaps Wine on steroids? Or am I just being naive and nostalgic?

 


1. People don't care about the OS
2. People don't 'buy' an OS. They use whatever comes on their new PC. Until it dies and they buy a new PC or laptop.
3. People use applications. Unless it is click, click install....no dice.
4. There is already an insane amount of legally free Windows applications.
 


I care about the OS. I care if my computer sends ram dumps of my clients private data unencrypted for use as a third party product.
I buy hardware and select what I put on it. As someone who has done hundreds of downgrade installs for clients I can say that people do indeed care, but the problem is the available choices.
sudo apt-get chrome Your right its so hard.
the insane amount of legally free windows applications are 95% malware.

I disagree.



 


Y'know, when you know some of the major people involved in the linux kernel (e.g., Ts'o, in my case), it's very easy for me to say, "no, Linux will never be the new Windows, nor will development rise in any substantial way." Here's the problem, which is best explained with a scenario:

First, we have Bob, a programmer. Bob knows C++ very well, but while he knows that C++ and C may be similar, in reality they are (or can be) very different. So, Bob decides that he's tired of Windows and decides to become part of the open-source community (particularly Linux). Unfortunately, Bob sucks at documenting his code, and he submits solutions in a C++-esque style.

Now, bear in mind that code is always reviewed. Each time someone submits code, the code must be processed and reviewed. Once it has gone through this process, it may become upstreamed. Sometimes, it can be good code; however, it's quite often that the code (i.e., the features) is worthless and therefore won't be added.

Now, let's look at Jimmy. Jimmy is also a programmer, but he sucks at coding. He decides to make the transition from Windows to Linux, but the only language he knows is C#. Knowing that there's no native support and that the only practical means comes in the form of Mono, he blindly submits his code thinking that it's awesome when in reality it's totally worthless crap. Again, the code gets filtered out. This is unfortunately a proportional reality, meaning that as a Linux distribution becomes more and more well-known, so too do more "crap" submissions come. If it weren't for this, the Linux kernel and popular distributions (e.g., Debian-based) would become bloated and useless.

All of the distributions you've cited are Debian-based. There's no distribution ready or poised to seize the day. Linux is Linux, Unix is Unix, Unix-variants are Unix-variants (e.g., OS X), and Windows is Windows. The ONLY Linux distribution to take advantage of Windows is in the mobile market. Windows RT/Mobile is a terrible POS which no developer wants to work with, and Android has exploited this by leaps and bounds. Apart from this one exception, Windows will continue to reign in the Desktop market, period (unless they decide to develop another ME, at which point Apple will be ready to lull people in to use OS X on Apple-made computers).

Is there any one distribution that's great? Nope. I recommend anything Debian-based, but I personally use Ubuntu (when I'm really lazy) and LFS.

[edit -- update]
I forgot to mention that I have a friend who works for Microsoft and that he won't even touch any Windows phone, even if Microsoft is willing to provide him one for free.
 
Thanks for that last great post, itmoba. It explains a lot. If becoming better at Linux is what I need to do to wean myself off windows, I'll do it. In fact, I was doing it last year on Mint, found a great tutorial on it. I was to the point where I could indeed install software easily (I got your irony, R_1 - no it's really not hard once you know). Unfortunately, I lost interest for some reason, and now I've forgotten most of what I learned. The good news is W7 lives on until 2020 (despite Microsoft's best efforts to kill it). I have plenty of time to learn. I have uninstalled everything related to W10, using a thread on a W7 forum which tells you each month what updates not to install. Now it is operating quite well, fast and efficient (though not as much as Zorin).
 
There's a way to cheat, if you will, when it comes to Linux mastery -- think of it as something like the hyperbolic time chamber from DBZ.

Ready? Set up a shell account without support for a reverse X11 connection. This'll force you to learn the command prompt quickly, and in the process you'll learn a lot more about the internals of Linux. There's maybe, at most, 100 essential commands (i.e., programs and scripts) you need to know to amble along. Within a 2 weeks, at most, you'll know all of the 100 mentioned.
 
Linux can be a learning curve. My biggest issue with it is software support. Often times the latest drivers for linux are quite a bit older than the latest drivers for windows. Some popular programs don't work so well on it though with enough monkeying around with virtual machines windows type programs can be used. For the fact that most of it is free software and open source and all it's really quite good. Many times software is close but not quite the same. It's amazing that gimp is so much like photoshop and yet gimp is free and smaller - but it's 'not quite' photoshop. Same with blender and 3dsmax.

Sort of a catch 22, software updates and driver updates aren't always as up to date for linux because more people use windows so that's where developers focus their efforts. However unless coders and programmers give equal importance to linux it will never really compete head to head with mainstream products like windows. You can't blame the coders and programmers for focusing where the bigger audience is but then how is linux supposed to ever truly compete without equal attention?
 
I have been checking out different versions of Mint. Started with Mate, then Cinnamon, and now Xfce. I have learned a lot and can now solve most problems, sometimes with help from the forum or just google searches. I discovered that on my older machine, Mint Xfce works best. I was having shut-downs with Cinnamon and Zorin, and Mate did not recognize my audio interface. But Xfce is just right. Very intuitive, fast and stable. Reminds me of XP, especially the menu. I now only use Windows on my music machine. I still update the W7 on my other computer, mainly as practice for keeping the wife's W7 updated.

Someone mentioned that people don't care about their OS. I would say that Windows and Apple people don't care. But Linux people care very much. That's why they are on Linux. Linux gives you the power to take control of your computer, instead of allowing a super-rich company like Microsoft or Apple to control it. For me, Windows days are definitely numbered.
 
There will always be people who like linux, there's nothing wrong with it in that regard. Those that picky about security or superuser controls though are the exception rather than the rule. Years ago I used to joke with people and they'd ask the difference between windows and linux, I'd tell them if you try to screw something up windows asks you or tries to prevent you. Even running as admin. On linux if you elevate to superuser it assumes you know what you're doing, takes the training wheels off and if you want to bork your system it will let you lol.

Linux mint isn't bad and linux is getting more user friendly in terms of gui than it was in the past say with rh6 or something. I like suse also. Sadly I've gotten used to windows interfering, though I remember how annoying it was every time I tried to do anything. Open a program, install a program - are you sure? Are you sure? I wanted to chuck it out the window.
 
Until someone tries and realizes they dislike it and have gone past the 'trial period' for win10. Win10 takes their old valid license, say from win7 or 8.1 and converts it to a win10 license. After the trial period, the user goes to revert back by reinstalling their previous os and realizes they no longer have a valid license for that version. It was sacrificed for the new win10 license. They now either have to keep win10 or purchase the older version of windows again.
 


It has gotten better. Much better.

That's like not buying a Ford because of the Pinto, or a Chevy because of the Vega, or any of the FIAT subsidiaries because of the Yugo.
 
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