[Colchester] 2021 is the year of the Linux desktop

[Stewart Larner]

I never even think to use Linux as a Desktop. I think I still have
nightmares of the old days of Linux Desktop trying to get stuff to work
properly. I used OSX for many years and tbh my 2012 Macbook is still
running on the original updated OS.

I guess what's the main thing we use a computer for these days its a web
browser!

I might have to give it a go again.

Stewart



On Mon, 11 Jan 2021 at 11:27, Wayland Sothcott via Colchester <
colchester at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

> I do think you are overdue to try Mint again. When you say technical
> knowledge and tinkering I'm trying to think of what tinkering I do. There
> is far more tinkering to get Windows set up right than there is in Linux.
> However there is a bit of tinkering to get WINE to run seamlessly, but that
> almost counts as Windows. Clearly WINE could be tinker free, look at PROTON
> in Steam.
>
> One of the things people are familiar with in Windows is downloading a
> file from a website and installing. This is perhaps not the most intuitive
> thing since Microsoft have tried to move people to the app store (which is
> like a Linux repository). However plenty of websites now detect you're on
> Linux and give you the Linux version of the download and install
> experience. This always seems to work with Mint. For example if you go to
> Valve's SteamPowered website it gives you the Linux install button.
>
> The other area people seem to think does not work well in Linux is
> peripherals and hardware. It is worth checking if Linux is mentioned before
> buying hardware but mostly it's plug and play anyway. I bought an HD webcam
> and plugged it in and started Zoom and it worked with no tinkering. This is
> normal rather than the exception.
>
> Same with graphics cards, they all seem to work from the oldest to the
> newest. No need to fetch drivers although if you want to mine with a VEGA
> you might want to install the appropriate driver from AMD. Vulkan is cross
> platform and is making many games cross platform. Not only that but it's
> higher performance than Microsoft's DX12.
>
> The technical skills thing is moot since your average user's Windows
> skills are no better than their Linux skills. It can be argued that no
> technical skills are needed to use Linux where as they are needed to use
> Windows these days. What is a user supposed to do when facing a blue screen
> reboot and windows repair? This will happen most times a Windows machine
> crashes or is powered off incorrectly and often results in a system so
> broken only a techie can get it back. This is since Windows 10. There does
> not seem to be such a problem on Linux.
>
> We really have had the crossing of two paths. Linux has got so much better
> and Windows has got so much worse. For a person who can't fix their own
> computer, Linux is the better choice.
>
> 25 years since I first used Linux on the desktop and it's now the winner.
>
>
> On 11/01/2021 10:35, James Pain via Colchester wrote:
>
> I love these xxxx is the year of the linux desktop threads. This is a
> great conversation to have and recap where we've gotten to.
>
> It depends on the user. For 90% of computer users, I'm not convinced linux
> is the right choice yet. It still requires technical knowledge and
> tinkering despite the best efforts of some distros. This is based on my
> last distro-hopping session about 2 years ago. I'm overdue for another. I
> think Mint and Manjaro have come a long way and their first-use user
> experience is great, but they don't have the maturity of a distro like
> OpenSuse or Ubuntu. MX Linux is a new addition to the scene but had trouble
> running it on a VM to try it out.
>
> For my use case, if I have one of my mega-privacy conscious moments and
> want to try and disconnect from 'The Man' as much as possible (which I go
> through every couple years) I'd absolutely switch out Win 10 for a linux
> distro. However I won't be recommending it as a desktop OS for normal users
> anytime soon though.
>
> I'm overdue for a distro hop session. I might start a new thread on this
> maillist when I do.
>
> James Pain
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Jan 2021 at 01:11, Wayland Sothcott via Colchester <
> colchester at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> No really this time. I know we've been saying this for 25 years but two
>> things have crossed paths.
>>
>> Firstly Linux has got really really good. It's easy to install and use.
>> It's very very capable. Few things even require windows any more and
>> many that do run well under WINE or VirtualBox.
>>
>> Secondly Windows has been getting worse at every update, some even
>> destroy your files. It's impractical to continue on Windows 7 and
>> Windows 10 is creating more and more problems for people. With a great
>> deal of effort it's possible to do a decent Windows install but then you
>> find your efforts get trashed on the next update or some program refuses
>> to run because it does not like what you did to Windows. Why is Windows
>> 10 so difficult to network? Windows XP was pretty good at this.
>>
>> There are more and more examples where the user is delighted with Linux,
>> Mint in my case. It still bugs me that I can't run MS Access on Linux
>> but then it's getting easier to re-write such things. Moving the data to
>> MySQL is a good start. You can then write a new front end whilst still
>> using the old one.
>>
>> Yes we are at the stage where Linux is definitely a better choice than
>> Windows, application requirements permitting. If all your programs run
>> on Linux then you're better off with Linux.
>>
>> What are your thoughts on this?
>>
>> Wayland.
>>
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>
>
>
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