It’s been a 22 years since Linux was to push Windows off most everyone’s Desktop. Caldera’s graphical installer from 1998/9; Might have done it. A new platform was needed [mobile], & now it is Android & iOS.
But that success hasn’t flowed back onto our laptops and desktop workstations. FLOSS Desktop needs a “Linus” to confab with hardware vendors and Window manager developers. Didn’t Ubuntu 19.10 desktop got faster by spending some labtime watching subrt return times? Lost subrt calls going on for the 22 year span.
The Level One Techs were on podcast Destination Linux #144 going on about this. Destination Linux #155 fell into this rat hole, too.
One of Linux’s biggest strengths is its diversity.
Unfortunately, its diversity is also its biggest weakness. There are too many distros, there are too many windows managers and the dependencies are also a problem.
I’ve set up Debian servers before now, only to find the software I need only works on CentOS and RedHat, or the package was tested with an earlier or later version of the OS and the dependencies no longer exist, they either have to be manually installed or backported… This can take hours or days to solve sometimes.
It really does need someone to pull it all together, but then you lose the need for distros, which will make people unhappy. But until the diversity problem is solved, Linux is never going to be a solution for the end user, it is going to remain an enthusiast solution on the desktop.
I ran Linux as my main desktop between 2002 and 2007 and still use it for a lot of things, but it isn’t easy for end users to get into, unless they have a fully managed system, set up by a knowledgeable admin.
Linux might not be on everyone’s desktop, but desktop is less important these days. Mobile computing is the main way people use computers these days and there Linux has the majority of user share via Android, and the rest is iOS which is also Unix based, so we are good.
It is not so much it needs another Linus, but a Steve Jobs. What desktop Linux does not have is someone that convince people that they need this, and it is better and more sexy then anything else.
It is difficult to get a hardware manufacturer to make a Linux desktop, since they are not getting any kickbacks from pre-installed bloatware. I was expecting and hoping that Ubuntu could make it, since they have the channel for paid support and a way to offer remote support and maintenance.
Dell is sticking their toes in the Linux desktop/laptop waters again, but not in a big way. Until a mainstream manufacturer makes a media blitz and pushes it I don’t expect it to grow.
