Spyke
feddit.org

7.14% unknown!

The year of Plan 9 on the desktop!

138
timkenhanreply
sopuli.xyz

Serious question: you'd use that for your daily driver?

18
antrosapienreply
lemmy.ml

What desktop environment is that? Or is it built in by default or doesn't work quite similar to linux?

5
nossaquesapaoreply
lemmy.eco.br

Out of curiosity, do you use it for fun, or does it provide you with some specific features?

4
nossaquesapaoreply
lemmy.eco.br

You explained it so well, that you actually got me interested in trying it some day.

5
rhabarbareply
feddit.org

I wish someone would port Python and BorgBackup to it. Venti/Fossil are not quite as nice for multi-OS backups.

2

ah. I've been doing linux things, but maybe i'll try out gridchat next time i'm on 9front

3

Surprisingly many people don't need the "modern" "web" for daily driving.

11
Laserreply

One of the few times I think where this is not only correct, but also most accurate

6
Eugeniareply
lemmy.ml

The "unknown" is Windows. If you change the graph to see the whole range from 2008 to date, you will see that whenever there's a big spike or dip on Unknown, it's the exact opposite for Windows.

2
lemm.ee

Sorry but Linux is becoming too mainstream for me now. Time to hop on to BSD

112

Oh no, I feel it already the "I was on Linux before it was cool"

42
carlosfmreply

Dragonfly BSD, or else it will still be mainstream :)

7

Check out mister Mainstream over here. The rest of us snooty OS connoisseurs use Collapse OS.

6

Windows 11 is a strong motivator. I suspect like many other people, the only reason I was keeping Windows around was gaming. But thanks to Proton and the Steam Deck, the number of games in my library that won’t run on Linux is vanishingly small. I deleted my Windows partition a few months ago and haven’t looked back.

Install Linux or buy a Mac, fuck Windows.

84
fxdavereply
lemmy.ml

Don't buy a Mac. That's more limiting than a Windows. But yeah install linux.

33
boonhetreply
lemm.ee

More limited, but also less enshittified than Windows.

If you want a good, well-polished experience for certain creative workloads, or even programming, MacOS is great and their Apple Silicon CPUs are excellent.

If you want to do ANY gaming besides WoW (which surprisingly enough has always had great MacOS support) or you can't stand the lack of configurability, Linux is immediately the superior choice by far.

45
Aceticonreply
lemmy.world

The whole business model of Apple is to force a hardware upgrade cycle on you and force all your devices to be in that same ecosystem.

I mean, I can see the advantages of it on the short term, but on the longer term having stuff that keeps on working even as always even in older hardware (or you just install new hardware under it and it just recognizes it and keeps on working) is a massive benefit versus a $1500+ bill every two five years and having to migrate your stuff.

9
Rexiosreply

It’s more like 6-7 years and the migration tool basically clones your drive in 15 minutes

1
Zettareply
mander.xyz

I would like to add that if you want to do any real customization of your setup don't get mac either.

9
pete_the_catreply
lemmy.world

Even though I do hate Apple as a company, they do make great products, they just charge out the ass for them

7
ttrpg.network

Nah, even their hardware consists out of laptops with screen protection falling off, phones bending themselves into breakage and cables with the sensitive connectors on the outside so they'll break often.
Their OS is surprisingly buggy, too.

They're actually just shit all around, in my experience.

3

I dislike Apple as a company but I love Apple hardware. Old Macs are my favourite thing to run Linux on.

1
sunbeam60reply
lemmy.one

Mac?! Darwin no, that’s doing the opposite of liberating yourself and it has less gaming than Linux I’d say.

16

It does. Gaming on mac is a pain. Gaming on linux is a much better experience, and has much better support at this point. Apple really alienates developers.

6

I didn’t mean for gaming specifically, probably should have used a transition statement. For creative and professional use cases, macOS is still far far better than Windows. For gaming yeah that’s not your platform, Linux is.

2
ttrpg.network
  • ā€œI can't choose when to update, anymoreā€
  • ā€œI can't uninstall all sorts of things, anymoreā€
  • ā€œI can't even use my perfectly fine laptop of 6 years old, anymoreā€

It's all about liberation, I'd say.

4
lemmy.dbzer0.com

ā€œI can’t choose when to update, anymoreā€

That changed with windows 8 12 years ago.

ā€œI can’t uninstall all sorts of things, anymoreā€

Unless you installed the embedded versions of windows you've never been able to do that, best you could do was turn like 5 things off in the features screen.

ā€œI can’t even use my perfectly fine laptop of 6 years old, anymoreā€

I wouldn't call your computer not getting updates so you install a different OS "liberating" it.

Also your computer not getting updates doesn't magically turn it into a brick, you can still use it just fine. This is something I've never understood. As long as your web browser still gets updates that's the biggest security vulnerability that I'd be afraid of. Chrome supported Windows 7 until 109 in 2023, and Firefox ESR is still going until September this year. 10th gen and older intel machines don't get graphics updates anymore, are those machines ewaste? Shit some shitty laptops never get bios updates and there's a whole host of vulnerabilities there.

0

And not to mention specific equipment such as train management that uses Windows XP, Windows 98 or 95. Just one example.

1
pipsqueak1984reply
lemmy.ca

Gaming works pretty damn well as far as I'm concerned, the few that I can't get to work are irrelevant.

I'm keeping Windows around for work... fuck Autodesk and fuck Dassault. So I am trying to get a VM with GPU pass through to work (had it working once but then I screwed it up and now I can't seem to get it working again).

14

Having done the transition some months ago, there is still some stupid shit one has to deal with (especially, but not only, for games NOT from Steam) at times, more than in Windows, but it's all so much better than it was before and by now quite close to the Gaming experience in Windows.

Then on top of that there are all the the longer term peace of mind things versus Windows: upgrading your Linux costs zero, changing your hardware won't invalidate your Linux "OEM License" (plus it will probably just boot up as normal with if you just move your SSD to a whole new machine rather than throw you into driver nightmare), games that work in today's Linux will keep on working in tomorrow's and so on - this is actually massive advantage of Linux versus Windows which is seldom talked about: more often than not, hardware migration with Linux is to just move your SSD to a whole new machine, with all the stuff just the way you like it and all you files, and it just boots with and keeps on working.

(PS: Especially relevant for gamers who have to upgrade due to the increasing demands on hardware from the gaming side of things even though the hardware is fine for everything else they do in that machine, and who would rather that all those other things they've installed and kept on using rather than uninstall after "finishing the game", just carry on configured just the way they like it and working just the way they've always did, even when they do upgrade the hardware because of games. People who are fine with hardware dedicated to gaming and with replacing the whole thing - hardware and software - for newer games, just get XBoxes or similar consoles, not PCs)

Linux not only saves you from enshittification, keeps control in your hands and preserves your privacy, it's also a reliable and functional long term OS layer for your hardware that doesn't force hardware upgrades on you.

13
OR3Xreply

I dicked around with the VM route for a while and could never really get it working 100% to my liking. There was always a trade-off. I ended up just getting a second PC and tucking it in a cabinet out of sight. When I need Windows I just use remote desktop to connect to it.

2
netvorreply
lemmy.world

the number of games in my library that won’t run on Linux is vanishingly small

at this point, it's pretty much only about Roblox.

...which I don't want to play, I'm not happy about my nephews playing, but that seems like the only big one which really continues to struggle on Windows.

edit: that's from my limited POV, as someone who loves gaming but i don't follow or try out big new titles, I'm pretty much happy with my 30 favs, trying out like 5 new games a year, usually older or indie titles.

6
Omgpwniesreply
lemmy.world

Roblox is about the only reason why I can't switch my kid's computer to Linux, they play almost exclusively that and Minecraft. Once win10 goes EOL, I'll probably start budgeting to replace my laptop with a new PC and give them the laptop. The old PC will then get Linux and handle 3d printer stuffs

3

I might be out of date but for a long time my 2 nephews (10 and 13, cousins to each other) have been playing Blox Fruits, which I understand is pretty much a standard "grind" MMORPG. (Which I don't necessarily find that bad; having to put a lot of work in a character and seeing it grow slowly and steadily can be a lesson.) I like how they are having fun trying to coordinate and take out a boss together (sometimes dying all the time), but I suppose other games can give that, perhaps even better-looking ones and certainly ones made by less shady companies. (Oh, and actually working on Linux/steam deck)

So I was wondering if there are other games that I could introduce them to, if only to remind them that world outside Roblox exists. I never played any MMORPG's (or pretty much anything multi-player, except Minecraft/Terraria/etc. with the kids) so I'm out of the picture. I've only tried few in my life and never stuck for long.

Albion Online seemed child-like enough, albeit a little boring for my taste. One I really enjoyed recently is Path of Exile (and I it looks more than good enough to be hard to resist for a kid), but who knows -- is that safe for 10 to 13 year olds...?

3

at this point, it's pretty much only about Roblox.

It's Honkai: Star Rail for me.

Petty as it may seem, I'll begrudgingly dual boot Win10 until H:SR is playable on Linux.

1
NutWrenchreply
lemmy.world

Same here. If I could get Vortex Mod Manager to work under Wine/Proton, I wouldn't use Windows at all.

3

Nexus Mods is working on an AppImage version of their mod manager that works perfectly in my testing.

Currently it only supports Stardew Valley and Cyberpunk i think.

I'm excited for it to have parity with Windows Vortex.

5
Lukereply

Give it a shot again, something changed recently in Proton (I assume) that made Vortex "just work" for me on my Steam Deck. I didn't even need to do any fiddling, I just ran the installer exe from desktop mode using Lutris and whatever Proton was latest, and it installed perfectly. Vortex now runs entirely as expected, even from game mode.

3
solbergreply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

What games are you using it for? I’ve used Mod Organizer 2 for Skyrim SE and it’s worked great on the deck

2
pete_the_catreply
lemmy.world

Really? The last few times I've tried (granted it was a year or more ago) I got like 15 FPS on a heavy modlist running on my desktop, which had a GTX 2080 and was running Arch, btw. Trying to get MO2 to launch the Linux version of Skyrim running via Steam/Proton and not the Windows version of Steam running through WINE was a fun mess to deal with. Once all that was handled, then half of the modding programs (xEdit, Nemesis, BodySlide, etc...) didn't work with MO2s virtual FS. It was just way too many layers of abstraction to deal with 🤯

3
solbergreply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

Yes, really haha. I don’t think I would consider the mod list I used heavy, at least not graphically. I didn’t use any of those programs you mentioned.

Trying to get MO2 to launch the Linux version of Skyrim running via Steam/Proton and not the Windows version of Steam running through WINE was a fun mess to deal with

I recall using some sort of script that installed MO2 and handled all of this (at least for the Steam Deck).

Either way, I hope their new cross-platform launcher works out well.

2

Nice, thanks I'll give it a try again because Windows 10 is really pissing me off regarding how practically anything that you used to be able to easily disable now requires one or multiple registry hacks that may or may not work anymore.

I totally understand you not giving all that a try because while it is a handheld Linux PC, it's probably more of a pain in the ass to use on that screen and with the standard input (obviously docking it would solve these issues) than it's worth. I just keep Windows on my Desktop to play a few games, my home server is my workhorse and I have a Linux laptop that work gave me (literally, they laid me off and never asked for it back).

2

I checked out Mod Organizer 2 recently, but it didn't support Subnautica the last time I tried it. I only use mods for a few games, line Stardew Valley and the Fallout games.

2

Vortex should be easy to get working, it probably just needs the Dot Net and Visual C libraries installed, which I think you can get via Wine Tricks.

2

Literally the only reason I keep Windows around is because modding Skyrim (using MO2, not Vortex) is a nightmare. I use Wabbajack as well, so the idea of installing 500+ mods manually in Vortex doesn't sound ideal, also since Vortex's conflict management is an absolute nightmare compared to MO2's.

2
solirs
jlai.lu

FREEBSD >0.009% RAAAAAH šŸ‘¹šŸ‘¹šŸ‘¹šŸ’ŖšŸ’ŖšŸ’ŖšŸ’ŖšŸ’ŖšŸ¦¾šŸ”„šŸ”„šŸ”„

63

BSD is dying

It is sad but we build up Linux so we have a libre privacy and freedom alternative

2
Nikki
lemmy.world

im doing my part šŸ’Ŗ

switched to arch a week or so ago, absolutely loving it

59
pete_the_catreply
lemmy.world

The only real reason to switch to another distro nowadays is because you want to get updates faster (rolling release [like Arch] vs steady releases) and/or you want the ability to customize the OS more easily. Also, if you wanna be that person that wants to remove SystemD from Linux or have a version controlled OS.

6

Or if you're sold on the hype of atomic distros (such as Fedora Kionite)

Or if you're sold on reproducable OS configuration (Nix)

Or if you simply like the defaults of another distro better and don't want to have to deviate from standards.

Or...

Nah, there's still a lot of variety to Linux systems.

4

I can't think of time where I needed anything more than Mint for a desktop. It's been on at least one device in my house since 2010.

6
Beaver
lemmy.ca

Time to speak to our representatives to switch to Linux Systems as Switzerland did for cyber security and for fiscal responsibility.

We must not fall behind that smart country once again.

50
imsodinreply
infosec.pub

What?! All that noise about Switzerland mandating usage of open sourced software in gov (there was a great step, but it's far from mandating anything) was already weird, now we are switching to linux? And caring about security and fiscal responsibility? There has to be another country called Switzerland than the one I live in.

12
boonhetreply

You're right, I believe the only thing Switzerland mandated (or wants to mandate?) is for projects built FOR the government to be open sourced - and even then, there are exemptions.

Of course, unlike you, I don't live in Switzerland, so I'm probably not as informed.

10
The Menemen!reply
lemmy.world

It is kinda crazy. Been using Linux since 2005 or 2006 on my desktop/notebook. I cannot believe we are almost mainstream now.

15

Now that we do so many things through a browser and WebKit/Blink (which run everywhere) have become the de facto standard browser engines, the OS no longer matters as much as it used to.

4

If you pray hard enough, the Lord will make the websites appear on your screen!

22
ttrpg.network

If only MS Office worked well on Linux, due to her muscle memory, my wife would've switched to Fedora for her laptop. Aside from light gaming (Sims 4, mostly), she's not a tech-person at all, so that's saying something in my book!

2

I'm so happy.

But also liked when linux felt like a secret.

Microsoft finally did something right: they made their shitty product shitty enough for people to realize it.

33
andrewth09reply
lemmy.world

But also liked when linux felt like a secret.

Don't worry. You can still tap into that sweet sweet Linux elitism by running an Arch based system or a tiling window manager.

33
Zettareply
mander.xyz

Instead of having your windows float around, they perfectly snap and fill the space of the monitor depending on how many windows you have open. A new DE in alpha right now called Cosmic has both floating windows and tiling, you can change with just a toggle.

Cosmic is great so far, I run it on Fedora.

8

The big common ones are i3, Hyprland, or Awesome. However, there are tons out there and there is no right answers.

4
elucubrareply
sopuli.xyz

I want my windows anywhere I want them, and in Cinnamon I can snap windows to corners, o top, or bottom... Being forced to work tiled is backwards.

If as someone mentioned in Cosmic you can toggle it off and on ( and the toggle is esasily accesible, not buried in settings) I'm fine with that

1

"Being forced to work tiled" that's the main feature of a tiling wm though...

If you tried it for a while, you'd realize just how annoying floating windows really are. All that manual positioning, focus issues, getting them stuck or hidden behind other windows, etc. For big monitors, I would say tiling is just flat superior to floating windows managers.

3

I'm sorry, can you clarify what you wrote? I read it but then got distracted by my cursor moving on its own while I was reading an article about xzutils. Perhaps I should read it again since it made no sense the first time.

2

I think Gentoo with no binaries should be the new archlinux. I've literally used archlinux virtually unchanged outside of updates for years now. It's been trouble free outside of some minor bugs and I change my settings in the kde settings panel 90% of the time.

1
lemmy.world

soon we will reach the magic number companies need to finally consider supporting Linux for once

30
lemmy.world

At this rate the Year Of Linux On The Desktop will be 2033!!!

29
Aermisreply
lemmy.world

Call me naive, I know I am. But how can Linux be a moderated product to sell for desktop? I know phones run Linux, and many other products like streaming pucks run Linux (or is called unix?), but what would it take for an operating linux system to be centralized into a package to toss into a lenova laptop you're staring at in best buy?

1
rudyharrelsonreply
lemmy.radio

how can Linux be a moderated product to sell for desktop

It kinda depends on each individuals' use case; there's lots of different Linux distributions that are better (or worse) for specific workloads.

Any given laptop I'm staring at in a store will probably work perfectly fine as a general-use machine with Linux Mint installed. This is my go-to distro when repurposing a machine because it works great out of the box. If I were running a computer store and wanted to sell consumer laptops with Linux on them, I'd default to Mint.

If someone is looking to turn their PC into something more specialized for gaming, they can look at something like Bazzite or Batocera. These will generally require some tinkering.

If an individual or company is looking to build an office with many workstations and user accounts, they might consider Red Hat Enterprise Linux so they can benefit from official support channels if something needs troubleshooting. Many computer labs at NCSU used RHEL when I attended many years ago.

Want a stable server environment? Debian is a standard pick.

Want a barebones system with no bells and whistles (but great battery life)? Alpine oughta work.

So Linux has many options for end users to pick from, which can be seen as a good thing (more options is generally good), but also a bad thing (many end users might consider the plethora of options to be overwhelming if they've never used Linux before).

Linux (or is called unix?)

Linux (Or GNU/Linux) operating systems are a modern implementation of an old research OS that was called "Unix". Spiritual successors to Unix like Linux and BSD try to bring a lot of the design philosophies of Unix into modern OSes (I believe this is generally called the "POSIX" standard. e.g.: macOS is a POSIX compliant OS, iirc).

If I've gotten any of this information incorrect, please don't tell Richard Stallman.

9

This is the greatness of Linux. Instead of having to change your workflow to be compatible with your OS, you can change your OS to be compatible with your workflow.

5
Aermisreply
lemmy.world

So if you did open a computer shop and are selling this plethora of Linux options, doesn't that leave you liable if there are issues with the operating system?

If I buy a laptop and my windows is running poorly don't I have windows support taking care of my windows problems?

If I buy a laptop from you with mint installed and am having problems I can't contact Linux for support, I'll have to contact you the shop owner.

Won't this liability discourage shop owners from selling laptops/desktops with Linux?

1

I'm no legal expert; I assume support can be either offered or completely avoided depending on the shop owner's preference. Most Linux distributions come with a "this software is free (as in freedom) and comes with no warranty or guaranteed functionality" disclaimer.

If I wanted to engage more with my clients and build more trust, I might offer some degree of troubleshooting/support for the Linux machines I sold. But I don't think I'd be under any legal obligation to offer that service just for selling the laptops.

Whether or not the computer shop offers support might affect whether or not a customer wants to shop at my store. Maybe I can sell my laptops cheaper if I don't offer support, or maybe my laptops cost a bit more because I do offer aftermarket support.

2
pete_the_catreply
lemmy.world

It's a tough sell because there is no monetary incentive to get Linux on laptops and desktops. Dell has a few computers that ship with Ubuntu, and Lenovo with Fedora, and there's System76. The problem is that the big manufacturers (namely Dell) get push-back from Microsoft if they start to sell other OSes with their products, so they no longer have 100% domination. Microsoft will say "Oh you're selling a few products that come with Linux? Well, we won't offer you the ability to sell Windows anymore..." which would obviously be a huge impact to their business. They have gotten around this, but their offerings are still really slim. The market just isn't there compared to Windows based computers. Shelf space is expensive so they go with what sells: Windows based products.

4
Aermisreply
lemmy.world

Is it because Microsoft is the big dog with money and Linux is no dog because there is no company backing Linux? Windows sells solely because Windows can push the product?

Would it be benificial (albeit this will be extremely frowned upon by this community I believe) for a Linux distro to be backed and monetized via a corporation with a legal team to help push a Linux product on the shelves? In the short run it's a bad idea, but in the long run it'll familiarize the public, and push software developers for compatability. The incentive being that there's money now involved and it won't be a project for people.

Because right now to use Linux for the majority of user case operations you'd need at least computer science 101 to start installing a distro, partitions, manual software installation, to get running. Or am I wrong on this part?

1

There are a couple of OEMs like System76 and Starlabs that sell laptops with Linux on them, provide tech support for customers and so on.

And no, installing most distros aren't hard. You just click the buttons to proceed and fill out the username and password box, select your time zone and select your wi-fi network if you're using wifi.

You can do manual partitioning but why would you if you don't know what you're doing?

Installing software in the GUI is as easy as installing software from the Microsoft Store. Just search or look around and when you see something you want, just click the Install button.

2
Celnertreply
discuss.tchncs.de

Some laptop manufacturers (and at least one of the larger ones) already offer Linux (Ubuntu) as a pre-installed OS. I suspect this will become more common if/when Linux becomes more popular as a mainstream desktop OS. Most likely it will still be 1 or 2 pre-selected distros though even then.

4
Aermisreply
lemmy.world

That's really cool I didn't know that was an option already. How does Ubuntu and windows compare for operating system support if I have a problem with the laptop? Is the manufacturer liable for the smooth running of the operating system? Or is the owner of the operating system liable?

1

It's a good question but I honestly have no idea how that works even today with windows actually because I have not owned a laptop in 15 years. In my mind, the laptop manufacturer has to guarantee compatibility with any OS it provides but even then, some support from the OS side may be needed. The best way to handle that would be if the manufacturer started contributing to the Linux kernel and provide full driver support because then everybody wins in the long run.

1

One way to do it is for each company to develop their own flavor to ship with their laptop, in much the same way phone manufacturers just modify Android and ship it.

As an example, check out System76 and their laptops featuring their Pop!_OS distro, which is very user friendly and stable in my experience.

3
lemmy.ml

The crowdstrike failure is probably helping Linux.

26
pete_the_catreply
lemmy.world

This is what I was thinking when it happened. Businesses lose a shit ton of productivity and money due to Microsoft and Windows being a clusterfuck in multiple ways and they decide it's time to switch to something more stable.

13
Doodsreply
infosec.pub

Actually, crowdstrike has a very bad record regarding this, their services even managed to break Debian servers one time.

Source: some article.

6
lemmy.zip

In fact, that failure occurred this year. Now all that's left is for macOS to have a failure with that company and the collection is complete.

1
fluxreply
lemmy.ml

I highly doubt businesses would have been this fast in making the switch.

4
istanbullureply
lemmy.ml

It helps to move quickly when your entire infrastructure crashes.

1

One crash will absolutely not make this big of an uptick. The amount of highly specialized software and hardware that is OS dependant means switching will only be possible when those companies, hell really entire industries, decide to move over to a more open standard soft/hardware setup. In this case, a crash is a big deal, but the IT teams get on it and fix it in a day or two.

Also, certain Linux machines were affected by the cloudstrike outage. Even less reason to switch when the alternative was effected as well.

1

So like 6% if you class ChromeOS as Linux (which it essentially is, just with a proprietary DE)

Then 7% unknown, you'd imagine a disproportionate amount of those would be Linux users, who are more likely to have unusual useragents or things that mess with telemetry. But who knows.

24
sopuli.xyz

That FreeBSD club looks pretty good. There's a niche for every niche.

22
TheGrandNagusreply
lemmy.world

Yes, although it's not evenly distributed. Much of this rise is due to India doing some heavy lifting - they're on like 16%, and they're not exactly a small population.

Most places are in the 1.5-3.5% range.

11
TheGrandNagusreply
lemmy.world

Indeed it is. But this is also calculated based on monthly page views, so it only really covers devices that are used in that month.

There's a non-trivial amount of Windows users that have a dusty laptop that they only pull out when they need to write a document or fill in a form that they got emailed, and will otherwise do all their computing on their phone.

My guess would be that Mac and Linux have fewer of these types of users? But who knows. I have a couple of Linux devices that I almost never use šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

4

You should go to your local university or knowledge center. The percentage is like 10%-20%

2

There's some kind of network effect associated to it, so the greater the numbers, the more likely to grow even more, and faster. For example, when linux was used only by a very few people in IT, most people were unlikely to even give it a try, but now that every class or working group are likely to have one or two linux users, more people will be likely to try it, and so on.

4
Magnolia_reply
lemmy.ca

Yes, things move very fast if you haven't noticed sugar pie

0
Aniki
feddit.org

I understand you're excited, but aren't you overdoing it a bit?

18
pyrereply

on Reddit I think it makes sense but on Lemmy it's usually obnoxious in my experience, because it's not so populated and busy, the default browsing experience already gives you posts from all over... so unless you strictly browse followed communities (which i don't know if most people even do this) you end up seeing the same thing over and over.

2
Mio
feddit.nu

I have been dual booting for some time now. Come back to windows 10 for gaming. But then I suddenly realize that the blizzard games that I play can run on Linux, and even from the same folder with the NTFS partition. I was stunned. No notable performance difference either.

I recently shows my mum that have an old Core 2 Duo that it can run Linux Mint. She said it works, and the computer shutdowns directly when I tell it to do. No more updating windows to wait for before unplugging the power cable. Still have to dual boot Windows 10 for Microsoft Office Word document compatibility and Google Picasa.

She also just have bought a new computer with Windows 11, could barely make it through the installation. So many questions and configuration needed to get rid of ads and popups in Edge. Need to evaluation Mint more before I try to dual boot it on this machine as well.

17
Mioreply
feddit.nu

There is a learning curve for old people. It takes time. So dual boot is a must until then.

10
NutWrenchreply
lemmy.world

This. It feels to me like driving a stick shift when you've been using an automatic transmission for years. You have to do a little more fiddling but I honestly don't mind learning a new OS that isn't actively working against me.

With Windows . . . on the other hand . . . every time I've had to go "under the hood" (tweak Registry settings, Config files, etc) it's been to prevent Microsoft from doing something crappy to me.

1
Mioreply

Yes, with Windows it is a fight about disabling all the new stuff they come up with. Here, you must use OneDrive if you save a file. Here, lots of ads in the start menu, nothing is installed. Or here, please try copilot+ or bing. Do you want to set bing as your startup page? If you say no, we will ask you again... A new windows update? Lets ask everything again.

1
lemm.ee

It also doesn't help that my dad still isn't filly convinced Linux isn't a virus/dangerous to my PC.

1
Mioreply
feddit.nu

He is just afraid of learning new things. Best way here is to show him how it works. Learning.

1

Oh I've been trying. He's tech adverse in general, so the concept of open source software scares him because it means trusting others with regards to tech.

2
elucubrareply
sopuli.xyz

Picasa? That's been google-bandoned for a while now. What does she use it for? Plenty of photo management tools in Linux. Darktable, Digikam...

If the office alternatives in linux don't cut it, and she uses Office 365, you can run it in Linux as a PWA

10
Mioreply

Picasa because it had worked fine. And the replacement, Google photos, is not an option with storing everything in the cloud. Both Darktable and Digikam looks too advance. I think Gwenview will be a good fit. Will try later when she has the time to test. Just viewing the images in the folder, that is all that is needed.

It would be a good idea with the Office 365 but we don't want things in the Cloud. If the PWA could run offline it would be a different story.

1

You might want to check out Libre Office. It's document compatible with MS-Office and I think it comes pre-installed on Linux Mint.

3
Treachery4524reply
lemmy.ml

If you want you can try OnlyOffice, it works really well as a replacement for Office. That is if you only use Word, Excel and Powerpoint. I even convinced some Windows people to use it as its free, open source, cross platform and perhaps even easier to use at this point.

For Picasa maybe digikam? It maybe isn't a perfect replacement though. You could always try to run Picasa in a VM (or maybe even wine?)

0
Mioreply

Microsoft does not follow its own standard for doc and docx. Any other software tries to follow the standard, thus you can get different view of the document depending on what editor you use.

Picasa I think is easier to replace. Just need to relearn. Leaning towards Gwenview. VM is not an option, too complicated and slow for her. Picasa has been depricated for a long time now so it is time to move on.

3
The Menemen!reply
lemmy.world

It is not a steam user percentage, but according to the site by user data from web pages, it explicitly mentions search engines and social media. I doubt that the steam deck is extremely significant here.

20
theangrysealreply
lemmy.world

I’ve been docking mine and using it as my primary pc. The only issue I’ve had is that I was able to play CSGO perfectly, and CS2 don’t do so good.

5
Blisterexereply
lemmy.zip

i hear its great for that, but you are the exception.

2
theangrysealreply
lemmy.world

Oh yeah, people who need more power definitely want something else. It’s all I need really. I’m about to inherit my daughter’s old gaming laptop though so I’m not sure what I’ll do then. Definitely Linux with a small partition for windows to play some VR games. I’d say I’ll still use the Steam deck for most things though because it’s so portable.

1

Well, I guess I won’t need one then. Hardware is a bit older but if I can get the same performance I’ll avoid the windows partition.

1

Yeah, these results are skewed because it's only desktop Linux, so mobile devices (which I believe the Steam Deck and other portable PCs/gaming devices fall under) aren't counted, and those primarily run Linux. It seems that the foothold of Linux never was, and probably never will be, the desktop PC.

2
yuri
pawb.social

In my head it’s like half a percent, 4.45% seems huge.

12
Blisterexereply
lemmy.zip

about 1/20 computers that browse the web run linux, thats pretty goofy

16
yurireply

Goofy like silly, not like unacceptable. Reckon all three of us are happy it’s as high as it is!

10
lemmy.world

How far down are PC sales in general though?

Is it that more people are buying Linux, or fewer Windows customers are buying new computers at all?

A few years ago, you'd have households with a laptop for every member of the family. Now with tablets and phones doing so much of the heavy lifting, many families are dropping to just 1 Windows or Mac laptop that mostly gathers dust.

11
Tryptaminevreply
lemm.ee

My experience is more people having those devices on top of having laptops. I don't know a single person in Uni that does not have a laptop at all. At last when it comes to writing reports or thesis you just need a proper keyboard device.

Meanwhile gaming and also PC gaming has become much bigger over the years, which keeps driving computer sales.

4
chiliedoggreply
lemmy.world

Believe it or not - but most people actually aren't college students. Crazy, right?

Anybody in this forum isn't a typical tech user.

I carry 3 laptops in my backpack (one for 8-5 job, one personal, and one for teaching night classes at the University) along with a foldable phone, a work phone, and e-ink notepad.

Between my 3 laptops, Rog Ally, 2 desktops, and some old laptops I keep around for media devices and network interfaces around the property, I've got like 10 Windows machines in my life.

But I also know I'm an outlier.

6
elucubrareply
sopuli.xyz

If you carry three laptops around you are definitely doing things wrong. There is no real world scenario where doing what you say you do needs 3 physical computers, and if you have a 9-5 AND teach night classes , you don't have extra minutes to use your "personal" laptop that day, which leads me to call bull on the carry 3 laptops thing

1

The course I teach involves photo and video editing, which I do on my personal laptop for 2 reasons:

  1. Because I own the photos and videos I capture, the raws stay on my device.
  2. My personal laptop has a lot more horsepower
2

I can see it. My corporate work laptop is locked down with their security and monitoring software, so I'm not using it for personal things, even if it is allowed for some limited things. And there's company resources that I can only access through the machines under their control, so I couldn't ditch it either. And using that laptop for a second job would be a big no-no.

I can see the school laptop being similar, though my experience is that they tend to not be locked down quite as hard as the corporate machine, unless you do boneheaded things with it and piss off the school's IT department.

So I can see the need for a personal computer, plus it's always nice to keep that well separated to avoid things like incidents hooked up to a projector and screen sharing.

1
yurireply
pawb.social

ooh! what’s the e-ink notepad, and what’s your usecase like?

it seems so appealing to just have a functionally infinite notebook on hand, but i’ve yet to find one that could ACTUALLY replace a regular physical notebook for me.

1
chiliedoggreply
lemmy.world

Boox Tab Ultra C.

It's a 10" color e-ink tablet that runs Android.

Don't get the keyboard case for it - it sucks hard. It's so thick it turns it into another laptop, it types terribly, and when folded backwards so you can write it still tries taking over from the pen.

Other than that I love it.

3
yurireply

argh that’s literally the ONE that was tempting me, now I guess I GOTTA buy one! this sucks!

(thank you so much i’ve wanted to buy this since it came out)

2

@chiliedogg @Magnolia_

or people are like me, not gamers, so perfectly contented to upgrade old used PC gear....shoehorn a CPU in with higher core count, max out RAM with a new matched pair of sticks, install a fresh NVMe drive, good to go!

I recently ordered parts from China to repair my old mechanical keyboard =^_^= Also ordered fancy new mice for other PC's & wife's laptop woo just a little tech refresh goes a long way for me =^_^=

2

Both

Windows isn't only losing markershare to linux, but also to android and ios. That can be seen in the chart for all OSes, also available in that site:

https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share#monthly-201501-202407

It's also interesting to notice that linux is growing in that chart, which means that linux is really growing in popularity, and it's not just an effect of the desktop market possibly shrinking or something.

1
Psythikreply
lemmy.world

I used to think that I'd be glued to my PC forever, but ever since getting a foldable I've found that I'm no longer reliant on computers anymore for daily tasks. Plus there's no point in eating up 300w of electricity during the summer (according to my watt meter), just to watch YouTube.

These days the only time I boot my PC is to play a game, search for a job, or make a large purchase. I'm a MilleniaI, so big purchases have to be done on the big computer. The phone is more than adequate for everything else. It's not the 2010s anymore; phone screens are finally large enough now to replace a PC, and there's an Android equivalent for almost everything a computer can do.

1
CrypticCoffeereply
lemmy.ml

Programming? Nah. It's a consumption device, not a creation device.

6

Really ain't writing code in termux. I want an IDE. Why use a substandard device?

1
lemmy.world

I'm actually gearing up to convert all of my Windows machines to Linux once the updates for 10 stop coming. This will be especially easy once the new WINE gets integrated and the few windows game apps that I use can run well on Linux.

9

Better to do it at least a few months before end off life just in case you need to move back for some reason. The alternative is Windows 11 which is very similar to Windows 10

1
bsergayreply
discuss.online

Unsurprisingly, usage numbers for distros are hard to get due to lack of telemetry and what not.

However, some measurements do exist; like data from ProtonDB. These are used by Boiling Steam for their excellent reports in which some representation regarding usage across distros can be found. Their most recent report can be found here.

Note, however, that the following, as has been excellently touched upon by Boiling Steam, applies:

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

Since we hear some of the following comments EVERY SINGLE TIME, let’s address them here and now:

  • ā€œDuh, it’s not representative of Linux usage in general!ā€: And nowhere does it claim to be. As often as possible we make it clear this is Linux usage in a gaming context. The usage of Debian and Ubuntu on servers is safe for now, no need to panic.
14

Thank you. This does give an idea.

It has been my pleasure.

Follow up question : Is Arch really that good?

Depends entirely on your needs. There is a use case for Arch. However, if you're completely new to Linux, then it's very likely that a 'slower'-moving distro (like (anything based on) Debian (or Ubuntu)) might better suit you.

2
Einar
lemm.ee

How do I hide which OS I am using? What is behind the high Unknown number?

7

Use user agent switcher and set it to something random. However that makes your fingerprint unique. I've read that people set it to windows just to blend in the masses

17

i didn't need this date; i already knew this because the number of people coming up to me on the street and telling me they use Linux btw unprompted has increased noticeably.

2
lemmy.world

FFS! CHROMEOS IS F***ING LINUX, G** D***IT, WHYYY YOU DO THIS, IT'S LINUX, C***** ON A BIKE!

-3

C*****! THAT COMMON SWEAR WE HAVE AMONG US CHRISTIAN PEOPLE THAT WE CANT SAY, DUH

5