2023: Year of the Linux Desktop (Redux)

WetGeek Are you kidding?

No. I am not kidding when I say that switching over to Linux involves "relatively difficult installation".

Keep this in mind: The typical Windows 10 user switching to Linux desktop has never installed an operating system. Windows came with the computer, and the most any of them have done is to reset Windows. Almost none have installed Windows from scratch or needed to do so.

If you are capable of doing so, put your long and extensive experience with installing Linux distros into a mental lockbox, and think through the process of installing Solus with fresh eyes, from the perspective of someone who has never installed an operating system.

Start with deciding which ISO (Budgie, Gnome, MATE, Plasma) to download, then move on to downloading the ISO and checking SHA256SUMS without instructions about why you should do it or how to do it, then move on to preparing your disk (enable UEFI, disable Secure Boot, disable Fast Start, make sure that your disk is GPT formatted, cut over to AHCI if necessary, and so on), and then move on to installation instructions, decide which instructions to follow (USB or CD, ISO-based or DD-based installation, and so on), find a USB/CD and prepare it, and then boot from the USB without knowing how to do that or how to change the BIOS Menu to enable USB boot if not enabled, and then, finally, move on to the installation process itself, making choices about whether to install standalone or install alongside Windows 10, whether or not to use LVM, and so on.

For you and me, each of us with scores of Linux installations under our belt, none of this seems at all difficult, but I don't think that is true for an "ordinary home desktop user" of Windows without our knowledge or experience. I think for most all of them, the installation process is "relatively difficult".

WetGeek Google has managed to do it with Chromebooks.

Chrome OS is what Linux desktop for "ordinary home desktop users" should aspire to become. I don't own a Chromebook, but I looked at the school-supplied Chromebooks used by my grandchildren over the holidays. Everything is graphical, everything is crisp and well-designed, everything is simple and intuitive, nothing breaks, updates are automatic and invisible, and you don't have to understand a single thing about the plumbing underneath it all to use it productively.

brent You used all apps from the cloud and saved your life to the cloud. Conceptually I was revolted. This isn't computing.

It isn't traditional computing, in the sense that operating systems like Windows, macOS and Linux are designed around locally installed applications and locally stored data. Chrome OS is somewhat akin to what we used to call "thin client" computing, in the sense that a Chromebook is designed around remote (these days, cloud-based) installed applications and remotely stored data. To my mind, the two models reflect a differing philosophy on how to access applications, services and data.

Both computing models are probably adequate to meet most needs of an "ordinary home desktop user", in the sense that both models work well for web browsing, web-based shopping, banking and so on, social media, e-mail, messaging, streaming media, word processing/spreadsheets, video chat and remote collaboration, and basic photo and video editing.

I don't own or use a Chromebook, so my experience is limited, but I have a friend at the railroad who uses a modern Chromebook instead of a traditional laptop, and he gets along just fine with the "thin client" model. My husband uses something of a hybrid model using Windows 10, doing most of his work and storing his data online, and that seems to work well for him. My guess is that the "thin client" model would work for a high percentage of "ordinary home desktop users", and the fact that almost all kids are using school-supplied Chromebooks these days suggests to me that the consumer computing market is headed in the "thin client" direction.

But to each his own. I prefer the traditional computing model, and I would never, under any circumstances, lock myself into the Google ecosystem.

What impresses me about Chrome OS is that the UI layer is well-designed and intuitive, the kernel and OS layers are stable and trouble-free, updates are automatic and invisible, and users don't need to know anything about the plumbing to be productive or use ChromeOS long-term. Android, iOS, macOS and Windows 11 meet that "easy to use, hassle-free" standard as well. although imperfectly. I would like to see Linux desktop rise to that level, because that is what most consumers want and need.

[deleted] Sounds like something closer to mobile phones.

Yup, that's a good model to use for comparison, as well. My grandkids use their phones for just about everything except schoolwork and games. I suspect that's true of a lot of people. The way in which people use technology is changing fast.

WetGeek And the kiss of death ... it wouldn't connect to our wi-fi, so Amazon got it back.

I'm surprised. Because Chrome OS depends on connectivity, Google goes to great lengths to make sure that Chromebooks can connect to just about any router and wifi standards current when the Chromebook was built. I wonder if your Chromebook had a hardware issue.