- This topic has 54 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated Mar 24-4:05 pm by Brian Masinick.
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PPC
It always bugged me why the Linux desktop has yet to be a significant player in the computer world.
We had plenty of chances to see it caught on:
-Windows vista
-Windows 8
-Windows 11 with initial ridiculous hardware requirementsAnd yet, our market share is something between 2 % to 4 % on the desktop computing (I’m not talking about the server world or mobile devices, in which Linux derived OS’s are have a major market share).
It probably due several causes, mainly- users can’t run (or run without dominating some truly Linux black magic) the software they are used to: No MS OFFICE, no Photoshop, etc (for those that use computers for work) and no games (I mean AAA games, bought and paid for in an on-line store, like Steam).
Also the fragmentation of the User Interface can be intimidating. In an fictionalized example: if newbies are searching on-line for a problem- say “How to I get my Nvidea card to work in Linux?”, they are bombarded by stuff like “If you use arch, do this, if you use debian, do that, if you use red hat, do that, if you use void, do that…” And they think, WTH? I’m just running something called something like Ubuntu, my friend installed in my crappy old laptop! And then they search “How do I get my Nvidea card to work in Ubuntu?”
The search results may be more usable “Just click here, there, and there, enter your password, wait, reboot”.
But then they notice “I don’t see any of those buttons… Yeah, that’s it, my friend said my computer was too slow for Ubuntu and installed a lighter version of Ubuntu something starting with… an L? Lubuntu maybe?” And then proceed to search “How do I get my Nvidea card to work in Lubuntu?”. WTH? I have to type stuff in the command line? That stuff is for hackers in the movies and tv series, I can’t do that… what if I type something wrong and cause the 3rd World War, like in War games? I’ll call my friend and ask him to install Windows 7 back!”One of the biggest tech channels in youtube showed what some people that try a Linux Distro encounter, over at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0506yDSgU7M
Linus tried, to install Linux on a computer and then play a Steam game on it.
He makes a nice review of how confusing info people find on-line can be. He, himself is confused about some terms.
After some googling, he settles for trying Pop!Os. Installs said Distro, with a few hickups, then tries to install Steam. A terminal window pops up during the process. Of course he types “yes”. And the computer dies on him. What happened? Installing Steam caused Pop!OS user interface to be uninstalled. Some truly strange stuff to happen to a Distro that’s based in one of the most used distros in the world (Ubuntu, that’s in turn based in Debian), that was created by a tech company that ships that OS in their own hardware. They have MONEY TO PAY THEIR DEVS and that happened!
The bug got corrected the very next day… But picture how many people bought a computer from system76, tried to install Steam to play some games and the brand new device gets bricked!I installed, many moons ago, Steam (just for testing, I don’t own any game there) in antiX- it was as simple as it gets- click the shopping bag icon on the bar thingie, entered my password, typed “Steam” on the search box thingie pressed a button, a strange window opened and did it’s magic. A couple of minutes later a window told me Steam was now installed! Got to my menu > Games and sure as death and taxes there it was. I clicked, it launched… Why is not everything in life as simple as that?
By the way, I just tried installing Steam on my antiX 19 as I was writing this and it was nowhere to be found in my Package Installer!True that “Linux” can’t be blamed for some software not supporting it (say MS Office and Adobe products) but, hey, most stuff is moving to webapps- hey kids, was not having Ms Word working in Linux all that was stopping you from using Linux? Try this brand new thing called “Office 365 on-line” in your browser- Wow! It opens all your files and… amazing! It looks just like MS Office in Windows too!
Thousands of games, made for Windows now run on Steam on Linux, many more will follow after a hand held console that in reality a computer running Steam in a Linux OS with a KDE desktop, strapped inside it. So, probably there more than a 50% chance that your preferred time waster game already works on Linux.
Now… if we can do something about Linux fragmentation ( many types of packages that depend from distro to distro, and worse, for newbies: many User Interfaces, ranging from Window Managers, Tilling Window Managers, Desktop Enviroments).
I love antiX because it have stuck to the same basic Interface since, at least (I think) version 16, when I started using it. Users can always get detailed help in the forum, even if it’s an arquived entry from the dawn of time, it probably still works in antiX 21 if the instructions are something like “click here, then there, press ok”…
And even so, in antiX we embrace UI fragmentation, including, out of the box, not 1, not 2, but 3 Floating Windows Managers and a Tilling Window Manager. and guess what- we make it work, people!P.
christophe
The older I get, the more I start to think: “If the whole world is going after something, there’s got to be something wrong with it.”
So I’m fine with 2-4%. 😉
confirmed antiX frugaler, since 2019
Eismckwadraat19
I think the problem is that there is no unit.
Dozens of Linux versions are being developed.
If everyone would work together and for example 5 flavors would be developed, Linux would have many users…-I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition-
Fidel Castro
Brian Masinick
Ya gotta sell something prepackaged. Dell and a few others have done it with a tiny bit of success but you also have to put it where people can find it; that wasn’t done very well.
Look at the Chromebook though.
Google pit it in the schools and created a hit, enough so that Microsoft has tried multiple times to break back in with limited success.
Concede the desktop; there’s many’bigger fish’ to dry.
Linux has big server wins and great access to mobile communication. Those are arguably more important and useful; look at the next trends and be there too.
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Brian Masinick
anticapitalista
The vast majority of people buy a laptop/desktop with Windows pre-installed and locked.
That’s the biggest difference.If linux came pre-installed and locked – like the Chromebook that Brian mentioned does, then it will be a (limited) success.
But then, IMO, it is no longer what linux is all about.Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.
antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.
Brian Masinick
The vast majority of people buy a laptop/desktop with Windows pre-installed and locked.
That’s the biggest difference.If linux came pre-installed and locked – like the Chromebook that Brian mentioned does, then it will be a (limited) success.
But then, IMO, it is no longer what linux is all about.I agree with you, anticapitalista, but I really don’t care one way or the other; choices are good.
Let the “common public” choose whatever they want. I still remember in the early UNIX days, wondering what it would be like if UNIX had done a few things “differently” and captured some “desktop interest”.In the long run, it didn’t matter. When Sun Microsystems and AT&T went in one direction with a very different UNIX System V, it still didn’t do much for the desktop, though they had a decent server market share for a few years, until Windows Servers and Linux Servers started to erode that space.
But my real point is that the classic notion of “desktop” is nearing end of life. We can use it here (and wherever others choose) for however long it retains a fraction of interest, but there are a lot of other things that are taking much more activity and interest. If the Linux kernel space and distro space wants to be a part of the changes, it makes much more sense to track – and be involved in the origins of whatever is coming; otherwise what we have now will also fade into obscurity.
As for antiX, none of this matters; we can do whatever we please, even if it serves a few hundred or a few thousand people. It’s good stuff and keeps classic hardware working. If we do venture into new things, that’s fine; if we don’t, that’s fine too; choices and alternatives are valuable; market percentages are just numbers. Making a difference, even to a few, matters, I’m on that page.
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Brian MasinickModdIt
Look at the Chromebook though.
Google pit it in the schools and created a hit, enough so that Microsoft has tried multiple times to break back in with limited success.
Google, gave away many thousands of devices here in Germany, ever thought why, Total controll, google is a daugter of alphabet which
was a CIA venture. The kids using those devices have no privacy wghatsoever, same goes for there teachers.During my time as a parents rep I had to fight against introduction of ipads, the teachers were offered a mac book pro plus a free ipad
every year for pushing through i pad classes.google operation was more of a secret but involved a lot of invitations to teachers and a huge number of incentives. Google and Apple should
be barred from educational institutions in EU. They are part of the US ambition for total world domination..
Wallon
Dear PPC,
I see on the “statcounter” site that Linux represents 0.93% of internet connections in October 2021.
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share
With Windows 11 requiring Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 and a minimum 8th generation microprocessor, it will no longer be possible to install a Linux distribution.
You have to be a geek to use Linux and its command lines. All Windows computers start with a “Fast Boot”. You have to look for a way to disable fast boot and have some time to simply press the key to go into the Bios.
If I talk about this to people who have a computer, they call me crazy! That I will break the Windows computer.I also see on Youtube that the latest big graphics cards from AMD are no longer compatible with Linux. Already, NVIDIA which does not ensure the perenity of the drivers but if AMD drops Linux, what should be done?
Windows is still well translated. There is not a single word in English. If I show people a Linux distribution, they say “What’s your Linux thing with a lot of English words? I don’t want that!
Why don’t the developers update the translations? With MX Linux, translators are discouraged.Best regards,
Wallon@Wallon: you raised some very valid points:
-Newer hardware tends to make it more difficult to install another OS other than Windows (I did not know about AMD dropping Linux support for their latest video cards, I’ll have to read up on that). You do need to have some technical know-how to burn an iso to a pendrive and configure a computer to boot from a pendrive- now people have to know how to disable Fast Boot AND Secure Boot…
-antiX is considerably well translated to pt and pt-br (the exception is that for now we have to manually install localization files for LibreOffice and Firefox-esr). I can tell you that I make a pretty advanced use of my antix computers and it’s, particularly in antiX21, almost impossible to see another language other that Portuguese (the exception is Connman’s CMST that is party translated as is the final message that comes up when you run the antiX updater). If you install localization files for LibreOffice/Firefox, a normal Portuguese speaking user will have to work hard to find untranslated parts of antiX. sure there are some more esoteric menu entries that still have to be localized. I’ll try to work on that (for pt and pt-br languages)
I used MX linux for quite some time and found no localization problems. In MXFB, however, there are some problems in the menu (the All Apps remained unlocalized the last time I tried it) but that’s because they have a tiny Dev team- it’s main dev, Jerry, asks often for help localizing .desktop files.
I just took a look at that “market share” website- I’d guess that at least half of the “unknown” Os’s are some kind of Linux. Also, at least in Portugal, mobile OS’s (android/Ios) are about a third of the market share.On Linux, in general, not coming preinstalled on devices- it does come with system76 (an American brand, I believe) and with Slimbook devices- a Spanish brand- https://slimbook.es/en/linux2
But, even so, the major bug that I talked about in my OP happened in system76 made OS, that comes preinstalled onto their laptops! a Linux distro coming preinstalled is no warranty that it’s a good or bug free distro…Unless there’s some unforeseen change in tech, I do believe that, at least laptops and gaming desktops are here to stay for at least a decade more. Maybe I’m wrong on that. But many people still love typing at a physical keyboard, and gamers like huge screens, and being able to use keyboards or gamepads… I do see the market splitting, with a growing number of young people that has never used a computer, but always have a smart device glued to one hand… and computer using folks. Those young “pcless” folks will get a big surprise when they get to start real work and they are placed in front of a keyboard and a screen that’s “touchless”.
I recently heard a podcast that talked about something like under graduates at a lab not knowing how to work with a computer- they did not know how a file manager worked, and could not open the needed files- because, you see, smart phones and tablets tend to show files organized by file types (movies, pictures, documents, etc) and users tend to not know where their files are… In the case I heard about, the Professor had to teach them the basics of working with a real computer…P.
- This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by PPC.
- This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by PPC.
Wallon
Dear PPC,
You have started an exciting thread.
If you go to “statcounter” you will see that Windows is only 32.44% today on 11 November 2021.
Microsoft has completely missed its target. Android has taken first place.
This means that we are also in a big hardware change.
The ARM CPU is much more used than the Intel and AMD CPUs with x86.
I think that in 5 years, you will find many more computers without NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards that will run on an ARM CPU like for example the MacBook (M1 Pro and M1 Max chips). Apple has abandoned Intel and AMD!
So we will have to convert antiX to a new language adapted to ARM chips! Possible or not?
This is the biggest revolution since the birth of the “personal computer” invented by IBM.
Since you are talking about young graduates, this week I asked some 25 year old people if they knew about IBM. They had never heard of IBM. I really got old explaining what this company had invented and created for computer hardware, software and servers.Best regards,
WallonBrian Masinick
Look at the Chromebook though.
Google pit it in the schools and created a hit, enough so that Microsoft has tried multiple times to break back in with limited success.
Google, gave away many thousands of devices here in Germany, ever thought why, Total controll, google is a daugter of alphabet which
was a CIA venture. The kids using those devices have no privacy wghatsoever, same goes for there teachers.During my time as a parents rep I had to fight against introduction of ipads, the teachers were offered a mac book pro plus a free ipad
every year for pushing through i pad classes.google operation was more of a secret but involved a lot of invitations to teachers and a huge number of incentives. Google and Apple should
be barred from educational institutions in EU. They are part of the US ambition for total world domination..You are probably right about all of this. When I came out of college, IBM was the dominant company and even Microsoft had to work hard to get anywhere. They got a big break when IBM came to both Intel and Microsoft seeking to quickly create a personal computer under the IBM label.
To this day, large datacenter operations, at least in large American companies still have a lot of legacy IBM hardware. Everything else varies, depending on which vendors have contractual agreements. To me, that’s been a good thing because there is more than one source for nearly everything. It gives businesses more leverage to influence the vendors.
It’s the same with individual customers, just more complicated to organize. If customers move to a different vendor in large numbers, that attracts the desired attention; I guarantee it. So if Google dominates and they are not responsive to user input, a massive change to antiX Computer Corporation (fictitious) would get attention!
- This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Brian Masinick.
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Brian Masinick
marcelocripe
Some considerations:
I missed a lot of explanations because the YouTube translation is still not perfect. Even so I managed to observe a few things, the computers shown in the video look like the computers from movies of the future, the monitors have huge screens, I stopped the video at 6 minutes and 29 seconds just to enjoy that machine. Is that an SSD? And here I am “fighting” with IDE hard drives (laughs).
I liked the remarks about contradictory explanations about GNU/Linux distributions, they are really confusing for anyone, I found several articles in Portuguese with very contradictory and inconsistent explanations at the time I researched and tested distributions until I got to antiX and here in this forum . Some comments are very biased, but it takes time for a novice to realize this. It’s not easy to see what the real intentions are, sometimes the real intentions can be quite different from the title of the video or what you really want to reach. The media against is much bigger than the media in favor, isn’t it?!
I hope one day to be able to install antiX on a smartphone, there would be too much disk space and too much RAM.
Wallon touched on some important points (thank you!), in the video they both speak the English language, read in English and receive messages in English and yet they couldn’t solve the problem when they gave the famous “black screen”, this is terrible for a novice user or for an average user who only knows how to click buttons. Now imagine this same situation for users who don’t understand the English language. This situation is not fictional, as it is mine and that of many other people across the planet. An example I noticed today, the “antixscreenshot.sh” is all translated to Brazilian Portuguese, except the phrase to overwrite the file when there is already a file with the same name. It seems to be just a small detail, but what does the user do when they receive a message they don’t understand? I checked the Transifex “antixscreenshot” file, the phrase to overwrite the file is not available in Transifex. I realize that it’s not just with “antixscreenshot.sh” that this happens, several other programs available by Debian also don’t have translations for error messages, just when the user most needs to understand the information he can’t due to communication failure .
I still don’t have where to install antiX 21, so I keep looking at Executable USB (Live USB), I still find the antiX operating system trilingual, that is, the texts are in European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese and English. Various translations and corrections of the translations I’ve done that are available in Transifex are not being used, ISO after ISO and every program update when they are repackaged with the old texts without the revisions and corrections that are available in Transifex, it just doesn’t are being used. Do we need to make requests to merge Transifex texts in GitLab? The situation very well mentioned by Wallon, occurs in antiX and is even worse in MX Linux. I’ve written this a few times and I write again, “developers and programmers need to make it a habit to always look for the latest translations available on Transifex”, otherwise we’ll never see the corrected translations and the miscommunication will remain. So I agree that there has been a significant advance when I compare antiX 19.2 to antiX 21 with regard to translations, but I have to agree with Wallon on his words as there is still a lot of work to be done for the translations are in use in ISOs and programs. If the problem is that the “staff is small” then it’s simple, train people so these volunteers can help. If “the team is small” then there are ways to increase it, we have good people willing to donate their time to antiX and MX Linux. So the “small team” can’t be the excuse, moreover if you don’t train new people, one day the people who know will inevitably die, because we won’t live forever, consequently either the “small team” will grow or the distribution will die when there is no “team” alive. This was one of the reasons that led several GNU/Linux distributions to be discontinued (died), so we cannot admit “small team”, the “small team” needs to grow.
Please don’t misunderstand my words translated by the internet translator, I don’t want to discourage any developer or programmer, I just want to alert you to what has already happened with the other distributions because there is no growth of the “official team” of development, look at the huge list of Distrowatch of GNU/Linux distributions that have been discontinued. Is there a distribution that you have seen or heard about that is on the Distrowatch list?
I thank the creator of antiX and everyone who welcomed me here on the forum even though I didn’t know how to write a sentence in the English language.
marcelocripe
(Original text in Brazilian Portuguese language)– – – – –
Algumas considerações:
Eu perdi muitas explicações devido a tradução do YouTube ainda não ser perfeita. Mesmo assim eu consegui observar algumas coisas, os computadores mostrados no vídeo parecem com os computadores de filmes do futuro, os monitores possuem telas enorme, eu parei o vídeo no período 6 minutos e 29 segundos só para apreciar aquela máquina. Aquilo é um SSD? E eu aqui “lutando” com os discos rígidos IDE (risos).
Eu gostei das observações sobre as explicações contraditórias sobre as distribuições GNU/Linux, realmente são confusas para qualquer pessoa, eu encontrei várias matérias em Português com explicações muito contraditórias e inconsistentes na época que eu pesquisava e testava distribuições até chegar ao antiX e aqui neste fórum. Alguns comentários são muito tendenciosos, mas leva tempo para um novato perceber isso. Não é fácil perceber quais são as verdadeiras intenções, por vezes as intenções reais podem ser outras bem diferentes do título do vídeo ou ao que realmente se deseja chegar. A mídia contra é muito maior do que a mídia a favor, não é mesmo?!
Eu espero um dia poder instalar o antiX em um smartphone, iria sobrar muito espaço em disco e muita memória RAM.
O Wallon tocou em alguns pontos importantes (obrigado!), no vídeo os dois falam o idioma Inglês, leem em Inglês e recebem mensagens em Inglês e mesmo assim não conseguiram resolver o problema quando deu a famosa “tela preta”, isso é terrível para um usuário iniciante ou para um usuário comum que só sabem clicar em botões. Agora imaginem esta mesma situação para os usuários que não compreendem o idioma Inglês. Esta situação não é fictícia, pois é a minha e de muitas outras pessoas espalhadas pelo planeta. Um exemplo que eu percebi hoje, o “antixscreenshot.sh” está todo traduzido para Português do Brasil, exceto a frase para sobrescrever o arquivo quando já existe um arquivo com o mesmo nome. Parece ser apenas um pequeno detalhe, mas o que o usuário faz quando recebe uma mensagem que não compreende? Eu conferi no arquivo “antixscreenshot” do Transifex, a frase para sobrescrever o arquivo não está disponível no Transifex. Eu percebo que não é apenas com o “antixscreenshot.sh” que isto ocorre, vários outros programas disponíveis pelo Debian também não possuem tradução para as mensagens de erro, justamente quando o usuário mais precisa compreender a informação ele não consegue devido a falha na comunicação.
Eu ainda não tenho onde instalar o antiX 21, por isso continuo observando no USB Executável (Live USB), ainda eu encontro o sistema operacional antiX trilíngue, ou seja, os textos estão em idiomas Português Europeu, Português do Brasil e em Inglês. Diversas traduções e correções das traduções que eu fiz e que estão disponíveis no Transifex não estão sendo utilizadas, ISO após ISO e a cada atualização dos programas quando são empacotados novamente com os textos antigos sem as revisões e correções que estão disponíveis no Transifex, simplesmente não estão sendo utilizadas. Será que precisamos fazer solicitações de mesclagem dos textos do Transifex no GitLab? A situação muito bem mencionada pelo Wallon, ocorre no antiX e é ainda pior no MX Linux. Eu já escrevi isso algumas vezes e escrevo novamente, “os desenvolvedores e programadores precisam criar o hábito de sempre buscarem as traduções mais recentes disponíveis no Transifex”, caso contrário nunca veremos as traduções corrigidas e a falha na comunicação permanecerá. Por isso, eu concordo que ocorreu sim um avanço significativo quando comparo o antiX 19.2 ao antiX 21 no que diz respeito a traduções, mas eu sou obrigado a concordar com o Wallon sobre as suas palavras, pois ainda tem muito trabalho a ser feito para as traduções estarem em uso nas ISOs e nos programas. Se o problema é que a “equipe é pequena”, então é simples, treine as pessoas para que estes voluntários possam ajudar. Se “equipe é pequena” então existem meios de aumentar, temos pessoas boas dispostas a doarem o seu tempo em pro do antiX e do MX Linux. Então não dá para a “equipe pequena” ser a desculpa, além do mais se não treinar novas pessoas, um dia as pessoas que sabem inevitavelmente irão morrer, porque não viveremos para sempre, consequentemente ou a “equipe pequena” cresce ou a distribuição irá morrer quando não tiver nenhum integrante da “equipe” vivo. Este foi um dos motivos que levaram várias distribuições GNU/Linux a serem descontinuadas (morrerem), por isso não podemos admitir “equipe pequena”, a “equipe pequena” precisa crescer.
Por favor, não compreendam mal as minhas palavras traduzidas pelo tradutor da internet, eu não quero desanimar nenhum desenvolvedor ou programador, eu só quero alertá-los sobre o que já aconteceu com as outras distribuições por não ocorrer o crescimento da “equipe oficial” de desenvolvimento, olhem a lista enorme do Distrowatch de distribuições GNU/Linux que foram descontinuadas. Tem alguma distribuição que você conheceu ou ouviu falar que está na lista do Distrowatch?
Eu agradeço ao criador do antiX e a todos que me receberam aqui no fórum mesmo eu não sabendo escrever uma frase em idioma Inglês.
marcelocripe
(Texto original em idioma Português do Brasil)Regarding the wallon Post, my android phone is as or more powerful than my computer,
Kirin 810 CPU 6 GB Ram 256 GB fixed memory, extendable, dual sim, wifi bluetooth.Device is Honor 9X Pro, cost me 23o Euro. Fantastic Phone, as 3 to 4 days between charges
and best of all Google Free. Most of my software is from F Droid. NetGuard from Git brings
ad blocking.The open source version of wire Messenger, video not perfect. not yet but good enough.
That is from git-hub via wire.com. Will soon also be on FDroid.With this class of device a keyboard, mouse and monitor, could make a computer obsolete.
I can use bluetooth keyboard, would prefer a dock, driving a FHD screen would be no issue,
near same as it has already.What is very badly needed is legislation to force easily repairable devices, spare parts for
anyone, for minimum 5 years, spare battery for 8 would be good too.
Require open API by law, and force firms to allow unlocking the bootloader. We pay for the devices,
we should be able to controll them.Fines should not be in the laughable order as at present. 25% of estimated yearly profits for first
offence be it against privacy or damaging buyer interests. Second offense 75% and for a third sales and
network ban plus all assets consfiscated within legislation area.
That would even convince Zuckerberg to comply.Not the wish of agencys, remember the parent company of goog and its founders…And EU does not want to be left out,
wants to scan ALL private messages for Kid Porn. Good idea says granny poot, but porn sites are still actively
encouraging fathers and sons to rape sisters, step sisters and their friends, force maids etc assf*#ck brothers.
All with impunuity in EU.- This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by ModdIt.
After some more eareache (nagging and complaining)
I have to accept that getting all applications to deliver sound is not easy to beyond me.
Either latest FF and Tor for example are sandboxing more effectively, i.e. breaking the apulse support or our motly collection of hardware
gives more problems on antix 21 than expected. Good users still can fallback to 19.4 if needed. I hope, they were warned that testing can not find every problem or bug…Other theme was the experience of getting Libreoffice full working as expected. Hopefully soon a thing of the past.
Black Friday coming—Cheap trashy Chrome books everywhere, tiny short lived MMC soldered to board memory too, terrible keyboards and in many cases screens. Hope kids or parents stay sane and buy other toys.
In the last year and a half, Linux in the desktop has come a long way:
– Games – lets be honest – most “hardcore” gamers whine if they skip a frame or two per second, so they will: A- keep using Consoles, B- keep using the OS for which their games was created to run.
That said, Linux is no longer the place where you can play lots of small open source games, or some very nice commercial grade level open source games, a few ports of commercial games… You can probably currently run about 10.000 thousand commercial games on Linux, via Steam and Proton. Not that bad, considering most of them are just install and play…– Office – this one is tricky… The last 20 or so years were dominated, on the Open Source front, by OpenOffice and then LibreOffice. Now Onlyoffice is a single package that is almost a clone of the most used Office suit in the world, that boosts of a better compatibility with it… There are some non opensource (but other than that) fine Office suites, like FreeOffice and WPS. The best thing for people that really need to use MS Office for work/school? MS Office is now mostly moving on-line. It’s a shame for your privacy, but great if you want to use that particular office suit in a non Windows OS, like Linux, you see, Office365 on-line runs great, in Linux!
– “Photoshop” – like any software type that has become a synonymous with the software application that is best know for the tool (ex: most people say “Word” when they mean “word processor”, “Excel”, when they mean “Spreadsheet”, “Photoshop” when they mean “video editing software”, “Google”, when they mean “Search on-line”), Photoshop suffers of the same problem as MS Office in Linux – there are free and extremely good applications that do (mostly) the same thing… But you don’t want to just edit images, you want to use Photoshop… so until an on-line version of this software has 100% of the features the instalable version has… you are stuck with Photoshop, because you can’t install it in Linux (not a recent version, and not without some black Wine magic)
– Ease of use – sigh… It seems the most used OSes are constantly dumbing things down, to a point that you have to be a techie to be hable to know how to install a Printer… Linux, particularly antiX has been improving on it’s usability, but the main problem is not that it’s hard to use. It’s that it’s not Windows. An example? A real life recent example- add something many users have been asking for years- a Trash Can… But do not add a desktop icon for it. End result? Some users won’t simply know how to operate a trash can, because it has no icon on the desktop!
– Recently, a youtuber I followed, talked about how a Steve Job’s idea can “save desktop Linux” – it’s something along this lines- we can’t have a very technically good product and tell people: “there you have it, you can use this great OS, just learn how to use it, Read The Fairly good Manual, it’s all there…”
We have to know what people want and create a product that suites their needs. And, if I may add- and only then, Linux can do what Apple does and create need for some new products – example: people have were living just fine without smartphones; with corded ear phones; and no one in the world said “Hey, it would be nice if I could track my suitcase with a GPS tracker, that can let any hacker in the world where I am”; smartwatches? I have one. The battery lasts 3 days if I switch it off at night, and do not use it’s bluetooth- i.e.- is I use it as a regular watch, that can measure my heart beat. My “dumb-watch” can do everything else my smartwatch does. It’s battery has been lasting for almost 9 years… Oh, and it’s way simpler to set a timer on it, it does not shut off by mistake if I leave the timer mode to check the time… hum…
If you are a sci-fi fan you probably watched “Battlestar Galactica”… The TV show was has the name of the single military spaceship that escaped destruction simply because it was the oldest one, and it’s systems could not by hacked by an invading army… Sometimes, low tech is the best tech… Don’t try to innovate too much, just try to give people what they require, and know how to use!P.
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