• flashgnash@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I’m not suggesting it can happen with current tech, but as an example look at the state of gaming on Linux now compared to 5 years ago. I remember trying years ago and it just being basically impossible without hours of tinkering and now virtually every steam game just launches on Linux with no fuss

    Just using that as an example that Linux can absolutely become more mainstream, I’d argue distros like mint, elementary and pop are better for people who basically only use a browser for their day to day anyway (which is already demonstrated by Chromebooks)

    I’m also not suggesting we convince people to switch in the same way nobody went round convincing people to use Windows in the first place, I think at the moment the onus is on companies like system76 and framework to ship their machines with Linux by default, a lot of them right now let you cut a hefty chunk of the price off for Linux because no license fees which I think is absolutely the way to do it

    • 0x4E4F
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Yeah, have to be honest, gaming has gotten A LOT easier on Linux now. Thanks to Valve of course, Linus was right after all, Valve will save the Linux desktop.

      Installing Linux on a personal laptop for just browsing or music, video, movies, whatever (older laptops that just struggled with Win10 on them), yes, and I have done that for some of my customers (those that asked for a recommendation or just said “do whatever, just get it working”). But, in large production environments with software that is absolutely tightly tied with AD and MS, no way. I have done it, but the man hours were just… too much… and the pay was a few percent over my regular salary. I know I bit more than I could chew as soon as I said yes, but I really wanted to try to get things working with Linux. It was a challenge, I have to admit that, I like challenges, lol 😂. But was it worth it? Absolutely not. Custom wine patches, custom this custom that… I had to make my own custom repo with patches just to get things working, mod code, add new strings to search in the patch script in newer releases… it was a nightmare to be honest. That is not a 1 man job. Still, even if I had help, it’s just not worth it. Hiring someone to do custom patches and maintain the repo vs. 1 or 2k USD to throw in Windows licenses… I mean, you get the idea. In the end, it’s just cheaper to buy the damn licenses 🤷.

      IDK about sustem76, we don’t have that where I live. We do have lappys with Linux preinstalled, but as soon as someone buys one, they just ask me to install Windows on it 🤷. They’re cheaper cuz you don’t pay for the Windows license and afterwards I just use KMS38 on the Windows install 🤷.

      • flashgnash@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        System76 are the people who make Pop! They make laptops designed to run Linux that come with pop preinstalled