The reasons why Linux will never go above 2.something% of computer users.

[charlie.corder]

Hi all,
I have an acquaintance who is a died in the wool Windows guy.
However, he has insisted on using Audacity for years, because Windows has nothing that is as good.

One other thing comes to mind.
Back when I was in high school around 1947 - 1948; General Motors had a program where any young person could enter a contest to see who could construct the best model of a new, futuristic looking car. The prize may have been a scholarship of some kind, don't remember exactly what it was. (No, I never won anything because I was not good at model building).
Many of the ideas that came out of that program were developed and used in future models of GM autos and trucks. They knew that most original design and thought comes from people who are interested in doing things, not because they are receiving a paycheck.
GM understood that ideas can come from anyone at any time; which is one of the great things about Linux.

OG

 

[charlie.corder]

There is no version that for the most part “just works”. There is also no guarantee that something that works today won’t break tomorrow.

Do you understand the difference between ignorance and stupidity?
It is evident that you have not tried Linux Mint Mate. It just works!!!!!
Are we to assume that by virtue of your comment about 'no guarantee' only applies to Linux? If so, why does Microsoft have to force updates on everyone just to keep their OS half way functional?

BTW
Have I remembered to say 'Thank you' for starting this topic.
OG

 

[f33dm3bits]

You sound like LinusTechTips who who only tried to jump from Windows to Linux in a month, you can't just expect Linux to work like Windows and there to be no learning experience when going from one os to another. It took me 1-2 years to learn to actually understand Linux when it was a new for me, after I learned enough to understand I didn't run into much else, gaming was a pain back in tot 2010 but that has been mostly solved now. In short this post wasted your time and the time of everyone who responded including me because Linux just works for most of the people here. Finally use what works for you and if that is Windows, join a Windows forum.

 

[Condobloke]

Amen !

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hey @Lord Boltar , we lose our 2c each, the troll has outed himself (and replied)

Let's get some real facts and stats going, with cited references, rather than subjective opinion disguised to represent fact?

THIS WEBSITE

In a few days (1 May my time) I celebrate 5 years of active participation here.

Then, it had 4,600 Members, today, it has 53,720.

That's a growth rate of 63.484% per year !!

Now 2 things are obvious to me here:

1. That the growth experienced by linux.org is not pegged to the growth of Linux users globally and
2. That the growth of linux.org cannot be solely attributed to Wizard's magnetic charisma, and that of his friend Brian @Condobloke (sorry Brian) who joined the day before me.

It is, however, not unreasonable, to back the concept that the growth of Linux users (desktop/laptop/tablet) is in excess of the 2.something% figure from the Thread Title.

RELIABILITY

Raspberry Pi's - were mentioned by the cute Scottie with sunglasses (@arochester ). The Pi has been going to the International Space Station since 2014. Most recently, in January 2022, two more of what are now known as Astro Pi went live at the ISS - see Wizard's Recommended Reading.

Supercomputers - the fastest was mentioned by @Lord Boltar . In fact by 2017 498 of the top 500 supercomputers were running Linux. In 2019, the last 2 were added, for 100% of the world's top supercomputers - see Wizard's Recommended Reading.

Banking? - Major banks are moving to Linux, and as far back as 2008, have been moing fleets of ATMs to Linux. Chances are that if your bank is not using Linux wholesale, its ATMs run Linux, and if not that, its Servers are run on Linux. See Wizard's Recommended Reading.

I have to run for now, but I will have Wizard's Recommended Reading up here on my tomorrow.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[Adithyansm]

As @wizardfromoz said don't underestimate the power of raspberry pi, the consequences will be heavy
the raspberry pi's ruling territory starts from kitchens slabs to Robotic's (tony starks kitchen sink) to space and then to other planets (vast ruling kingdom )

Take that Linux hater's your windows was not able to conquer the mars

 

[Sudo It]

Speed. Despite claims from the Linux community, Linux is always outperformed by Windows in terms of speed when performing everyday tasks.

Seriously? I'm typing this on a RPI4 running Manjaro Linux KDE Plasma. I use this everyday 24/7. I always works on different web browsers at the same time along with couple of terminals. And I haven't noticed any performance issues up until now.
I used from Windows 95 to windows 10. I still do only because there is a music software I need to run which is only available on windows, otherwise I'm very happy to format the windows hard drive and plug it into my Linux Mint main machine.
If you still think windows is better than linux, watch this video.

Windows 11 vs Linux Mint vs Manjaro KDE vs Fedora 35 - Speed Test!

Benchmarking Windows 11 vs Linux! Some side-by-side speed testing including boot speed, rendering, and transfers. Additionally, we will cover some synthetic benchmarking. Set up your own Linux server with LINODE : http://www.linode.com/techhut $100 - 60 day credit on new Linode accounts for...

invidious.namazso.eu

More than 1-2 apps running in the background can bring some weaker systems to their knees.

yeah sure, windows 10 on idle can bring those weaker systems to their knees. Not even gonna talk about windows 11. Oh wait, you can't even install windows 11 on old hardware.

Help with issues that arise.

That's why there are forums. Windows and Mac users can bring their shiny computers to a certified repair store when they see a black screen.

Modern versions of Windows mostly "just work",

Then use a "just works" distro instead of trying a distro like Kali, Gentoo or Arch

Software availability. I’m sorry. Open source programs are a joke

Gee I wonder what Google chrome browser is based on. Many professionals use softwares like kdenlive , GIMP, Ardour, etc.Many proprietary softwares are based on open source projects, this is a joke.

Fragmentation of effort.

I don't think normies put any efforts into using a computer. Most of them use a computer to browse the internet.
If there are someone who want to learn something, they will put their effort.

BTW, most of supercomputers, servers run on linux and BSD, even Apple and Microsoft use linux on their servers, not their proprietary OSes. Hell, even International Space Station runs on linux. What does that tell you?

 

[Sudo It]

I hope Linux stays at 2% and never reaches any higher.

I thought I was the only one who thinks like this

 

[Brickwizard]

I think we all know that Linux is not a desktop but an operating system on which the desktop distribution is built, and with over 500 varieties some very specialised, it's a difficult job to argue against a monolithic system like windows.

This discussion is really academic, when the question is based on the perception of one person, Unless you live in a tent, in the backwoods with no electronic connection to the outside world and your only transport is a horse, Then no matter what you do or where you go during your waking hours, you will either directly or indirectly be interfacing with some form of computer most of the time. Most people do not realise this, and those that do probably don't care which of the myriad of operating system they interact with, as long as it work's. The Linux core [as opposed to the full kernel] is small, fast, reliable, customisable, and above all Free and that is why it has taken itself past other systems in popularity for any modern appliance that is of the "smart" variety

 

[super_user_do]

this guy is trolling I guess. Thanks for the humor bro

 

[super_user_do]

Germany is going Open Source. I'll bet there exists greater than 2% usage of Linux there!

Two messages in over three years? Circumstantial evidence, though not conclusive, points to the possibility of trolling.

Only 1 state of Germany I think

 

[LorenDB]

Installing a “fresh” copy of a version of Windows appropriate to the age of the machine would yield a much better result in terms of speed, compatibility, and usability.

No, Windows has enough bloat to let Linux run faster. Admittedly, I haven't gotten my mitts on a truly new PC for several years now, but I anticipate that Linux won't let me down when I do.

a Windows 95 level of rebooting required in many distros

I rarely reboot (generally when I run so much stuff that my system gets out of memory and I reboot as a quick fix). Many people have uptimes of several months on their systems.

 

[forester]

That'd be a couple of years after the fact.

Not that it matters but it was 2011 at LinuxFest Northwest, 11 years ago, almost to the day, Bellingham, WA.
LFNW not near what it used to be, I hear. Virtual only, this year, but still a place to learn at.

 

[forester]

. . .
GM understood that ideas can come from anyone at any time; which is one of the great things about Linux.

OG

IME, it's one of the good things about Life!

 

[CrazedNerd]

You sound like LinusTechTips who who only tried to jump from Windows to Linux in a month, you can't just expect Linux to work like Windows and there to be no learning experience when going from one os to another. It took me 1-2 years to learn to actually understand Linux when it was a new for me, after I learned enough to understand I didn't run into much else, gaming was a pain back in tot 2010 but that has been mostly solved now. In short this post wasted your time and the time of everyone who responded including me because Linux just works for most of the people here. Finally use what works for you and if that is Windows, join a Windows forum.

I don't think posts like these are a waste of time: i read something recently about how asking stupid questions online often produces really interesting/informative answers. The thing i like about this thread is that it is a blatant expression of why people don't want to mess around with linux. Jay's points can basically be boiled down to two points, the first is correct and the second one is completely wrong:

-windows is more of a professional/consumer hivemind when it comes to desktop users, and your standard consumer does not care exactly how their computers work, they just want it to work. Folks at Microsoft are payed to service these consumers, and as long as they keep buying into it and are patient with windows bugs (i would not recommend using windows 11 right now...), they will get a large range of software to choose from, both free and pay-to-play, that requires very little thought and effort.

-windows performs better...there is literally no evidence to back this up, and since such a huge part of the server community defaults to linux, then it's clear that the exact opposite is true. Even on the vastly unpopular desktop level: linux is more secure, and performs better on this merit alone. Plus, proprietary itself is an inefficiency: I can only buy a limited number of copies of proprietary software, with linux i can just try a different operating system if the version i have can't successfully accomplish the task i need.

It's funny, because of this post, i've contemplated scrapping windows entirely and installing it as a virtual machine or quitting entirely and messing around with wine, and i think i just might do it. Recently my steinburg audio interface stopped working entirely because i was trying to record some music. Me singing and playing guitar would work just fine entirely on linux, i've just been hesitant because there's a greater range of proprietary digital synthesizers that are available to windows users that are willing to cough up the dough...

 

[forester]

@f33dm3bits -- don't let trolls get to you -- that's their intent. LTT -- lots of wannabes with no clue, IMO.

 

[Brickwizard]

digital synthesizers

Have you tried ZynAddSubFX for Linux, it's supposed to be best of the bunch

 

[forester]

. . .
It's funny, because of this post, i've contemplated scrapping windows entirely and installing it as a virtual machine or quitting entirely and messing around with wine, and i think i just might do it. Recently my steinburg audio interface stopped working entirely because i was trying to record some music. Me singing and playing guitar would work just fine entirely on linux, i've just been hesitant because there's a greater range of proprietary digital synthesizers that are available to windows users that are willing to cough up the dough...

Go for it!
With M$, $ is always the problem.

 

[CrazedNerd]

Have you tried ZynAddSubFX for Linux, it's supposed to be best of the bunch

Thanks for the recommendation...it's pretty clear i have nothing to lose in terms of just switching over 100% or almost to linux. I'm just balancing it with the fact that i have a lot of stuff to do, and i have burning passion to completely understand how linux works on the algorithmic level, so switching over entirely to linux for my musical desires is going to be slow. I don't want to pay hundreds dollars for DAWs that are not gauranteed to work, so that is probably the direction i will be moving in over the summer. I don't have much of an income as it is even though i've saved up a lot of money.

 

[forester]

Ihad to look up reference to DAW -- Digital Audio Workstation
Why spend hundreds when some are free?

Pass it on -- I could use a copy of the last season of breakiing bad, jesse LOL