Didn’t watch the video… but the premise “The biggest barrier for the new Linux user isn’t the installer” is exactly why Microsoft is, sadly, dominating the end-user (not servers) market.
What Microsoft managed to do with OEMs is NOT to have an installer at all! People buy (or get, via their work) a computer and… use it. There is not installation step for the vast majority of people.
I’m not saying that’s good, only that strategy wise, if the single metric is adoption rate, no installer is a winning strategy.
Most people who go out and buy a computer doesn’t understand what an OS is. If Linux was standard when you bought a PC, it would be the dominating OS. I mean, you could switch the OS to Linux on the computers and I think most people wouldn’t realise when they buy it lol
Indeed, so my argument is that sure a “better” installer might change a small fraction of the marketshare, say 1%, but it’s not enough to change significantly, say 10% or even reach parity.
An interesting example is the Steam Deck coming with Linux installed. Sure there are few people who do (by choice) install Windows alongside Linux but AFAIK the vast majority do not. That’s IMHO particularly interesting on a topic, gaming, where Windows has been traditionally the #1 reason people picked a specific OS.
Linux definitively does dominate the end user market. You just mean the end user desktop/laptop market.
I agree though that preinstallation is the biggest deal. The fact that people have to install Linux at all is the problem. The installer itself is already 100x better than the Windows one, but that’s not enough.
Not to mention it means manufacturers ensure all the hardware is compatible, drivers etc are installed and working, which is why windows users feel it works better.
If you mean unrootable Googled Android then I don’t consider that Linux. If you mean something else please clarify.
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So… Linux the kernel but without the freedom?
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The vast majority of people have no experience installing an OS and likely never will.
The typical user uses whatever is preinstalled when the get the hardware.
My father-in-law wrecked his windows pc with malware over and over so I bought him a Wow PC https://www.mywowcomputer.com/ and he loves it. I don’t think he has any idea its running linux.
Honestly I think the bigger barrier is the BIOS. The button to get to the boot menu is different on every motherboard.
The fact that Linux still sucks for regular users after all this time is infuriating. What the hell have people even been working on all this time??
Yeaaahh, but does it though?
I’ve put loads of regular users on Linux and on average they have less issues than they had with windows
That is ignoring the installation. Linux install is download iso, burn it on USB, boot computer with said USB, run the install program, go through the 5-6 pages which takes about 15 minutes, reboot and the machine is done.
Windows 11 install is downloading ISO, burn it on USB, boot computer with said USB and then the boot up immet fails with this vague error. Spend a good hour on Internet searches to find that it’s some bios setting which is fine for Linux, but whatever. Make setting, reboot USB! Setup now crashes again on other gauge error. Spend another 4 hours on sraxhes only to find out that windows iso burning requires a special windows only burning program that will “fix” it and is totally not done on purpose to sabotage Linux users, but fine, were only 5 hours in and still have to start so boot up a VM in Linux, find that usb burner somewhere, download and install that, then download the iso again, burn it, dump it again in the machine and presto, er have an installer, yay!
Go through the pages, and more pages and more crap and install this sponsored content and watch ads and now you need an account at Microsoft and more pages and do you love me? Please let me know that you love me, more feedback because I’m Microsoft and I need feedback and now do you want these games that you hate, and you must install office you will love it even though you’d rather commit sepuku, and a fucking hour of clicking a thousand times later, windows is finally installed …?
Seriously, if I say that installing Linux was ten times easier than windows, it would be the understatement of the year.
In it’s general use, nobody will run into weird shit like they do on windows and to top it off, you got no issues with viruses, no ads nor spyware in the operating system itself, and shit just works.
Yeah, Linux has bugs, just like windows, but the experience is ten times better, I’ll die happily and proud on that hill
“shit just works” I’m sorry but you’re fucking high if you think shit just works on linux. Every problem is a rabbit hole of 3 new problems with 3 more new problems.
I am by no means saying windows is any good, or any better necessarily. But this “Linux works great and is easy to use” is a load of shit and I’m sick of hearing it.
Yeah you know, maybe you should actually use it because I’ve been using it for the past 25 years as a desktop and I’ve had a fraction of the shit I see happening on windows desktops
Yes, shit just works. Yeah, there are issues, there are bugs, all software has bugs, but holy shit is the design better.
Windows always FRACKING ALWAYS has headache issues to deal with. I now control a fleet of machines for employees and sadly they’re windows, still, and the amount of shit we deal with on a daily basis is incredible. We’re too busy now but soon we’ll start a project to replace all machines.with Linux at which point shit will finally just work. How do I know this? I’ve done it before, ma y times.
So yeah, fuck Microsoft, fuck windows, it’s all trash
The only thing I agree with is the last thing you said. “It’s all trash”
Oh look. Yet another post demanding things from a volunteer-based community without actually volunteering their own time to work on solving the problem they’re insisting needs solving.
I’m sure these demands will totally make a difference in ways that putting their time into actually writing code wouldn’t.
By that logic I should demand to get payed for testing your “free” software in real environment
Not testing, using.
If I report bug it’s testing
That would mean the vast majority of software can always be considered in testing. I report bugs for games I play, heck many sub-communities function around them. I report bugs for the professional software I use, and even for Windows, my OS, and Android, things I had to pay for. So all software is just tested and never used under that definition.
Don’t sit there being obtuse. One of the benefits of foss is that actual users help test the software and bring feedback to make it better
You just want to be thought of as special
Developers of software are a dime a dozen and becoming an outdated profession. Keep the smugness out of this otherwise. Good day
I don’t know what you mean that I want to be thought of as special, I’m in IT, not software development, and I don’t contribute to code so these “special” people wouldn’t include me.
Edit: Also, most paid products do the same thing so you should be paid for those as well. You get function from FOSS software and thus it is a used product. If it isn’t functioning you swap to a better one, maybe a paid one, or circumvent the functionality. The thing is with FOSS the feedback is part can be code suggestions. I personally don’t do it as all the FOSS software I use I tend to be happy enough with it. However, if something is truly that mission critical for you to use the software, you can contribute. I have friends who have done so. Also just about every software I use takes feedback and suggestions. What makes FOSS special is the ability to contribute when the suggestions you want to see are not the priority. I have had an MS Teams bug I’ve been dealing with for several users for going on a year now and MS has told me to kick rocks, I don’t have much more to do from there. For FOSS, I could try to directly implement the solution, or fork the project to meet my needs. There are dozens of projects that have come into existence because of this principle and it is one of the core parts of FOSS software. I wasn’t being smug, I was being very genuine in that you are a user benefiting from the software. Obviously, if someone wants their FOSS software as widely adopted as possible they will cater to their users. Many FOSS products don’t operate on that principle though, particularly smaller ones that are for needs the developer had and everything else is secondary. In those cases, often someone else will come along and fork it and create their own version. It’s one of the benefits of FOSS. Again, the reason I said you were a user is because if you were a tester the primary reason you would be testing is for payment or compensation. If the primary goal is to utilize the function of what it gives you even if it has problems or UI/UX issues you are a user. If you want to be a tester, I have seen some FOSS products search for them in the past so you likely could try to make a buck in your free time for them.
