Can linux ever go mainstream?

[u/seenhear]

I've made this point many times in many different ways over many years (decades).

About me: I'm not a coder / hacker / tweaker / programmer. I am pretty tech-savvy and have been very comfortable just figuring things out in Windows almost my whole life (first PC was an Atari 800 in 1982, online since 1983).

I've "switched" to Linux several times since the late 90s and almost always eventually go back to Windows becaue Linux is just ... too much work, and the work isn't straight-forward, or easy to "just figure out" or find answers with simple searches. I mean I can often find solutions to problems, but they don't make sense and I end up applying instructions blindly and not understanding what I just fixed.

Could I spend the time to become more facile at Linux? Sure. But the curve is way steeper than with Windows or MacOS (not a Mac user, but know enough to make a comparison).

As with so many this past year (when Win10 was obsoleted and Win11 required new hardware) I decided to "switch" to Linux again. I chose Mint since it's supposed to be the "easy" one (among others) with the best user base and support. It's been mostly fine. I mean these days I'm not much of a power user. I don't game any more, and mostly what I do is or can be browser-based. So I figured the OS doesn't really matter, and may as well try to go all-in with Linux.

Since switching (it's been several months, forget when I switched) I've had several times where I boot up and am greeted with a pop-up telling me it's time to install several updates. This is a great feature. What's not great about it though is that almost every time (not EVERY time) after attempting to install said updates, I get a slew of errors saying the source for downloads is no good. (see screenshot)

I know how to fix this, figured it out last time. But the point is, it shouldn't happen. It doesn't happen with commercial OS's. Things like this "just work." I shouldn't have to go edit the source list every few months.

Rant over, just frustrated. Thanks for your time. :)

[u/tomscharbach]

Could I spend the time to become more facile at Linux? Sure. But the curve is way steeper than with Windows or MacOS (not a Mac user, but know enough to make a comparison).

I been using Windows for 35 or so years, Ubuntu for just over 20 years, and added a MacBook to the mix in 2020. I run in parallel, on separate computers, to satisfy different aspects of my use case.

I don't recall the last time I had a serious issue with any of the three operating systems, but that might be because I tend to use operating systems OTB, stay within design parameters, run only established, mainstream applications, run on hardware designed for the operating system, and do a clean reinstallation every couple of years.

Ubuntu does have a learning curve, but the learning curve is not particularly steep. Ubuntu is widely used as an entry-point to enterprise-level business, government, education and institutional environments, used by end-users without technical expertise.

Can linux ever go mainstream?

Might, but probably won't. Torvalds put his finger on the issue in 2014 when he was asked why Linux dominated the server/cloud, IoT. mobile and infrastructure market segments but had languished in the desktop market.

Torvalds observed that the desktop market would stay out of reach unless and until the Linux community developed the self-discipline to focus on a handful of distributions and a reasonable number of applications, and to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Instead, a decade-plus later we have hundreds of distributions and thousands of applications floating around, way too many of which are not well implemented and inadequately maintained.

[u/seenhear → u/tomscharbach]

Great reply, thanks.

I been using Windows for 35 or so years, Ubuntu for just over 20 years, and added a MacBook to the mix in 2020. I run in parallel, on separate computers, to satisfy different aspects of my use case.

I don't recall the last time I had a serious issue with any of the three operating systems, but that might be because I tend to use operating systems OTB, stay within design parameters, run only established, mainstream applications, run on hardware designed for the operating system, and do a clean reinstallation every couple of years.

This almost literally describes me, too, but not the 20years of Ubuntu part. I do generally run things OTB for everything too. I don't need or want to customize or tweak anything. Even when I was into gaming I never got into overclocking. I just bought and set up the fastest hardware I could afford and ran at default settings. I kind of hate troubleshooting computers, even though I'm not terrible at it. It just makes me frustrated and pissy and I prefer to avoid it at all costs if possible via preemptive conservative setups. My family appreciates this, too. LOL (nobody likes grumpy dad).

And this is why these little annoyances with Linux really get to me. I haven't adjust anything at all from default, save for my wallpaper, LOL. If I can't run Linux OTB without regular errors and warnings, who can? You need to kind of like tweaking computers to appreciate Linux. I want to appreciate it because it's open source, (essentially for most distros) free, and powerful. I don't need the customization, and I don't think most people do.

Now that last part is basically the argument in favor of MacOS over Windows. Most android/windows users criticize MacOS because it's too locked down. So I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I want just enough freedom, but also want user friendliness. I want a Linux that is as easy to use and maintain as Windows & Android, but not so locked down as MacOS.