Hetzner ❤️

Which one?

As far as I can remember Windows 11 only shows the time on default installations and there are GUI options to change the shown format on the taskbar.

“Some things are going to be different” basically means that they would have to learn to deal with manual config changes and command line stuff.

I personally don’t expect the “end-user readyness” of Linux Distros to ever be a serious competition to OSes developed by huge teams driven by trillion dollar companies like Apple and Microsoft. Basically all Linux Distributions I’d consider “end-user ready” and polished are themselves developed by huge companies - like Android, ChromeOS, SteamOS.

I think the biggest issue Linux has on the desktop is the sheer amount of choice for practically everything. The ecosystem is so fractured.

So the choice is actually not between Windows, Mac and Linux, but between Windows, Mac and about thirty Linix distributions where not even experienced Linux Desktop users can agree on which they should suggest to the general public.

Which distro should I suggest to my neighbor? And are you sure other “Linux experts” would agree with your answer?

You know that, and I know that, but explain that to the person that asked that question.

Once I figured out it was Ubuntu with gnome I had to tell them to open the freaking terminal and spell them some commands over the phone. Not an environment I’d call “ready” for regular people.

The entire post in general is a bit weird, because it calls “Linux” “ready” as if Linux was something an end-user could install and use.

A question I got last week over the phone: “How do I show the day of the week next to the date in the desktop on Linux?” - what would you tell them?

Have you ever opened a word document that’s more than just a single unformated paragraph on libre office. I know it’s not a “Linux” issue, but people don’t care. Of over 80% of the world uses Windows and Microsoft Office and the Word document somebody sent me looks completely messed up an the inlined table is all over the place or the line break happens on a different row than on the original document it’s not ready. And don’t say “pdf”. People don’t care. Karen could open it on her PC with a double click on her machine and on your machine it’s completely broken, why should I sent you a pdf. I just sent the same document to Karen and it worked perfectly.

My point is that Linux Desktop is far from “ready” for regular people.

Ok here is a question someone recently asked me: “How to show the day of the week next to the date on my Desktop”. Try to answer that for “Linux” and help that person on the phone.

Linux is a kernel and not an operating system. My phone is runs Android, two of my root servers run debian bookworm, my living room media center runs Ubuntu, so I guess I have used Linux at least a little bit. But no distro I’ve seen (tried even more on some VMs) is really enough for me to suggest it to anybody that isn’t a “computer-person”.

It might be nonsense to you, but that’s the first thing people see. No matter how amazing you business is, if our business card is a handwritten phone number on a piece of toilet paper, nobody will call.

A what compositor - try to explain to people, that just want to open a freaking word document, what you just said. Explain to them why libre office completely messes up the formating. “Via gamescope”, “Wayland”, “wine” whatever. Doesn’t sound ready to me.

“Linux is ready” - which distro? Fractional (sometimes even non-fractional) scaling is a mess. Most things that go beyond changing the wallpaper image need some command line stuff. Linux Desktop is for nerds and definitely not ready.

Yes it works fine if you know what you are doing but most people don’t. There is often not one thing of doing stuff, but hundreds. It already starts with the selection of a distro how would a “non-computer-person” decide on a distro. Just try them out? Install twenty different distros because reasons?

Unless resources are pooled into a single distro to polish it and make a defacto standard for ordinary people, homes and offices, Linux is not ready. If I need the freaking terminal because I want to see the day of the week next to the date it’s not ready.

Desktop is a form factor not “software” and there are microwaves and refrigerators with “PC hardware” (in quotes, because it’s actually a pretty ill-defined term), but they still are not “Desktops” even is you install Fedora on your fridge.

The names are pretty clear and are about form factor. Desktop is something on top of a desk. Laptop is something on top of your lap. Hand-held is something you hold in your hand.

The steam deck is a hand-held game console - doesn’t matter what OS is it uses. It’s true that most stat tracking sites count it as “desktop” but not because it’s a desktop computer but because the user agent looks similar to desktop user agents.

If I install Android on a tower PC it doesn’t randomly become a smartphone even though all browser trackers would register it as a smartphone.

And Valve using a “typical desktop OS” on their handheld console doesn’t magically turn it into a desktop PC.

I could install a full fat kde on the entertainment system of a car - still wouldn’t call it a desktop PC.

So your definition for “desktop” is if it’s an x86 compatible architecture? Seems pretty random to me. Btw, there are x86 android device. IMO a desktop is something on the top of a desk to do typical “office work”. PCs, Macs, Laptops, etc. but calling a SteamDeck game console “Desktop” is pretty dishonest I think.

I’m not sure that’s really a good argument. I can connect an android smartphone to a monitor, keyboard and mouse and call it Desktop. It’s also just an arm64 or x64 based PC just handheld.

A Desktop PC IMHO is a device that is used for everyday “office” work and neither android smartphones nor steamdecks are that - but laptops for example are (IMHO)

But that’s not really a Desktop is it? If we’d count mobile device we’d also have to include Android and then the situation would look completely different.

Quite the contrary. I have a red-green deficiency (and so do about 6% of men). Viridis Color scale is pretty nice but two much colors are hard to read for a lot of people

I also think that this is what will happen (not only discussed) but unless we master fusion it’s practically just fixing a symptom and we’d have to do that for quite a while and the oceans will probably become too acidic.