2024: The Year Linux Dethrones Windows on the Desktop – Are You Ready?

SRo , 1 month ago

lol

abs_mess , 1 month ago

The problem is usability for non power users. As a server environment nothing beats it but man the UI on these apps have some horrendous defaults and the CLI is everywhere. KDE still can’t get rounded corners right.

AusatKeyboardPremi , 1 month ago

Though I agree with your overall point, I can’t see why rounded corners (or the lack of it) might be a noticeable issue.

AnUnusualRelic , 1 month ago

Whenever I install Linux on someone’s computer, the first thi that they ask is always “why aren’t the corners properly rounded? I can’t use this!”

(No, this has never happened, but it would be funny, I’d get to smack them over the head)

polle , 1 month ago

Because here are many people who did a switch to linux. How did you handle using a cad software like solidworks or fusion360 after switching to linux?

bam13302 , 1 month ago

Same thing for any other software, see if you can get it running in wine, and see what the alternatives are and try them out until you find a solution you like. You need to accept there may be change, and may need to experiment and hit up Google to find solutions, but solutions do exist.

From a quick Google search, i found about 4/5 potential open source options

FreeCAD would probably be what I try first, but it’s hardly the only option and seen some people complain that it feels archaic (but it’s FOSS). I’ve also seen draftsight recommended a few times, and it has a free trial but is not free.

Also apparently fusion360 has a web interface that may be usable.

reddithalation , 1 month ago

freecad is horrible, not really worth trying.

I’ve heard of people getting fusion 360 running great with a snap, but others say it has issues. the github for it is being actively maintained, so thats a good sign at least.

I tried to get siemens solid edge working through wine, but it was mostly broken and I didn’t dig too deep into troubleshooting, I just dualboot windows for fussy programs and anticheats

Fungah , 1 month ago

Like. I can’t even rub Wayland on my 4090. Its a black screen. This happens with manjaro kde. With mint I can at least see my (frozen, unresponsive, unusable) desktop.

This all sounds cool and stuff but I kind of wish people would, like, shut the fuck up about Wayland? My understanding is that NY experience.is far from unique. People that own PCs have nvidia cards. Unless “the year of the Linux desktop” involves everyone vaporating anmd cards that magically have cuda cores somehow out of their asses then nothing about Wayland really matters to us.

You can “get an and” card to me all you want, but here’s the thing: I don’t fucking want one. I use my cuda cores. Its why I spent as much as I did on a 4090.

I guess 555 is supposed to make Wayland work with nvidia?

I mean, look. Using an nvidia card with Linux, and getting the requisite drivers working, can be am experience akin to having your has deferens ripped out by an aging badger. I get it. But until I can nvidia while I Wayland I just don’t care. And I’m not alone.

Grass , 1 month ago

these days I keep hearing people say that nv wayland it fine every time amd vs nv for linux comes up. Is manjaro more behind arch repos than I thought? or does it also not work on arch and other distros are doing something different?

unique_hemp , 1 month ago

It’s fine with the beta driver, so still not fine by default.

Allero , 1 month ago

As much as I love Manjaro, same issue here. Wayland just blackscreens on an Nvidia card, and that’s a 1060, mind you, not something bleeding edge.

planish , 1 month ago

KDE and Gnome haven’t been stable or usable for the past 20 years, but will become so this year for some reason?

Linkerbaan , 1 month ago

Download Ubuntu 24.04

Instant error mesage on boot

APT keyrings are wrong

Need to add old 22.04 to lists to install packages

No CUDAtools support for 24.04 yet

Yeah nah.

GustavoM , 1 month ago

Download Ubuntu 24.04

Found the Windows poser.

Allero , 1 month ago

I don’t know how many time it should be said.

If you want to go Linux, DO NOT GO FOR UBUNTU

It was a solid choice 10 years ago, but now it’s a piece of headache.

Go Manjaro/EndeavourOS if you need ease of use and relatively bleeding-edge experience. Check Fedora if you want peace of mind. Check Mint once your tools appear in latest mainstream Ubuntu. Do not go for actual Ubuntu.

Linkerbaan , 1 month ago

Using anything aside from Ubuntu is certified headaches when programming. Debian is the least volitile alternative.

If even 24.04 has missing packages when installing stuff compared to 22.04I can’t imagine how bad it would get on an Arch derivative.

thefrankring , 1 month ago

I switched from Windows to Linux full time around Feb 2024.

I think Linux is ready for desktop use.

monkeyslikebananas2 , 1 month ago

I’m a Mac guy and I have a PC for gaming. I just installed Mint on my PC and it has been working great for gaming. I probably won’t need Windows ever again.

thefrankring , 1 month ago

Most games work on Linux or with Steam Proton.

But some games still don’t or has kernel level anti-cheat systems.

I would just ignore those games.

BranBucket , 1 month ago

I switched in 2021 and I thought the same then.

bufalo1973 , 1 month ago

I stopped using Windows in the XP era. Later on I started working in a job that required me to have a Win8 laptop. 2 years later I reverted back to Linux once I stopped working there and had Win8/10 as a game OS. But my main “serious” usage was on Linux.

SeattleRain , 1 month ago

STOP

iegod , 1 month ago

When windows 10 stops working is the better chance. Even then, not convinced it’ll be year of Linux.

captain_aggravated , 1 month ago

I once ran a poll on Reddit asking why people switched to Linux. More people responded it was because Microsoft launched a new hated version of Windows than Microsoft discontinued an old beloved version. ie more people switched because Win 8 came out than Win 7 died.

Zink , 1 month ago

I get the sense that both of those two things are somewhat true here. They’re getting rid of 10, and people want to avoid 11.

8Bitz0 , 1 month ago

I’m pretty sure 95% of people don’t even know what Windows is. It’s just part of the computer to them.

Zink , 1 month ago

Definitely. The context just seemed to be people who know what OSs are.

captain_aggravated , 1 month ago

In my family, my parents’ generation either worked in IT and spent some of their careers writing macro-assembly on punch cards, or they have no coherent answer to the question “what is an operating system?” For this latter group, I’m going to be their sysadmin either way, and I no longer sysadmin Windows.

Everyone in my generation are pretty computer literate; I think I program in the most languages but my cousins all know what file systems are, could put together a household budget in Excel, know how to install software etc. A few of my cousins are in that “mostly use Windows for gaming and Ubisoft/EA aren’t great companies” phase where Linux is still a bit inconvenient.

My niece, the only representative of her generation in my family, has a reasonable child’s grasp on computers. She’s used iOS and ChromeOS and Windows and Linux, so I’m pretty sure she understands the same hardware can run different software. Not sure how deep that understanding goes but she’s a kid she has time to learn.

toastal , 1 month ago

I dual-booted for a while & was on Microsoft Windows 7. I was using it less & less–usually just to play specific game. When MS Windows 10 was announced with an all new set of privacy invasive features on by default & 7 was going to be phased out, & as I got older with less time I wanted to spend with games, I decided to completely pull the plug on Microsoft & saying that there were enough games out there that worked on Linux (Proton infancy) that if Linux support wasn’t out of the box, I would just choose something else. The same will happen with some folks as 10 support is pulled–where if I thought 10 was too privacy-invasive, 11 + Recall is a nightmare.

captain_aggravated , 1 month ago

Yeah, my hypothesis is that most of the folks who will object to Windows 11’s bullshit enough to switch to Linux already have by now. There likely will be another bump in transitions at Win 10’s EoL but not as many as who have switched since the rollout of Win 11 already.

Trainguyrom , 1 month ago

My dad switched for vista, I switched for 10 for a while. Who knows, maybe I’ll switch for 11 too

beejjorgensen , 1 month ago

The one thing that would drive my parents over the edge is ads in Windows. They already use Firefox and Libreoffice.

LeFantome , 1 month ago

It is a good list ( from an “alternative to Windows” point of view ). In particular, you make a good case for the gaming side of things.

Unfortunately, even if that is all Linux needs, the hordes take time to arrive. The big impact of changes this year will be seen in the migration numbers 3 years from now. The biggest opportunity is probably the Windows 10 EOL and that is not until the end of next year. By then, many gamers will have Windows 11 capable hardware.

I do think that gamers and devs are the two groups likely to lead the charge on the next wave of Linux adoption. .NET dev in particular already has a lot of momentum on Linux with the transition from desktop to cloud and the primacy of Linux in container based workflows. Things are not quite there yet for .NET mobile dev on Linux. I bet most .NET devs that have left Windows are using Macs these days though. That said, that means they are already using tooling quite easily migrated to Linux including bath Rider and VS Code as you say. In the cloud, .NET must be “deployed” more to Linux than to Windows by now.

That last point is the most important I think. Windows is no longer the most important platform for Microsoft—Azure is. Microsoft is quite happy to let you use Linux on Azure. In fact, Azure pipelines and .NET itself are faster on Linux at this point. It is still “developers, developers, developers” for Microsoft but it is now more cloud than desktop. That changes the role of Windows at Microsoft.

I think it is perhaps less what we think about Windows and more about what Microsoft thinks about Windows that matters.

The other crown jewel is Office. Office 365 is a subscription. It is increasingly a “cloud” offering as well. Soon, they will not care about Windows as a delivery vehicle for Office either.

As Windows starts to matter less strategically, the question will increasingly be how to monetize the Windows user base more heavily. That is more ads, more data mining, more AI, and an increasingly crap experience. More and more, Windows Product Managers will be rewarded for their short-term gains and incremental revenue. Stewardship of the platform will move further and further into the background.

That is how Linux will win.

It won’t be this year though.

DumbAceDragon , 1 month ago

Linux is about on-par with windows xp/7 as it stands, and it has been for a while. The reason people haven’t switched is OEM and software support.

azvasKvklenko , 1 month ago

There’s absolutely zero reason to expect Linux mass adoption as it is NOT happening anytime soon. What can happen instead is increased market share to something like 10% and even that is super optimistic from a long time user perspective.

The focus should mainly go to relatively technical users that can at least manage basic stuff and not mass market consumers. It’s good when people try Linux, yes, but it’s even better when they find it useful, it does what they need and they keep using it, not just trying and go back to a primarily supported OS that’s maybe invasive but “at least it works”.

vzq , 1 month ago

The future of computing is not computers. Computers, by and large, are trending down. There is already mass adoption of Linux. Android. Steam decks.

Computers with keyboards and mice are increasingly obsolete. Fighting for market share there is like trying to become the biggest vendor of sailing boats in the steamer era.

azvasKvklenko , 1 month ago

PC computers were already replaced for different use cases so yes, the market shrunk, but they will stay relevant for many others for a long time. Simple tasks can easily be achieved with super convenient rectangles that are effectively computers with different input methods, but they just won’t cut it for anything more complex like 3D modeling, CAD, video editing etc. 30 years ago it was impressive when PCs could hold a large collection of digital music with instantaneous access to all of it. Now it’s just plain irrelevant, as basically all music known to human can be accessed from anywhere with just a handy rectangle. But then even relatively simple tasks like doing taxes is a daunting task on a smartphone, and only a tiny bit more convenient on a tablet.

Of course at some point computers with completely different input and output methods can put all we know today into obsolescence, but I think we’re not even close. Some may say that VR headsets will be the thing, but personally I don’t believe so. While having virtual 3D viewport is fun and games, people seem to ignore what it takes away. Simple things like being able to see the same thing on a screen by multiple people without some video sinks between headsets or ability to interact with things without having to wear helmet or putting anything on (however lightweight it is), would be gone. Don’t get me wrong, they can certainly have their place and things they’re really good or the best at, but it’s just not going to easily replace more traditional input methods. More likely something like holographic displays paired with motion sensors recognizing body movement or some shit

LeFantome , 1 month ago

Desktop computing is transitioning from mainstream to niche. Increasingly, “normal” computing is phone, tablet, and web. Normal people increasingly use desktops as big screens for the web.

Linux is a great platform for people to access their applications on the web. It is a good option at this point to give to your aging parents to grand parents the next time you have to setup a computer for them.

The other people buying desktops are buying them for things like gaming or dev. These are more technical audiences as you suggest. Gamers are a certain kind of technical though. We are almost at the point with Linux that gaming could go mainstream. I think it already makes a good ( perhaps the best ) dev platform.

Where Linux is worst is probably “technical” Windows users as these are the desktop people that are going to have specific needs and organizations that Linux may not meet. Part of the problem with Linux is that this is the group it has been targeting. That has led to a lot of desktop complexity.

Don’t get me wrong. I am one of the people taking advantage of and contributing to the diversity and complexity of the Linux desktop. That is not helping it make the jump to mainstream desktop users though.

taanegl , 1 month ago

Tl;Dr “I want my~ I want my~ I want my NixOS~”. Yes, I am that old. Shut up.

I love the enthusiasm… but I must disagree :( unfortunately, much to my sheegrin bacuse I want to spite Linux commenter on this sub so badly because they are a bunch of brogrammers, but for me the year of the Linux desktop has to happen at the hands of device manufacturers. “Monopoly-by-default” is real, always has been, and never ever really left. Don’t take your eyes off Microsoft or Apple for one second - the bastards - because when you do, you fall into the vendor lock-in trap.

I personally think the EU should publish a bespoke bootloader with a gallery of operating systems that can be fetched using PXE, with image signing and checking of course, sort of like the “browser choice” alternative for OS’s. It doesn’t need to be the main bootloader, but it has to be available - and most likely GRUB2… because GRUB2 is everywhere. It’s what boots MacOS on M* machines. It’s the one boot loader to rule them all. What I’m saying is we’re in the year of GRUB2.

Anyways, outside my ideal there’s really nothing that will bring the “year of the Linux desktop” popularity wise, besides a large vendor relying on the actual Linux desktop stack - which is possible, but there’s probably a reason why Samsung bet on Enlightenment, and it’s not because it’s creator is so enlightened. MIT spelt in South Korean translates to MINE.

One thing 2024 has also stood for is cleaning house. GNOME was caught breaking their own strict rules, KDE keeps ironing out the ancient from the Plasma desktop paradigm, though now KWin has better Wayland support than Mutter for some reason, even though one has had Wayland support for years (a real tortoise and the hare situation this), and people are obsessed with a display server that nobody develops for anymore. (XWayland is XWayland, not X11). So finally we’re in the year of Wayland. Good bye, screen tearing. Hello breaking with protocol and causing screen corruption. Oy vey.

In regards to developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, and developers, then I look at the Rust stack, I look at the Zed stack, even the C# stack, or even a certain GUI framework with its own IDE built entirely using its own Emscripten SDK (can’t remember the name for the life of me). Here I see some new ways of doing the same thing and creating cross-platform solutions from the get-go, that might bring in new products and services on the Linux side.

But we already have access to more private and public services in software form on Linux than ever before before, so maybe the year of the Linux desktop passed us by but as a lackluster metric and Linux as a desktop (or LaaD as I’d like to call it, because I’m a moron) really won’t be popularized until one of the major vendor completely screws the Pooch, and then someone brings a solution based on the Linux stack. Come on, Copilot+ and System76…

Also, NixOS is finally trying to fix it’s issues, which is great, because Nix could realistically be a reproducible stack across systems, which can be tested by spitting out a single flake file. I see it as an addition to Flatpaks, Snaps and even AppImages. I want to petition Ableton to bring Live Linux, because I know in my heart of hearts that they’ve hired people with NixOS experience and that the Push 3 standalone needs some form of OS. But NixOS is a perfect example of why people are asking what happened to the year of the CoC’s? Maybe we can do a reboot.

So in conclusion, I’m over here waiting for the year of NixOS, which will be a lackluster event where nobody is happy with, most likely celebrated by another institutional figure having to walk it off. See you in 10-15 years.

phoenixz , 1 month ago

I’ve noticed a LOT of pushback against the ads in MS shit. Microsoft has become greedy (well what am I saying, they’ve always been, kist really effin more greedy now) and somehow seems to invest even less in development. All Microsoft apps I see today are just painfully painfully bad. Again, not that they’ve ever been particularly good at anything besides keyboards, but lately it’s been comically worse.

I’ve seen Linux desktop grow significantly now, and I really do see it happen that Linux crosses that threshold where there is just no more stopping it