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

  • NTSync coming in Kernel 6.11 for better Wine/Proton game performance and porting.
  • Wine-Wayland last 4/5 parts left to be merged before end of 2024
  • Wayland HDR/Game color protocol will be finished before end of 2024
  • Nvidia 555/560 will be out for a perfect no stutter Nvidia performance
  • KDE/Gnome reaching stability and usability with NO FKN ADS
  • VR being usable
  • More Wine development and more Games being ported
  • Better LibreOffice/Word compatibility
  • Windows 10 coming to EOL
  • Improved Linux simplicity and support
  • Web-native apps (Including Msft Office and Adobe)
  • .Net cross platform (in VSCode or Jetbrains Rider)

What else am I missing?

furycd001 ,
@furycd001@lemmy.ml avatar

I honestly don’t care about dethroning windows or anything related to it. All that matters to me is that my Linux system works the way I need it to…

riskable ,
@riskable@programming.dev avatar

You say that because you don’t realize the benefits:

  • Better support for Linux with any new PC hardware on day 1. This includes things like USB devices, monitors, KVMs, UPS, everything.
  • Better support for all commercial software in general. More software will become available and it’ll be higher quality.
  • Vendors will be forced to test all their stuff on Linux which means it’ll all become more reliable and less glitchy.
  • There will be more diversity in software and distros which means widespread attacks (aka hacking, worms, viruses, etc) will have less success and smaller impacts.
  • The more Linux users there are the more Linux developers will result. It’s also much easier to start learning how to code on a Linux desktop than it is in Windows.
  • Better security for the entire world. Linux has a vastly superior security architecture than Windows and a vastly superior track record. The more Linux users there are, the harder it will be for malicious entities to break into their PCs which translates into a more secure world.
  • It’s much easier (for experienced users) to troubleshoot and fix problems in Linux than in Windows. This will lead to support teams everywhere getting frustrated whenever they have to deal with Windows users (this is already the case for many software vendors, haha). Therefore, it makes support people happy and easy going. Who doesn’t want to reach a happy, helpful person for technical support instead of the usual defiant/adversarial support tech? 😁
  • The worst sorts of hardware vendors won’t be able to get away with their usual bullshit. For example, if there were enough Linux users HP wouldn’t be offering extremely invasive 2GB printer “drivers” because their Windows customers would know enough Linux users that they’d be rightfully pissed and not depressively submissive like they are now.
  • When you do have a problem it will be easier to find a solution because the likelihood that someone else already had it and posted a solution will be higher (though admittedly this factor doesn’t seem to do much for Windows currently because of how obtuse and obfuscated everything is in that OS).

There’s actually a lot more reasons but that’s probably enough for now 😁

AceFuzzLord ,

better security for the entire world…

The moment Linux takes over as a dominant desktop/laptop OS we’ll start seeing a metric ton of the windows hackers follow suit to attack us. We’ll end up in a situation where they’ll probably go after some random kernel bugs that nobody else.has found yet or just don’t think are critical/exploitable. Or they’ll just attack the biggest, most widely used distros, going after people using them and any derivative distro similar enough for their malicious tools to work on it.

In general though, it would be a good thing for Linux to become a lot more prominent in the desktop/laptop market for general users. Especially since I imagine thanks to Linux being open source, people would be able to stop these malicious actors from doing damage much quicker (even though I imagine the majority of normal people switching over would almost never update because they’re used to forced updates and not having to do it themselves).

Strepto ,
@Strepto@sh.itjust.works avatar

People don’t realize this enough.

There will be just as many vulnerabilities found with Linux distros as there are with Windows as soon as there’s real interest in finding them.

Not saying we should stop linux adoption or anything, but there’s a massive illusion that Linux is more secure. It isn’t.

reddithalation ,

I mean it might be more secure, it might be less secure, we just can’t read through the source for windows, so we won’t know until linux is attacked as much as windows. It would (will?) definitely be interesting to find out.

GenderNeutralBro ,

There will be more diversity in software and distros

I wish, but I doubt it. If we get to the point where there is a mass migration from Windows to Linux, it will almost certainly be concentrated into one or maybe two big distros. Probably Ubuntu.

Today, most proprietary software vendors only support Ubuntu and RHEL. Look at AMD. The ROCm installer supports Ubuntu 22.04, RHEL 9, and SLES. That’s it. Not even modern versions of Ubuntu. And it’s extremely ornery about dependencies. Python 3.8 or 3.10 required! No 3.9! No 3.11! Trying to get it to install on any modern Debian-based distro is the ninth circle of Dependency Hell.

olympicyes ,

Right now it’s sort of up to Nvidia and Wayland. Desktop sound is in good shape, desktop color (profiles and matching) and fonts are not there yet. Ray tracing and hdr have proven how much of a second class citizen desktop Linux is, so right now the most important factor is the SteamDeck for pushing the envelope to implement new tech. Chinese and German goverments moving to Linux helps but to be honet, I think that the “office and browser” use case is pretty well covered.

mycodesucks , (edited )
@mycodesucks@lemmy.world avatar

Possibly. But it’s also pretty common in many instances of technology adoption that as more users come, the quality gets worse, and while open source doesn’t have to worry about a shareholder-driven profit motive driving it, it’s still easy to wind up with a muddled focus. I wouldn’t expect that Linux and all of the associated software projects that make the functional desktop are going to be an exception overall. If you’re an open source developer working on a project now, basically any user is some form of power user, and it’s easier to find consensus of what to prioritize on a project not only because Linux users tend to be better about understanding how their software works and are actually helpful in further development, they’re also likely to direct development towards features that make software more open, compatible, and useful.

Now fast forward to a future where Linux is the majority desktop OS, those power users are maybe 5% of the software’s user base, and every major project’s forum is inundated with thousands of users screaming about how hard the software is to use and, when bug reports and feature requests are actually coherent, they mostly boil down to demands for simpler, easier to understand UIs. I can easily imagine the noise alone could lead to an exodus of frustrated developers.

Some things are better for NOT trying to be the answer for everyone.

cosmicrookie , (edited )
@cosmicrookie@lemmy.world avatar

As a new Linux, the hardest time that i have had with it, has been with my hard discs, and having software recognize them or save data on them. Its been a mess to find them on different file explorers and file pickers. I know that longtime users will explain the logic to it, but it is not intuitive. Also understanding root drive, root access and root user. Still not 100% sure i understand it. Things need to get simpler and more self explanatory for Linux to replace windows.

azvasKvklenko ,

I’m a Linux dinosaur user since mid 00’s and I confirm that despite huge efforts to make it as seamless as possible, it still sucks today. The problem is that you even have different file pickers (that’s what xdg-desktop-portal tries to mitigate but some applications will do it the traditional way by including toolkit library and filepicker from it, or they will even implement their own), there’s a great freedom to how drives can be mounted and multiple systems to manage drive mounts. It’s managed by gvfs or kio or something else, the behavior is a little differently every time. There are attempts to handle all automatic mounts in /run/media and while most distros conform to that, some won’t.

What I would recommend is to

  • create your own mountpoints for your internal drives that you don’t expect to change too frequently. It’s done in /etc/fstab. If you’re on KDE, the Partition Manager app can help with setting mount points.
  • your primary desktop file manager (like Dolphin, Nautilus or Caja) probably has option to copy absolute file paths. Sometimes copying them is easier
  • If you see GNOME’s file picker, the path is hidden unless you know magical combination of CTRL+L that shows and allows to edit the path
cosmicrookie ,
@cosmicrookie@lemmy.world avatar

Good tips thank you!

The major difference for me was that drives are shown in the mnt folder

This is not intuitive but like much other, makes sense once you know it

azvasKvklenko ,

This isn’t intuitive because you can mount anything (mostly) anywhere you want under any path. The whole Linux ecosystem never decided one standard path or mounting method. If you want a disk to be mounted under /home/$USER/Games where /home is also mountpoint to something else, you are free to do so. Desktops automate it and expose UI controls, yet again some apps are from GNOME world, some other from KDE or else and they have different UX and way to expose mounted storage. And I agree it’s not ideal, especially for newcomers.

azvasKvklenko ,

Oh, and two more random tips:

  • commands like df, lsblk or mount can help checking out state of mounted filesystems
  • file pickers usually support drag&drop, whether it’s a file or directory that you drop onto it
cosmicrookie ,
@cosmicrookie@lemmy.world avatar

Nice thank you!

GustavoM ,
@GustavoM@lemmy.world avatar

Nah, the average “just werks” user won’t leave Windows even if it took money out of its credit card.

nexussapphire ,

There one glaring issue. Most people don’t really even know what an operating system is and some of the people I talk to think Linux is a manufacture.

I literally bring up Linux to my friend when they are having trouble getting windows to work and they say I think I have a linux. They mean it’s a Lenovo but they seem pretty confused about the idea of installing a different OS on their machine. This isn’t just older people but 20 something year olds (about my age).

It’s funny to me but I try to be patient and help them with their problems anyway.

Corgana ,
@Corgana@startrek.website avatar

Confusing Linux with Lenovo is pretty funny.

WeirdGoesPro ,
@WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

My ex wife turned out to be a Lenovo. She and her new girlfriend seem very happy. /s

vulgarcynic ,
@vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works avatar

Must of been how they used the little red nub.

GenderNeutralBro ,

Obligatory xkcd: xkcd.com/243/

vulgarcynic ,
@vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works avatar

There’s always one!

TechAnon ,

Bro - sounds like you missed an opportunity to dual boot!

Tiempo ,

I have Linux in a Lenovo… What does it mean???

lord_ryvan ,

Lenovo’s, especially the older Thinkpad T-series (such as the Thinkpad T440) are excellent Linux laptops, they’re durable, upgradable and offer a smooth ootb experience with Linux systems (down to open source drivers for their fingerprint readers)

So it means u prolly don gud

olutukko ,

wow I have never heard people being this ignorant. that sounds funnt, and a bit sad. too bad I have hp and not linux

nexussapphire ,

I can’t blame them. There’s a lot out there that I still remain ignorant of. I’m sure we’re all a bit ill informed here and there.

8Bitz0 ,

Is it just me or has using a brand name as a regular noun become really common? For example, Android-based devices are just referred to as “an Android”.

jjlinux ,

I hope you’re right. What I did was let my kids use Linux, whatever distro they wanted, and they have used Windows only at school. I think this is the way to do it, expose this growing generation to good software and keep them away from the enahitified ones, while explaining the importance and joy of privacy.

If we all do that with our kids, the next generation will have less sheep following all the commercial crap out there.

governorkeagan ,

I’m planning on doing the same thing. I only have Linux installed at home. If they really need Windows for something I could always spin up a VM.

mastod0n ,

You know what gets ppl to use Linux? 100% Software compatibility out of the box and OEM who preinstall Linux distros.

Barely anyone outside the bubble oft techies and enthusiasts cares. You have to BRING it to the users. For most oft them comfort is king after all.

Plume ,

We say this every fucking year! Come on, this is getting ridiculous! Stop it! There will never be a year of the Linux desktop and if anything, this post shows why.

So much of the Linux community is utterly detached from what really matters to most users and focus on things that 80% of people won’t ever understand, care about or even use.

We focus on this and meanwhile, little quality of life features constantly get ignored when these are the real things that users will encounter and that will piss them off. They get treated as trivial. They get ignored in favor of other things.

Somebody mentioned it here. I saw it and I didn’t need them to mention it to want to say it. It’s already something that’s pissing me off. On Fedora for my Framework Laptop there is no way to adjust the scrolling speed on my trackpad which is moronically fast.

We are on the 40th release of Fedora, the 46th release of GNOME, and somehow this still isn’t baked in. I still have to go look around and use the fucking terminal to do something this basic. When some of them try Linux and will eventually push them to go back to Windows. And when users complain about this, what do we get? A bunch of elitists telling them to fuck off to go back to Windows, which I also saw as responses to this complaint about the trackpad.

Listen, Linux is an amazing project and I love it. I daily drive it. I don’t use Windows anywhere in my life. I haven’t touched OS in like two years at the very least. So many things that we are celebrating as brand new things that are finally working properly are things that already work by default on Windows and have been for years. We’re not going to convince people by mentioning that, “oh, we fixed this thing that’s been working forever on Windows.” It works on Linux now. People need more than this.

You want to know the sad truth? Here we go. We, collectively here, users of platform like Lemmy, are a vocal minority who are detached from the reality of most users. We care about ads, we care about privacy and so on, but the reality is most that people don’t. Most people won’t even notice that those things are there. For so many people, Windows is just the thing that stands between them and launching Chrome. It already works for them. There’s no reason for them to switch.

We are all way too invested in what runs on our computers and we forget that we are just us. Most people are not like us. Privacy scandals stop us from using stuff like social media and so on, but it clearly hasn’t stopped most of the world.

People heard about the shit that Meta was and is doing. Did people stop using Instagram? No, they didn’t. People know what Google is doing, how many of them switched to DuckDuckGo? A clinical moron turning the platform into a far-right haven didn’t stop most users from using Twitter.

The API bullshit didn’t stop most users from using Reddit. Sure there were protest, but I guarantee you that 99% who took part in the blackout just went back to it after. A lot of us didn’t. We left. We’re here now. But we’re still a tiny minority.

Ask a Firefox user did telling Chrome users that privacy was important ever worked? I’m sure you will get examples of it working but it’s a minority. Most people don’t give a shit and they use Chrome.

I don’t have a solution. I’m sorry, I made this long-ass comment but I don’t have much else to say. I don’t have a good solution to this problem.

magguzu ,

Lol and we’re forgetting the biggest QOL feature of all: actually coming installed with pre built computers.

Chrome OS was the only one to ever make a dent.

Without that this will always be a “power” user OS. People just want it to work.

bazmatazable ,

I think this is the only feature that matters. For a user switching away from Windows I would love to hear about the user experience between buying a system76 (or another Linux system seller) vs a Mac laptop. Complaining that Linux doesn’t work with your hardware is like complaining that the hackintosh that you built doesn’t work with your hardware.

morrowind ,

Seriously. I think Linux users expend 10x the energy worrying about ads on Windows than actual windows users. If you’re used to seeing hundreds of ads / day on the web, why the hell would you care about an occasional onedrive popup.

Re touchpads totally agree as well, I installed fedora kde on my mom’s abandoned laptop a couple weeks ago and it was atrocious. Limited gestures, no configurability, no smooth scroll, no scroll momentum except in apps that implement it manually, scrolling speeds totally off. I managed to fix most of these, but regular people can’t be expected to.

Battery life, for another is unpredictable and quite bad. Most people I’ve talked to seem to assume performant/light = efficient when it comes to Linux. This is not the case. Once again, solutions exist, but they are not accessible to a regular person.

slowbyrne ,
@slowbyrne@beehaw.org avatar

My personal definition of “the year of the Linux desktop” is when we hit a market share % that starts to convince companies to take Linux support seriously. I don’t think we’re that far off from that happening and if Microsoft keeps adding in these terrible “features” to windows, more people will move over. Is 2024 the year for that? Probably not but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens before 2030.

Cethin ,

A friend brought up some Ubisoft game (that I’m not that interested in) that is exclusive to their launcher. I was 90% sure this was an indication there was no hope for Linux there. I googled it and they apparently had already promised they would be strongly supporting Linux. A shitty company like Ubisoft is supporting it. I think we’re very close.

I’d be very curious to see the hours played on games by OS. The last data I saw of probable usage percent had Linux at 4%, but I’d bet a large number of Windows and Mac machines are mostly just web browser machines. I would suspect Linux users are more likely to be gamers as they’ve already shown more interest in technology.

I don’t know what percent we need to be mainstream, but we’re on a good trgectory. If we can manage to hit 10% I doubt it could be overlooked anymore. Also, every person who swaps over is one more person who’s likely to push others to swap. It’s a slippery slope. We’ll get there.

governorkeagan ,

I’d bet a large number of Windows and Mac machines are mostly just web browser machines

Just getting these devices (libraries come to mind) to switch to some LTS distro would bump Linux market share quite a bit.

bazmatazable ,

The actual % numbers are probably not that important. Software developers and hardware manufacturers are looking for a critical mass of users of their product. So if 20% of the world switch from Windows to Linux but they are the 20% that only use a web browser then why would the compatibility landscape change? Adobe are not going to do the hard work to support Linux just because schools and libraries switch to Linux. Even if every government mandates using Linux for government offices would Cricut suddenly support Linux?

governorkeagan ,

True. I’m thinking that if we have 20% of the population using Linux at work (like you mentioned), it would still help in converting others who use more specialised software (not just a web browser)

azvasKvklenko ,

No. Nobody cares, no matter what MS does. They can literally crap on users faces and they’ll happily lick it as long is Windows is the supported platform. And it will stay like that for decades to come.

We can expect some growth, because the tech savvy PC enthusiasts might want to look for alternatives, and if the desktop Linux is good enough, some will stick to it, some will go back, as it was always for last 30 years.

NoSuchAgency ,

I was a Windows user up until a couple of years ago when I switched to Kubuntu and never looked back. I think after Windows 10 is gone, there will be a big uptick in Linux.

Creat ,

People said that about Windows 7 EoL too, which was much more of a paradigm shift. Absolutely nothing happened. The dial for “market share” barely moved, let alone Linux increasing substantially.

Just not gonna happen. I really wish it would, but it’s just wishful thinking. Most people either don’t care (they just “use a PC”) or wouldn’t know how to switch anyway.

Gluten6970 ,

Comparing the era of Win 7 EoL with the current one isn’t apples to apples. For one, there actually was a slight increase in Linux marketshare. Second, enshittification has entirely taken over (made even worse by AI), and that wasn’t thing until a few years into Windows 10. Will it be The Year Of The Linux Desktop? Absolutely not, but there will be an uptick in Linux usage. The real delusion is saying there won’t be. Who knows how long it’ll last? But we’ve already seen more and more people get Linux curious thanks to Microsoft’s continued blunders and things like the Steam Deck.

Creat , (edited )

You clearly misunderstood my post. Never said it was apples to apples, quite the opposite. I said the change from 7 to 10 was much bigger (and yes, we’re ignoring Win 8 completely).

And of course will there be an uptick in Linux usage, he says it would be a “big” one, to which I objected to. Linux desktop has been trending up for a while, and while there might be a slight additional bump, I highly doubt it will be far beyond the margin of error for that general positive trend.

I also said it “barely” moved (it being the market share), which implies it did move, just not a lot.

More to the expected magnitude of the 10 EoL date pushing people to Linux, it won’t be anywhere near what valve accomplished with the steam deck. Why? Because people buy a gaming console, they can play games on. Most don’t care that it’s Linux, it’s just a tool/toy. It happens to be Linux underneath. On their PC they actively have to change it themselves. If people bought a PC that had Linux on it, they probably wouldn’t overly notice or care either, but they just can’t. Overwhelmingly they just come with windows, it you want it or not (usually there is no option to not buy that license).

Edit: what is harder to predict (or guess) is the indirect influence of valves accomplishment. Now that gaming on Linux it’s actually viable, this might actually open the door for more people to give it a go. But as per usual with these things, it’s probably less people who actually do it than one would intuitively expect or hope.

Edit 2: changed Vista to Win8

Successful_Try543 ,

I said the change from 7 to 10 was much bigger (and yes, we’re ignoring vista completely).

Do you mean Windows 8/8.1 instead of Vista, as 8 was between 7 and 10?

Creat ,

Ah yes of course, edited. Both are the unwanted stepchildren, so it’s hard to keep em straight when you don’t care about em…

bigmclargehuge ,
@bigmclargehuge@lemmy.world avatar

I think it’s a little more complex today than it was in the days of Win7.

First, the performance/compatibility gap is much smaller than it used to be. Ie, back in those days, Wine was much more of a crapshoot. Now, compatibility is a lot better, and there are a number of straightforward troubleshooting tools like Winetricks. Proton is also huge, being an in-built feature in the largest gaming platform on PC.

Second, the Steamdeck has exposed numerous more casual PC gamers to Linux than probably there ever has been in the past. Granted, the PC handheld market isn’t massive, but it’s also not small. People want to play AAA pc games in the form factor of a Switch, and it just so happens that the most popular, well polished and best supported product in that market ships with Linux.

Third, todays focus on privacy and freedom is much more of a hot button issue than it was back in the day. I’m not at all trying to imply that there weren’t priviacy concious folk back then, but face it, in 2011, your car didn’t track your location and sell that data to marketing companies. Your phone didn’t capture your fingerprints, and your operating system didn’t track your online shopping habbits and show you ads in the start menu, or take constant screen-captures of your work at all times. People are more concious of their privacy now than they ever were (even people who aren’t super into tech are at the very least familiar with ad blockers and VPNs). I genuinely believe this will be one of the bigger factors if there is an uptick. People will learn about this alternative OS with no ads, no trackers, plus it’s free, and that will at least get them curious. You’re right, some will try but abandon it, some won’t care at all, but I think the number of people who just want out of what MS is locking them into is growing.

someacnt_ ,

Yeah it’s tough to expect general users to switch. I would just like linux to go over 5% threshold so that companies seriously consider it.

0x0 , (edited )

Better LibreOffice/Word compatibility

Not on the MS side for sure, they’ve always made sure they don’t follow their own spec so they can more easily vendor-lock. Typical EEE from the company that coined it.

Windows 10 coming to EOL

That, per se, no, both XP and 7 kept existing for years, but 11 around the corner with ads and recall… that may steer some people away. Edit: as will inflated minimum system requirements at every release.

Web-native apps (Including Msft Office and Adobe)

Those are OS-agnostic and a way to keep using MS apps. Office is one of the hardest to let go (because of aforementioned reasons), especially in a corporate environment - which, most likely, is the bulk of MS customers in terms of revenue.

.Net cross platform (in VSCode or Jetbrains Rider)

Until they change something. EEE, remember?

PushButton ,

You forgot “Recall”.

I wanted to make a wordplay here, but I couldn’t find one.

Anyway, a lot of people are worried about the OS remembering everything you are doing like it’s taking screenshots all the time.

For my part, that would be a big no-no.

vox ,
@vox@sopuli.xyz avatar

it’s currently opt-in rather than opt-out, fully on-device and won’t work on devices with weak NPUs (or on any which completely lack it)
unless it changes in the future it’s not that bad at the moment tbh

tigerjerusalem ,

…until a botched update or a bug sends everything to the cloud, MS makes an about face saying oops my bad, then say it was fixed.

TheGrandNagus ,

Of course it’s on-device. Microsoft is doing all the processing on people’s PCs, rather than their own servers, where they’d have to pay for that computation.

Data still gets reported to MS afterwards.

PushButton ,

It must communicate with Microsoft in a way, just by the fact the “AI” must not “hallucinates” by suggesting the user to jump from a bridge or to add Glue in his pizza…

olympicyes ,

What is the bridge jumping bit about?

Gluten6970 ,

“On-device” has to be a half-true at best. I’m having a hard time believing that the NPUs on these new ARM chips are powerful enough for it to be fully on-device. Even more-so with “approved” x86 chips. There has to be some data sharing between the client and server, similar to how Rabbit does their shit.

Codilingus ,

Look up TPUs, like a coral tensor. Extremely efficient at machine learning, only, and cheap. If NPUs use anything like a TPU, then it absolutely can do local “AI.” Then once the heavy lifting is done, then I’d imagine all that data is uploaded.

kirk781 ,

Recall does things that weirdly, a malware would have done back in the day.

Joltey ,

Any source regarding “VR being usable” on linux? The current development seems pretty stale and it doesn’t seem like that’s gonna change anytime soon, especially if you own any Oculus headsets that predates the quest. I do hope the rumors of valve making the deckard are true, but those are just rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt.

MentalEdge ,
@MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz avatar

SteamVR 2.0 dropped a bit ago, though it didn’t do much for Linux users…

But it does point to something still happening with VR over at Valve.

utopiah ,

I mean… it just works? Since the Index is out it’s just been working basically. Not sure what else would be needed. Sure being able to use Quest headsets would be nice but unless Meta decides to open up, I don’t think it would happen. IMHO that’s a vendor problem, not the OS lacking support, sadly.

Joltey ,

It’s definitely a vendor problem rather than an os problem. But it’s still a problem that the biggest manufacturer in the VR space has no support for Linux, hence i find it a bit farfetched to say VR is usable on Linux when the most popular hardware is not being supported by it’s vendor.

Though there are community efforts like Monado that looks pretty promising!

utopiah ,

I mean if the vendor specifically decides NOT to support Linux AND there are viable alternative that do, e.g Valve Index, that run IMHO some of the best content, i.e Half-life:Alyx, then IMHO popularity is indeed important but it does show it’s not an OS problem.

utopiah ,

FWIW I did build and run Monado, even presented at FOSSXR on WebXR, so I’m relatively confident I understand the status of XR support. Here the problem is not a lack of capability of the OS is my point, it’s “only” a business decision from one single vendor that yes is popular on low-end hardware.

utopiah ,

I should clarify, the Quest does work on Linux for streaming if you use ALVR, one just has to tinker a bit. Apologies forgot about that solution.

MudMan ,

Wait, if Steam VR works on Linux for Index are Quest HMDs not usable through Steam Link? Or does that still need the Oculus software installed? I'm not actually sure.

utopiah ,

AFAIK it’s Windows only www.meta.com/en-gb/…/requirements-quest-link/ so some things work, e.g adb so you can install APKs or use scrcpy but you can’t rendering on desktop via e.g SteamVR and use the Quest officially.

MudMan ,

Quest Link yes, I was referring to the alternative Steam Link app that is available on Quest. That's maintained by Valve (and honestly works better than the wireless version of Quest Link, IMO). I was wondering if that works as an alternative, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are still dependencies for controller inputs and head tracking that need Oculus software installed to work on the server side.

utopiah ,

Ah yes forgot about that despite actually using it! AFAIK it can support SteamVR because my goal while tinkering with it was testing SteamVR on the Apple Vision Pro via ALVR (Air Light VR). So yes it can be done, I even made ALVR work on the SteamDeck more than a year ago, just to tinker.

Anyway back to Steam Link does work on Linux, sadly streaming VR does not work on Linux, at least today when I tried and despite having SteamVR installed. Maybe some tinkering is required.

domi ,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

Any source regarding “VR being usable” on linux?

I use VR with my Index almost every week on Linux. Filled to the brim with minor issues but definitely useable.

Still looking forward to a Deckard announcement, the Index is starting to show its age.

MonkCanatella ,

linux is at single digit percentages and that’s including steamdecks so… no, not even clsoe

nicknonya ,
@nicknonya@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

yotld.com

simple ,

Bro just trust me bro it’s year of the Linux desktop bro everyone will use Linux bro

the_crotch ,

That’s been true every year since I stated paying attention. In 1997.

wahming ,

Most of the points listed here don’t matter a hoot to the average user.

Huschke ,

True.

The only thing the average consumer will even notice is the end of support for Windows 10. However, once the prompt to upgrade to Windows 11 appears, 99% will click “yes” and forget about it. They might be a little annoyed by the changes, but that will be all.

MudMan ,

Nobody will notice end of support for Windows 10. Why would they? Nobody noticed end of support for Windows 7, either, and it's still up and running in many places where it really shouldn't.

End users don't give a crap about security updates and as long as users don't bump into a lack of third party driver they won't even notice a difference. And yeah, like every other time they will eventually update to the current version once more practical issues crop up. 10 to 11 isn't even close to the harshest upgrade path MS has deployed.

pbjamm ,
@pbjamm@beehaw.org avatar

However, once the prompt to upgrade to Windows 11 appears, 99% will click “yes” and

be informed that their computer does not support Win11

and forget about it.

UNY0N ,

That’s slowly changing though, as the enschittification of windows continues. They may not care to know about the details, but all of those points do fall under the “it just works” catagory. And they do care about that.

wahming ,

I agree. However if you look through the other comments in here, you’ll see a LOT more examples of stuff that fall into the “it just doesn’t work” category instead. And most of them are a lot more obvious to casual / new users. Those would be the ones that really require priority if Linux is ever to become mainstream.

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