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Torvalds Hasn't Given Up On Linux Desktop Domination, Will 'Wear Them Down' (cio.com)
Reader itwbennett writes: Linus Torvalds told attendees at the Embedded Linux Conference that although Linux hasn't dominated the desktop like it 'has in many other areas,' he isn't particularly disappointed and also hasn't given up on that goal. "I actually am very happy with the Linux desktop, and I started the project for my own needs, and my needs are very much fulfilled," Torvalds said. "That's why, to me, it's not a failure. I would obviously love for Linux to take over that world too, but it turns out it's a really hard area to enter. I'm still working on it. It's been 25 years. I can do this for another 25. I'll wear them down."
After just 25 short years, we've accomplished nothing!
Do you sincerely believe that crap? Or have you convinced yourself of it and need to convince the rest of us?
It certainly isn't leagues ahead, and there are things where the ability to manage via GUI is pretty much non-existent.
I've been using Linux since the mid 90s, FreeBSD since the late 90s, and Windows (grudgingly at first) since the early 00's ... I've used Android, iOS, and others ... and unless Linux has jumped forwards in the last few years by huge amounts, it is in no way "leagues" ahead of anything, and the absence of certain things except in a toy OSS version which may or may not work is a big limiting step.
I can't take you seriously as someone who isn't a raving fanboi. Because the last I saw, the Linux desktop still has some glaring holes and stuff you can't do from within a GUI, doesn't do auto-detection of things nearly as well, and still requires you to drop down to being root in a command line for many things.
When you can put my mother in front of it, and every admin task she could ever need to do is intuitive, easy to find, and accessible via GUI, and she can buy something at Staples, plug it in and use it withing 15 minutes ... Well, I might believe you.
Until then, you're way over stating the facts.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Riiiight....can I have some of what you are smoking?
Sure if EVERYTHING works OOTB and you don't ever update it, or want to do anything but surf? Then Linux is okay, but if anything goes wrong or an update takes a big shit on a driver? Then the user quickly gets dumped into shit town,where they will be told to "open up bash and type" a bunch of shit that almost NEVER works because they have hardware A, rev Foo and it was written for hardware A rev bar and Linux is picky as fuck about that. They will also find most "help" files with a "to do" place holder, if they can even find the fucking thing (I loved one Linux faithful that said if they don't know how to use Bash they should read the man page with it never crossing his little mind that if they don't know how to use Bash they won't know how to call up the fucking man page) that is.
A good 80%+ of Windows problems can be solved by start>all programs>system>system restore, no CLI BS required,if it doesn't boot? It can be easily solved with a simple system refresh that Windows will helpfully suggest on Win 8 and up. Of course if they want to get fancy they can push the rollback drivers button, which again Windows will suggest in later editions, and there is no place holders on the help button. Hell I could go on all day, from the hardware roulette (this works in distro Y but not X, or doesn't work at all, no way to tell without researching like it was a physics final as all the hardware lists are pathetically out of date) to the devs crapping on working code when it gets stable like its milk that has spoiled (KDE 3, Gnome 2, ALSA for the still brittle as fuck Pulse, and of course SystemD sucking up functions like Pacman) and replacing it with shit that isn't even alpha quality...but why bother?
As a Linux admin friend that suffered with Linux on his laptop for half a decade before giving up and getting a Macbook said "Linux desktops don't get any better, they just get different" and the fact that MSFT put out spyware instead of an OS with Win 10 and Linux STILL didn't gain shit? Frankly proves my point better than I ever could. Its too fiddly,its drivers are brittle as hell, I could honestly go on all day...but its never gonna get any better, its never gonna change, its gonna stay a niche desktop just like BeOS and AROS and have about as much impact on the world at large.
Oh and before the FOSSies attempt to play their favorite game of move the goalposts...we are NOT talking about servers, HPCs, or your toaster. We are talking about desktops, try to stay on topic.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.