• kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    3 days ago

    I hopped on the Linux train when Microsoft began pushing hard for AI integration and Microsoft accounts. I fucking hate AI and I don’t need some corpo cunt looking over my shoulder and taking notes while I use my computer.

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      3 days ago

      Welcome! Because we Linux aficionados are incorrigibly nosy and passionate, which distro did you pick and how are you liking it so far?

      • kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        3 days ago

        I went with Mint because my technical knowledge of Linux is very basic at the moment. I imagine I’ll jump to a more hands-on distro as my familiarity with it increases. EndeavorOS looks interesting.

        • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          17 hours ago

          You don’t have to. I’m a long time Linux user and extremely well versed. I still use Mint and Debian because I’m an old fart who likes things that just work.

        • enthusiasm_headquarters@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          18 hours ago

          There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Mint.

          There’s a small army of Linux “snobs” that look down on it for recondite and mostly silly reasons. Mint is a great and user-friendly OS. The only thing I can say against it is that many of the binaries in the distro app manager are very out of date, but this hardly matters now because AppImage and Flatpaks are so on top of it and great.

        • Sar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          2 days ago

          EndeavourOS is fantastic. It’s my default distro because I love Arch, but CBA installing it manually these days. I’ve done my time with the Arch installer over the years 😂

          And the community is great btw.

    • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 days ago

      Same. It should be illegal for them to be forcing this shit on us. At least I only have to endure it on my work pc. No windows on personal devices

  • Sar@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    The journey of Linux has been one of slow but steady progress, accelerating in recent years. It took eight years to go from 1% to 2% (by April 2021), then just 2.2 years to reach 3% (June 2023), and a mere 0.7 years to hit 4% (February 2024). Now, here we are, at over 5% in the USA! This exponential growth suggests that we’re on a promising upward trend.

    The article was written this month, so it’s conveniently ignoring the fact that the rise from 4% to 5% took 18 months. That’s actually a huge slowdown in uptake, not an acceleration.

    But I’m glad it’s at 5%, even if it’s only in the US. Now let’s get there globally, and keep it going…

    Mind you, the usage on the desktop, as the article says, is probably actually a significant bit higher than 5%, thanks to Unknown, and if you include ChromeOS, which personally it should be IMO.

    • Bluewing@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      Thanks to Trump, there appears to be some initiatives in Europe for governments to switch to open source. It seems they want to try and get out of relying on US companies for their technology. That would make a large jump in the user base.

      They have tried before, and not had the best luck in dropping US vendors. Things seem to run out of steam at some point and they switch back. It will be interesting to see if things stick more this time.

      I’m pulling for them to succeed.

  • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    128
    ·
    4 days ago

    Proton is a big deal for the change. Think back 5 years ago and switching to Linux was much less approachable because you needed to be an enthusiast to get your games running. Nowadays, you just click download on the Linux Steam client and >90% of the time, it’ll just work.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      58
      ·
      4 days ago

      I have been on Linux for over 15 years and even I don’t want to go back to the old days of manually installing Wine and having to create different prefixes to get different games to launch without sound. or some missing textures.

      • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        4 days ago

        not manually, yeah, but bottles and such are still really useful. it shows how much good GUI tools help with usability for everyone

        • eronth@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          13
          ·
          4 days ago

          Not just UI, but simplicity of operation. The closer to “it just works” a system/program is, the more palatable it is to adopt.

      • Zink@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 days ago

        Hear, hear!

        There is nothing wrong, and in fact there is something good, with FOSS being polished and user friendly out of the box.

        Historically that has not been a priority, because FOSS has been by the computer nerds, for the computer nerds. But if that priority shifts to being a bit more “by the computer nerds, for the normies” then that is a good thing as long as the developers don’t prevent the power users from accessing any part of the system they want. Fortunately that completely against the point of the FOSS world.

        I first learned Unix in the 90s, I use my Linux desktop more than my phone, I’m an engineer on embedded systems digging through C and C++ code all day, I have terminals open all day, and… I have Linux Mint Cinnamon installed on all my machines and love it. Change My Mind, lol.

      • AnarchistArtificer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 days ago

        I ended up wading into the world of WINE prefixes when I tried to mod some older games. I got it working in the end, but it sure made me grateful for how easy I have it with Proton

      • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        4 days ago

        I, on the contrary, prefer it when everyone uses mainstream Wine with winetricks and prefixes so if something doesn’t work, you can at least fix it using someone’s advice posted on winehq. With Proton it seems that everyone expects stuff to either just work or doesn’t bother. The Proton advice is usually as valuable as Windows problems advice.

          • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 days ago

            Like I said, similar quality to googling for Windows problems. Reports on WineHQ are sorted by Wine version, OS version, usually involve specific actions taken.

            • voodooattack@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 days ago

              That’s exactly how protondb works. And you also get hardware and distro information.

              You can search and filter reports by all of the aforementioned criteria for any game that’s listed.

              • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                3 days ago

                OK, it just has utterly degenerate webpage design. I thought those were voluntary additions by users telling what they use, not common format. Inconvenient.

          • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 days ago

            Yes, I do that too, except different things work and don’t. And making tweaks for Proton in Steam seems more bother.

    • gizmonicus@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      4 days ago

      100% this. I’ve been on Linux for 27 years now (ffs I’m getting old), and until proton, I just wrote off gaming as a hit or miss experience, usually not worth the trouble. Now I’ll buy Windows only games without even checking compatibility in most cases. Unless it’s a full price AAA game, I’ll risk the off chance that it doesn’t work.

      • caseyweederman@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        Clair Obscur worked out of the box and it took a while for me to realize that I didn’t even check before buying.

    • herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      3 days ago

      I think it’s less Proton, more Vulkan/DXVK. Proton is just wrapping these amazing things. Before DXVK, games in Linux used to suck big time.

    • aliser@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 days ago

      now is a good time to switch. Im so glad im off windows and their bullshit. a lot of games just work, including many online games, which is super cool. often there’s no difference between launching a game on Linux vs windows.

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      4 days ago

      If we can get close to that kind of support for productivity software, I think Linux usage would explode. One of the problems with business adoption is that specialized software almost always skips Linux. The Affinity suite, for example. I’m hoping we see some snowballing now that Linux is growing so quickly, but getting Wine/Proton working with more non-game software would also be an enormous win.

  • tehn00bi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    3 days ago

    I made the switch recently for probably the strangest reason.

    I’ve been running win 11 for over a year using a shell tool that allowed me to move my task bar to the top of the screen and some other win 10 functionality.

    However win 11 removed the ability to move the task bar and my shell program lost most of its functionality. After that I was done.

    I’ve Linux off and on since 2002ish so it’s not scary to me and I’m pretty happy with Arch and KDE right now. Still the occasional crash that appears to happen sometimes when watching YouTube.

  • Fedditor385@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    2 days ago

    If it was simple and easy to install and play games on Linux as is on Windows, I would have switched over a decade ago.

    • DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      The biggest weakness is multiplayer games with aggressive anti-cheat. So those are the types of games you play, continue to stay away from Linux.

      But for most games on Linux, it is just install and play now through a platform like Steam. I haven’t run into a game that I want to play that doesn’t basically “just work”.

      • Classy Hatter@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 days ago

        Pretty much this. If you have bought games from GOG or Epic, you can use Heroic Launcher to install and play them.

        There has been some talking that Microsoft might remove third-party applications, like anti-cheats, away from the kernel. If that happens some day, it would probably help Linux gamers with some of those multiplayer games. But, there are already many multiplayer games that work just fine on Linux.

    • ano_ba_to@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      I installed Bazzite last month, installed my games on Steam and I just played all my games. Cyberpunk, RDR2, Cities Skylines, Divinity Original Sin 2, no additional setup involved, no turning off the wi-fi just to create a local account. I was ready to reinstall Windows if it got too difficult. I got rid of Mint too. I thought I’d need it as people say it’s easier.

    • wampus@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      Yup. Lack of game support is a big roadblock – having just one or two friends on linux makes finding games your group can play together a real headache.

      Another weird-ish hiccup, is the lack of good/cheap/trustworthy tax software. Installing windows once a year to do taxes is bonkers. Some solve it by having a VM that runs windows that they only use for taxes, but that isn’t really a fix. You’d still be a microbitch.

    • jnod4@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      I have Linux on my “gaming” pc and I just stopped gaming, I have like four hours of uninterrupted leisure a month and they’re spent in terminals trying to troubleshoot games

  • Psythik@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    Why does that website have the same layout as one of those AI-generated blogs that clogs up search results on DDG? It isn’t AI, but the design is almost identical.

  • jsomae@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    As pointed out on hackernews, this is likely attributed to (a) decrease in desktop usage by non-linux-users, and (b) the gaming hardware industry embracing linux (steam deck etc.)

    • Auth@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 days ago

      That HN thread was such a shitshow lol. Also I dont think there is anything credible to suggest this increase from 4.6% to 5% is due to ‘non linux users’ or steamdeck. Steamdeck has contributed sure but desktop linux is growing but every single metric (steam hardware survey, PH Desktop user survey, US Gov traffic, tech youtuber trends, etc).

      useless antidote: My friend who is a non techie gamer and she plays a lot of anti cheat type multiplayer games ASKED me to help her switch to linux mint and even when I said thats a bad idea she shouldnt switch she still wanted to. She ended up loving it even though there was a few pain points (fucken nvidia dual screen config on x11) and i think a few of her other friends have even switched after hearing her say it works well.

  • Mark@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    3 days ago

    I put Ubuntu on my year old Windows laptop and to my surprise, everything is just better. I mean better than Windows AND better than Linux ever was before when I used it previously. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing some major manufacturers shipping PCs with Ubuntu pre-loaded in the coming years.

    • Kevin@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      I bought a Dell with Ubuntu preloaded in 2019. I think it should still be possible (It’s their “developer edition” models).

  • jabjoe@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    3 days ago

    Wow, that’s excluding Chrome OS, which has 2.71% on it’s own. So you could say Linux is at over 7%, but glad they split it so we know.

    • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      3 days ago

      ChromeOS is going to the Google graveyard, to be replaced by android

      (Maybe this is a good thing as Chromebooks have an expiration date averaging 3-5 years where they stop getting Chrome updates, when if it’s android can get updates to the browser for a much longer time AND have Firefox as default)

      • kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 days ago

        I have an old Chromebook that I used for D&D sessions that is now collecting dust because they stopped supporting the model and use security hardware to prevent overwriting the drive that I have neither the tools or skills to circumvent.

        Google can blow me where the pampers is.

      • jabjoe@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        Well yes, but Android now has a Debian container option. If they expose some Wayland/X interface to it for displaying stuff on Android, for a load of stuff, maybe that is good enough for a lot of stuff?

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      Linux as an OS is generally meant as Desktop Linux, and it most definitely is in this context that is about desktop marketshare, Desktop Linux is mostly following freedesktop guidelines, which has traditionally helped standards on Linux a lot to streamline developments. So for instance XFCE/Gnome/KDE desktop apps can be run in all the different desktop environments. For instance also standardizing things like how tray icons work. Freedesktop is part of X.Org Foundation, and Chrome OS does not use X.org or Free Desktop standards at all. The newer Wayland to replace X is also an X.org standard.

      So while Chrome OS is based on the Linux kernel, it is NOT a Linux OS in the original sense, a term that became popular decades before Chrome OS or Android became a thing.

      If you include Chrome OS you might as well include Android too. As it can run on for instance Raspberry Pi and other mini systems, and could be used as a desktop system.

      Chrome OS is a Linux kernel based OS, and not much more than that.
      It’s somewhat confusing in some situations that Linux as a desktop OS doesn’t have a unique name, but it wasn’t a problem originally, as what some prefer to call GNU/Linux was made 100% for desktop use originally.

      The Linux kernel is way way more widespread and successful than what we usually term Desktop Linux or GNU/Linux.

      TLDR:
      Linux OS, Desktop Linux, GNU/Linux are generally meant as the same thing.
      Chrome OS and Android do not belong in that category. They are Linux based as in the Linux kernel only, but do not follow the standards of Desktop Linux.

  • nexguy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    3 days ago

    I think the fastest way for Linux to spread is for there to be a cheap gross dirty disgusting commercial version pushed at bestbuy/walmart…etc where people can become familiar enough with it to switch to other distros and out still feel familiar.

    • enthusiasm_headquarters@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      I think the fastest way for linux to spread are a) a state-sponsored (totally open source) product that sees a free and open OS as part of a commitment to a free and open society. or 2) one of these fuckhead billionaires drops $200M or so into a trust, rather like the Poetry Foundation, which has the singular commitment to create an OS for people and to support it indefinitely.

      I don’t think the answer to any of society’s ills is to get Wallmart involved. ed: walmart however its spelled WGAS.

    • bloooooort@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 days ago

      Im a long time Mac user but recently got a steamdeck. Desktop mode uses a version of kde and I really like it, if I had to switch from Mac I would definitely go with linux instead of windows. I think the steam deck will introduce a lot of people to linux.

    • Bluewing@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      I remember when Walmart sold boxed releases of RedHat and Mandrake. My first installs were fueled by $20 boxed releases at Walmart. I was so bummed when they stopped. But I could send away for Ubuntu releases on a CD for free.

  • passepartout@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    58
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 days ago

    inb4 Linux users sweepingly get declared as criminals for some flimsy reason. There was some news of Facebook filtering out Linux content because it seemed harmful to them.

    • verdigris@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      4 days ago

      I’m less worried about any specific targeting of Linux than I am about some random tech bro whispering in Trump’s ear and suddenly he bans Open Source or something similarly unenforceable and insane.

      • kescusay@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        4 days ago

        Banning open source would basically destroy the entire Internet in the United States. No tech bro is going to want that.

        • halowpeano@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          4 days ago

          Business tech Bros would absolutely love to force all open source closed, all long as it’s now their property.

          • Jason2357@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            4 days ago

            The software tech bro thing started with a letter from Bill Gates to the hobbyists that despite learning to program on freely available software, and copying a freely available language with his new version of Basic, everyone needs to stop sharing and pay to use software. They all have wet dreams of pulling out the ladder and owning everything. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to nullify copyleft or something like that.

        • verdigris@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          4 days ago

          I know that and you know that, but have you seen the sort of thing Trump and those who have his ear think is a good idea?

          I don’t think they’d just ban using all open source software, it’d be something ridiculous like asserting that all FOSS licenses are null and void and those projects are now the intellectual property of the US. Likely propped up by the classic “security” justification.

    • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      Reminds me of the thing in Spain where the cops just immediately suspect anyone of drug trafficking for using pixel devices because thats what grapheneos runs on.

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      4 days ago

      My understanding of that was Facebook just gave up on human moderation and let an AI do whatever it wanted. Still unacceptable but totally foreseeable.