Why has Linux not seen mainstream adoption?

[Sirgeorge]

I'm just curious as to what others think on this particular issue. Thoughts?

 

(EDIT: forgot to say, yes I meant desktop. I know it is very dominate in practically every other format. I was generalizing).

[Clanscorpia]

No games, no programs, difficult to fix problems, no real time support

[2FA]

If you're talking desktop/laptop, that's because it's too fragmented. The average user would find learning an entirely new OS/GUI pretty difficult.

[DarkEnergy]

It has, it's everywhere you just don't realize it. As far as consumer desktop operating systems go, probably lack of development/support, plus not everyone wants to re-learn something that isn't as user friendly. It seems like it's good at one thing, maybe a couple, but it's not good at most/everything. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

If you're talking desktop/laptop, that's because it's too fragmented. The average user would find learning an entirely new OS/GUI pretty difficult.

Well there is a taskbar

There is an app center (similar to Google Play or AppStore) for Ubuntu

You don't have to install stuff via Terminal

Ubuntu is getting friendlier, and it's free compared to Windows

[Rohime]

13 minutes ago, Sirgeorge said:

I'm just curious as to what others think on this particular issue. Thoughts?

 

It has.

Its everywhere.

( desktop is an exception ).

[Clanscorpia]

1 minute ago, Rohime said:

 

It has.

Its everywhere.

( desktop is an exception ).

You mean consumer market

 

3 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Well there is a taskbar

There is an app center (similar to Google Play or AppStore) for Ubuntu

You don't have to install stuff via Terminal

Ubuntu is getting friendlier, and it's free compared to Windows

Ive had to use terminal for nearly every program Ive installed

[Enderman]

7 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Well there is a taskbar

There is an app center (similar to Google Play or AppStore) for Ubuntu

You don't have to install stuff via Terminal

Ubuntu is getting friendlier, and it's free compared to Windows

But can you go to literally any website and download an exe and double click it and have your program installed in 5 seconds?

No you can't.

Also, windows is free in multiple ways.

[Sirgeorge]

Linux needs to do what Apple did, create a REALLY good cross compiler and distribute it for free. Also, support for exe (MUCH easier said  then done) would be nice but obviously...ya. However, these are sounding like the same reasons I have heard time and time again.

[Droidbot]

11 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Well there is a taskbar

There is an app center (similar to Google Play or AppStore) for Ubuntu

You don't have to install stuff via Terminal

Ubuntu is getting friendlier, and it's free compared to Windows

"Have you ever tried selling stuff on the Ubuntu Software Center? I did, back in 2014, and I was the 10th best selling app with a little game called Linux Tycoon. I made 27 sales." - Linux Sucks, the 2017 Edition

[Mira Yurizaki]

I'm going to go with marketing. When was the last time you saw an ad for any distribution of Linux (Android doesn't count)? Same reason why nobody outside of PC enthusiast circles will probably know who AMD is.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Also, windows is free in multiple ways.

Through your school, through someone's gift. Other than those legal ways I can't think of (except not activating it)

10 minutes ago, Enderman said:

But can you go to literally any website and download an exe and double click it and have your program installed in 5 seconds?

Well exe is for windows. 

Yay let's open a notavirus.exe file and hope your PC doesn't get nuked in 5 seconds 

 

4 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

"Have you ever tried selling stuff on the Ubuntu Software Center? I did, back in 2014, and I was the 10th best selling app with a little game called Linux Tycoon. I made 27 sales." - Linux Sucks, the 2017 Edition

Seems ok to me

14 minutes ago, Clanscorpia said:

Ive had to use terminal for nearly every program Ive installed

Common programs are there. If you need something more specific (video editing for example) then you shouldn't be using Linux tbh

[Enderman]

1 minute ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Through your school, through someone's gift. Other than those legal ways I can't think of (except not activating it)

Well exe is for windows. 

Yay let's open a notavirus.exe file and hope your PC doesn't get nuked in 5 seconds 

1) free upgrade

2) cheap key for $20

3) don't activate

4) yes, and exe is what 99.999% of what programs are. Go to any common website for software and there is only exe and sometimes the mac alternative.

5) you use this thing called an antivirus, regardless of what OS you use

[2FA]

25 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Well there is a taskbar

There is an app center (similar to Google Play or AppStore) for Ubuntu

You don't have to install stuff via Terminal

Ubuntu is getting friendlier, and it's free compared to Windows

That's not what I mean. I mean the literal layout is different. I'm not sure how much IT support you've ever done but stupid simple stuff like that tends to be grand majority of support tickets when it comes to the average user.

[Droidbot]

5 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I'm going to go with marketing. When was the last time you saw an ad for any distribution of Linux (Android doesn't count)? Same reason why nobody outside of PC enthusiast circles will probably know who AMD is.

ChromeOS? It's Gentoo based

 

3 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Through your school, through someone's gift. Other than those legal ways I can't think of (except not activating it)

Well exe is for windows. 

Yay let's open a notavirus.exe file and hope your PC doesn't get nuked in 5 seconds 

 

Seems ok to me

Common programs are there. If you need something more specific (video editing for example) then you shouldn't be using Linux tbh

Insider program builds are pre-activated. 

 

At least it's one fucking format unlike .debs, .tar.gz, etc. 

 

The entire place is abandoned-feeling. Installs act up, I can't find basic stuff... USC sucks. 

 

Video editing is fine. Not in 2009 where shit hits the fan with small projects lmao

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

1) free upgrade

2) cheap key for $20

3) don't activate

4) yes, and exe is what 99.999% of what programs are. Go to any common website for software and there is only exe and sometimes the mac alternative.

5) you use this thing called an antivirus, regardless of what OS you use

1) that is you already have a paid windows before

2) illegal + not free

3) ok

4) ok agree

5) ok

[ChalkChalkson]

1 hour ago, Clanscorpia said:

No games, no programs, difficult to fix problems, no real time support

That is not really true.

The games I mostly play (EU4 and Civ) are on Linux and when I am on my Laptop I like to run them on Ubuntu even though I have Ubuntu and Windows both installed, since Ubuntu is lighter.

@Sirgeorge's question is an age old thing though, and I think the answer lies in 4 things:

1. Brand loyalty
   Most people are used to run Windows, I guess that most adults have been using windows at least from XP onward (my first PC was XP, so I count myself to the XP generation), meaning that PC has become synonymous with Windows for them.
2. Reputation
   If you asked someone on the street how Linux looks, chances are he/she/they will describe the cliche Matrix style console to you. There is a lot of misinformation about the state of the more consumer oriented distributions
3. OEMs
   Quite few people are building their PCs and choosing an operating system for it. The PC market is dominated by OEMs, most of which are packaging Windows with it. This also plays into 1 since people who are introduced to the world of PCs are unlikely to encounter Linux
4. Target audience (selection bias)
   The above mentioned basically mean that Linux will pretty much only be used by people who are very comfortable with computers. But these people are often either (non exclusive) into programming or into games, but in your (and mine for that matter) echo-bubble of the internet, the latter ones are dominant, while Linux is more commonly found with people who like computers but don't game that much. 

Also the fragmentation is an issue, there are a billion different versions of Linux, it is absolutely impossible to generalise. Most are free, but there are some that cost more than Windows Server. Most have a UI, but there some who ditch it to get the last bit of performance out of the system. Therefor "Linux" isn't really a thing, but rather Fedora, Ubuntu, Mint and so on are the perceived OSes, further reducing the market share of each of them.

 

And for games, I Lord Gaben has done the Linux community a big service, there are a shitload of great games on steam that run of Linux, some even run way better than on Windows (eg KSP). So the steammachine gave us at least one thing.

[ChalkChalkson]

19 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I'm going to go with marketing. When was the last time you saw an ad for any distribution of Linux (Android doesn't count)? Same reason why nobody outside of PC enthusiast circles will probably know who AMD is.

When was the last time you saw an ad for Windows 10? I actually don't know whether there are ads for windows. 

[ChalkChalkson]

37 minutes ago, Clanscorpia said:

Ive had to use terminal for nearly every program Ive installed

When I setup my Laptop last time I installed the following programs via the center/download of a .deb file:

Steam, Lyx, MakeMKV, Chrome, a generic Python Terminal

and that is pretty much all I really use, I am studying physics with a focus on maths, so I use TeX for documents, most things run in browsers anyway

 

38 minutes ago, Sirgeorge said:

Linux needs to do what Apple did, create a REALLY good cross compiler and distribute it for free. Also, support for exe (MUCH easier said  then done) would be nice but obviously...ya. However, these are sounding like the same reasons I have heard time and time again.

Well there is WINE (WINE Is No Emulator), and it sometimes works! Most of the times is ends horribly, but sometimes it works  

 

23 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

That's not what I mean. I mean the literal layout is different. I'm not sure how much IT support you've ever done but stupid simple stuff like that tends to be grand majority of support tickets when it comes to the average user.

Jup, I know that issue (my grandfather switched from Win95 to XP lately), but that is an issue with switching cost and OEMs using windows. But, if I had to introduce someone to PCs, I'd still use Windows, just because googleing for a generic issue will always give you the windows result, and most download links will download an installer exe. 

But, if someone comes from Android or OSX, I think Ubuntu isn't that bad of a choice, since the "Store" concept and not being able to download programs via the browser easily will be familiar to them. 

So the widespread adaptation of smartphones might lead to a generation that can switch more easily to Ubuntu.

[noahdvs]

IMO, the #1 reason why Linux hasn't seen mainstream desktop adoption is because Windows was there first and because Windows is installed by default on most computers. Tons of people don't even know what an OS is, let alone the existence of Linux. It's not like Linux is bad though. These days, Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are great for users on 2 opposite ends of a spectrum; developers and the average user. By "average user", I mean people who mainly uses their computer to browse the web and maybe occasionally write up a document or spreadsheet. Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are in fact more secure and easier to maintain than Windows since everything can be updated from one interface that pops up every now and then and all packages that come from the default repositories are safe.

[ChalkChalkson]

36 minutes ago, Enderman said:

1) free upgrade

2) cheap key for $20

3) don't activate

4) yes, and exe is what 99.999% of what programs are. Go to any common website for software and there is only exe and sometimes the mac alternative.

5) you use this thing called an antivirus, regardless of what OS you use

1,2,3 Jup, Windows is really easy to get

5 Jup, someone who uses Mac because "it can't be hacked and has no viruses" will be in way more danger than someone using windows and being conscious about browsing behaviour.

 

4 is the big thing for me, If you use windows you will (by big and well written websites) be redirected to the .exe download, but go to the GOG, Minecraft, Steam, Chrome etc. download pages on a linux machine and you will find your .deb or .jar file pretty fast

[ChalkChalkson]

3 minutes ago, noahdvs said:

IMO, the #1 reason why Linux hasn't seen mainstream desktop adoption is because Windows was there first and because Windows is installed by default on most computers. Tons of people don't even know what an OS is, let alone the existence of Linux. It's not like Linux is bad though. These days, Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are great for users on 2 opposite ends of a spectrum; developers and the average user. By "average user", I mean people who mainly uses their computer to browse the web and maybe occasionally write up a document or spreadsheet. Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are in fact more secure and easier to maintain than Windows since everything can be updated from one interface that pops up every now and then and all packages that come from the default repositories are safe.

I fully agree, I especially like how closely Ubuntu relates to the Android interface. I think for the new generation that will come from smartphones to PCs Ubuntu will feel more familiar than Windows does, with the "Store" thingy, and the update popups.

[ChalkChalkson]

13 minutes ago, noahdvs said:

IMO, the #1 reason why Linux hasn't seen mainstream desktop adoption is because Windows was there first and because Windows is installed by default on most computers. Tons of people don't even know what an OS is, let alone the existence of Linux. It's not like Linux is bad though. These days, Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are great for users on 2 opposite ends of a spectrum; developers and the average user. By "average user", I mean people who mainly uses their computer to browse the web and maybe occasionally write up a document or spreadsheet. Linux distros like Ubuntu and Linux Mint are in fact more secure and easier to maintain than Windows since everything can be updated from one interface that pops up every now and then and all packages that come from the default repositories are safe.

Also server stuff tends to be easier on Linux (I admit I use Unraid and Docker for the most stuff)

[noahdvs]

2 hours ago, ChalkChalkson said:

I fully agree, I especially like how closely Ubuntu relates to the Android interface. I think for the new generation that will come from smartphones to PCs Ubuntu will feel more familiar than Windows does, with the "Store" thingy, and the update popups.

Microsoft wants to do everything through a store as well, but I think they're going to have more resistance getting that going than Linux will. The reason for that is, It's already easy to distribute Windows programs. Put it in an installer and provide an EXE on your download page. Will developers not want to bother with the extra step of putting it on the Windows Store and will the Windows Store be more like the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store?

On Linux, people want a simple app store for browsing a repository of packages. Packaging has historically been a pain and developers will welcome things that unify distros like AppImages, Snaps or Flatpaks, once they have matured enough.

[SCHISCHKA]

2 hours ago, Sirgeorge said:

Linux needs to do what Apple did, create a REALLY good cross compiler and distribute it for free. Also, support for exe (MUCH easier said  then done) would be nice but obviously...ya. However, these are sounding like the same reasons I have heard time and time again.

i dont think you understand what linux is https://www.linuxfoundation.org/

linux isnt a company like apple. Think of it more as a public hobby that some kid started and because anybody could join in they did. They do have a good crosscompiler, we know this because linux is on every type of architecture more so than any other OS. That is why it is on almost every super computer, modem, router, multimedia tv box, cell phone, tablet.

3 hours ago, Clanscorpia said:

No games, no programs, difficult to fix problems, no real time support

here is the biggest app store you may not have heard of it https://play.google.com/store

Its also got steam on the desktop which should not be news. Iv used it for games and work for almost a decade and and having steam available without Wine is awesome.

2 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I'm going to go with marketing. When was the last time you saw an ad for any distribution of Linux (Android doesn't count)? Same reason why nobody outside of PC enthusiast circles will probably know who AMD is.

there was at least one hot chick on youtube doing it, i think thats a start. heres an old one of BSD vs Linux. Linux booth is on the right

 

2 hours ago, ChalkChalkson said:

When was the last time you saw an ad for Windows 10? I actually don't know whether there are ads for windows. 

they are all over the place. any time you see the windows logo. there is prob one on your computer keyboard right now. You will find the windows logo in ads but you didnt think about it until now that i point it out to you