2014-The year of the Linux desktop?

[wanderer7]

Great post, Jedinovice.

[Brahim Salem]

Thank you Jedinovice This says it all!

[exploder]

I find more and more people asking me to install Ubuntu on their computers. It seems a lot of people are just not very happy with Windows 8. I installed Ubuntu for a friend at work and through word of mouth people are coming to me asking me to do the same for them! Many seem to want something different but still simple to use. So many people have got used to Android on their phones and tablets so they do not really mind the learning curve of going to a different operating system.

Ubuntu is no longer that ugly brown operating system it once was, it has it's own unique color scheme and an elegant, streamlined look to it. People understand just like they do with their Android devices that it is not Windows and that Windows apps will not run on it. Decent game titles are available in the software center along with a nice selection of other software.

I personally think that Unity has the same appeal as the MacOS to many without the huge price tag. Also, in my opinion, I think Unity looks better and more modern especially with the refinements in 14.04. People that are used to the MacOS take to Unity almost instantly and so far they all have had very positive feedback about it. Canonical has been much more focused on quality since they started out on their own developing their own user interface too, they need a good reputation if they expect to be successful.

Unity, Android, Chrome OS, etc are the ones gaining commercial success. The days of the Windows 95 layout or traditional desktop are fading away. Some will hang on as long as they possibly can to the old and familiar but sooner or later they will have to embrace new ideas and ways of doing things. The year of the Linux desktop is here and it is because of the new and fresh ideas that are being developed.

[Brahim Salem]

sorry but i have to disagree with you I don't think that "traditional desktops are fading away. Unity is great but don't expect people to switch just for the look of it. What does it add to productivity?!! Cinnamon is by far more productive and it does not occupy all your screen with panels and launchers! But yes unity looks great and i love the way it is implemented on Ubuntu 14, but i don't think for that Unity, Metro or any other touchscreen oriented DE will take over the wimp ("windows, icons, menus, pointer") desktop Man will always use a spoon no matter what. He changes the production material but not the product itself. It is as blunt as that. With that said I think Cinnamon should add a touchscreen GUI as an extension that can be toggled on/off. If they do, and they must ultimately, I think Cinnamon will be the best ever. The rule is simple here: "adapt and develop or die"

[exploder]

Cinnamon is more of a hybrid, a mix of traditional and new. I do agree that Cinnamon will eventually have to evolve to run on various devices because hardware is changing too.

[Jedinovice]

Gosh. I wasn't expecting such enthusiasm for my post.

I figured people would disagree with me!

[DrHu]

A business would be wise (in my opinion) to keep their desktops and avoid slavishly following a vendor's latest moves
--it just doesn't fit well with any kind of strategic planning

• Unfortunately, planning isn't usually done by strategists, more likely by corporate HQ (execs' et al), and they get more influenced by vendor advertising and junkets than the workers
  --mainly because workers do not influence the enterprise progression, and are not invited in

So enterprises should stick with Win OS 7x, which is still desktop OS rather than jump to Win 8x (a mobile OS or a hybrid combo maybe!)

Nether Apple nor Linux can compete in that market.

The other choice which actually makes a lot more sense from a management and control reason is to use thin clients
--that eliminates most concerns about viruses and any software purchcase/licensing to find them
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ ... hinpc.aspx
I don't know how close to thin client that product list is, since it will depend on a lot of other Virtualization options, and that might not really be the thin client model of years past

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/cloud ... -computing
--this is closer to the orginal idea

And then there is the cloud computing
--one could of course do ones own cloud (the old intranet idea, but with more storage and device connection options..)

[Brahim Salem]

Cinnamon is more of a hybrid, a mix of traditional and new. I do agree that Cinnamon will eventually have to evolve to run on various devices because hardware is changing too.

Yes I agree and I think they can turn Cinnamon into a beautiful touchscreen GUI if they work on the Cinnamon menu (like Dash on Ubuntu) or the hot corners without affecting the WIMP desktop. Just like below

[Jedinovice]

>So enterprises should stick with Win OS 7x, which is still desktop OS rather than jump to Win 8x (a mobile OS or a hybrid combo maybe!)

>Nether Apple nor Linux can compete in that market.

Hmmm, given how whole countries are standardising on Linux – Germany and China most notably, I beg to differ. Given that with Wine Linux can run the vast majority of Windows programs but not vice versa, Linux has many advantages in the commercial sector. Those advantages are why Linux has been such a success on the portable, server and embedded devices markets. It is ONLY on the dekstop that Linux has lagged behind but there is evidence that, Internationally speaking, Linux has actually overtaken the Mac. The 1.5 figure is patently wrong but it is really hard to get real figures.

I agree that data migration from business already using Microsoft would be so painful that most will shy away from but I find it interesting that a school I have been subcontracted to has just upgraded all it's classroom PC's to... Macs. I suspect, though I do not know, Windows 8 was largely responsible given just how resistant to change teachers are – in respect to technology anyway. I mean, going Mac is expensive so there must have been powerful reasons to shift.

While I agree that most businesses are NOT going to jump to Linux from XP, Microsoft's grip on the market has weakened and their near abandonment of the desktop with 8 plus Linux's growing recognition in industry (I define industry wider than the commercial sector) argues that Linux take up In business is not imossible.

>The other choice which actually makes a lot more sense from a management and control reason is to use thin clients

>And then there is the cloud computing

Youch! With respect, no. Putting aside the security issues which I predicted the minute the 'cloud' became 'cool' there are to many things that have to be done on personal computers. [Er, excuse possible tone issues. Posts are terrible at convaying expression. I appreciate your thinking on the matter and it allows for discussion.]

I do video editing for amusement. Am I really going to do that on the cloud?
AutoCAD via thin client?
3D rendering- you want to tie up the server for everyone for a day?
Computer programming? You're going to compile on a thin client setup?
While we have MMORPG's, most gamers want all the power of their i7 mega machines for real time, cinematic style gaming experience
I like to write for amusement. I want my personal data on my personal machine with my personal set up. I suspect many businesses and users will think likewise. The minute data comes off your laptop on someone else's storage you lose control.

I have seen a number of stories saying "the cloud is the future" but I when I list the tasks that are best done by a personal PC and it's almost everything. Unless the data you dealing with is small and/or it needs to be shared then thin client is not the way to go. It's too easy to overload a server when you put everyone on one anyway to acees the server and the workstations have to be PC's and so you may as well use the power of the personal PC anyway.

Hell, at University I had access to Wordperfect 4.2 on the Unix server via dumb terminal. But it was still easier for me to produce at home on my Commodore PET and then C64. Thin client can only take you so far. Linus Torvalds had just unboxed his 386.

I will accept that many businesses will benefit from a degree of thin client operation. A lot of LMS or expert system benefit from thin client operation especially where some needs data access on the move – nurses and doctors in hospitals for instance. Sales system are screaming cloud computing and tablets. But the data input there is not dense. Imagine writing a sales report on a tablet – on the cloud as well! I live in Indonesia too where electricity is not always guaranteed outside the major cities. Hey, coming from a commercial pathology software background... are analysers going to be run via servers?Thins client definitely has its uses but it has real limits too.

The minute you do any 'real' work with intensive processing, you are better off with your own computer. Bear in mind that in the 1970's it was assumed the future was thin client – users have home terminals to the local server. Turned out that the public wanted their own computers.

Now I note that everybody rushed to buy the tablet at rates that shock the whole computer industry. But, just as everyone switched from netbooks and laptops to tablets, the market sell rate in tablets dropped. Because a tablet can do some thing better than a laptop but the moment you want to be productive the tablet becomes next to useless. Ditto thin client and the cloud. They are great for some things but when it comes to getting real work done, nothing beats your own machine. I teach the RICH ethnic Chinese here. No social group is more 'cool' and tech obsessed than Chinese teenagers. At first they were ;tablet, tablet, tablet!" The tablet was COOL. Laptops were old and boring. But then they realised the games on tables did not measure up to the games they played on their i7 laptops. Very quietly the laptops reappeared in my classes. [Steam could be Linux's entry to the home.]

Yes – thin client and cloud for data sharing and tech on the move and small docs, but desktop/laptop for producing anything of any seize or complexity, bar databases which really have to be put on a server.

Finally, I would agree that just two years ago Linux was not ready for industry. The OS was OK but the software lagged behind commercial Windows. I would say that this has changed dramatically! I do agree that it will be hells own job to get business to shift and, frankly, some will never change. But as with businesses that would not upgrade from Windows 3.1... those business will die if/when Linux does overtake Windows.

Two years I would not have considered the possibility but times have changed and Linux has (finally) grown up. But thanks for your thoughts. You're not absolutely wrong but I do think you have over estimated the capabilities of both the cloud and thin clients. Hey, the minute I start processing sources for my video I fill up my cloud storage space even before I start rendering!

[wanderer7]

...I find it interesting that a school I have been subcontracted to has just upgraded all it's classroom PC's to... Macs.

What a terrible decision... I guess, the person who came up with this idea, hasn't heard about an alternative option yet.

I do video editing for amusement. Am I really going to do that on the cloud?
AutoCAD via thin client?
3D rendering- you want to tie up the server for everyone for a day?
Computer programming? You're going to compile on a thin client setup?
While we have MMORPG's, most gamers want all the power of their i7 mega machines for real time, cinematic style gaming experience
I like to write for amusement. I want my personal data on my personal machine with my personal set up. I suspect many businesses and users will think likewise. The minute data comes off your laptop on someone else's storage you lose control.

I totally agree with you. Personally, I don't like the idea of cloud computing because of some privacy concerns. However, 85% of people don't do the things you listed above. All they do is just web-browsing. No wonder Google's ChromeOS looks and feels like a web browser and mainly it is a web browser indeed.
When people say that "cloud computing is the future", I guess they simply mean that "cloud computing is going to bring more money". Cloud computing can't replace traditional desktops/laptops of course. Not yet, at least.

[Pierre]

And then there is the cloud computing
Youch! With respect, no. Putting aside the security issues which I predicted the minute the 'cloud' became 'cool' there are to many things that have to be done on personal computers.

the big issue, particularly now, in Europe, is where is the server that is hosting that cloud?.
- if it is the the USA - then that is indeed a major issue ..

a serious number of companies, now do *not* want their information stored on a USA based server, period.

server companies, in say, in Vietnam or Iceland, - are taking advantage of this situation. ..
- by pinging their local area - Asia / Europe.

the USA based server companies, have / are loosing a serious amount of clients/ revenue.

- whilst there are a number of Linux desktop O/Ss in the USA, there are several that are based elsewhere - AKA LinuxMint.
& this simply shows a expanding area of interest in all things Linux based.

which will promote the linux desktop, that we all like, so much.
but, it will take a number of vista failures, win_8 failures, win_xp EoL, before there is sufficient room for the linux desktop, to take off.
& it may always be behind the iOS percentage level.

[mr_raider]

Cinnamon is more of a hybrid, a mix of traditional and new. I do agree that Cinnamon will eventually have to evolve to run on various devices because hardware is changing too.

Yes I agree and I think they can turn Cinnamon into a beautiful touchscreen GUI if they work on the Cinnamon menu (like Dash on Ubuntu) or the hot corners without affecting the WIMP desktop. Just like below

I recognize XBMC but what launcher you using?

[InkKnife]

I am baffled by all the comments saying that Ubuntu is similar to OSX.
Before switching to Linux I was a long time Mac user, over 25 years total, 11 years on OSX and I am here to tell you that Unity has virtually nothing in common with OSX at any level and it bugs me to see so many people who are not familiar with OSX saying Ubuntu is similar.
It is not, at all.

[KBD47]

Enterprise and home computer users are such different animals that I'm not sure we can lump them together regarding computing anymore.
Small offices might get away with Chromebooks/Chromeboxes, but probably want big hard drives. My doctor's office uses Apple, which again, probably works OK for small businesses. But large businesses and corporations are welded at the hip to MS, and have software that absolutely must run on Windows. Those who upgraded to Win7 are probably fine, but MS has earned much hate from businesses that moved to Win8. I think long term if MS doesn't fix its Win8 problem it is in trouble with enterprise.
Your average joe consumer has already realized he/she doesn't need a trillion-bazillion size hard drive and 10 gigs of ram on crappy UI Win8 computer to visit Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and stream video and music. A Chromebook or tablet will suffice. And a few users are realizing Linux is no harder than learning the new Windows paradigm of Win8. And they can do as much and more with Linux Mint, etc.
We are in interesting times. Forget the desktop, Linux is everywhere. We sell ourselves short talking about the desktop, it runs appliances, small devices like Rokus and ereaders, etc. Linux has a bright future. But if enterprise can ever break free of their MS dependency, who knows, Linux might take its place

[FirebirdTN]

Kind of resurrecting my own thread here...

I have been trying to find trend data to see if in fact more people are trying Linux now than ever before, but info is so hard to come by.

I guess I could be wrong, and most everyone will continue to embrace the old proprietary route, and just "adapt" to the newer versions of their OSes. Its funny though, in my quest for data, I keep seeing articles suggesting "XP is dead, stick a fork in it", yet there is a LOT of business software that won't work on newer versions of Windows. So XP isn't completely dead, it just lives on in a virtual machine LOL.

But the point of bringing my thread back up, is I find something QUITE interesting. I have my regular job, and I have a tiny side business. I have maybe 3-4 clients in my tiny little side business. In two separate cases when I went to pay them a visit, I found they had installed Linux on some of their machines, with NO persuasion from me at all. One case, Ubuntu, the other Mint.

Hmmmm. I never even MENTIONED Linux to either of them! [most people don't like to be pushed].

Okay, so maybe that is just a rarity, but I still found that quite interesting.

-Alan

[wanderer7]

Yes, it seems many XP users have switched to GNU/Linux recently.

[exploder]

For lots of us it has been the year of the Linux desktop for years. Some are coming around now that Windows 8 is around and XP lost support but most people are just going to use whatever came stock on their computer. China and Germany seem to have had enough of Microsoft, maybe this trend will continue?

The average person just runs what came on their computer and have no idea they have other options. Many have never heard of Linux, do not know how to burn an iso, and are afraid to try anything different. HP is going to sell Linux computers in China, that will make a big difference there!

We go the the stores in the US and everything has Windows on it, is it any wonder people are not trying Linux?

[Brahim Salem]

I Tunsisa, for example, most Dell PCs have an Ubuntu sticker

[exploder]

My desktop and laptop have Ubuntu stickers too! I put them there though.

[Brahim Salem]

My desktop and laptop have Ubuntu stickers too! I put them there though.

I checked these Pcs and most of them are made in China. I wanna have a Linux Mint sticker on my lappy but, unfortunately for me , there is no Linux stickers where I live