Most likely a sign of aversion to advertisements and being spied on.
As well as a nice portion of interest in technology and in many cases development.
I never think Linux will be inferior to Windows. I am talking something like MX Linux, Debian, Linux Mint, Ubuntu and such.
Well, I am on Linux since 2000, then to install something was a hell of a task, not as it is now, but the stability and performance I had, I never looked back. In just 2 years or 3 I was only Linux.
This is another story.
I am talking about the normal/average home user or even a business.
Most alternative applications are there.
Yes, some users might require a specific software that is Windows only. Be it.
People generally “think” and use their minds. Think the dual boot I suggested.
I’ll tell you a real story. In 2003 I had a desktop with SuSE 7.3 installed. Someone visiting me saw my desktop and asked me what the hell is this “Windows” you are using, it looks a bit different. I -for a reason- lied to him and told him you know our friend X, he is a beta tester for Microsoft and this is the next Windows he is testing and he gave me a copy. My friend started using the computer, he played music, videos, word processing, browsing,… whatever he does (with some guidance from my side, like letting him to click the wordprocessor of OpenOffice that time, or that app for music… ) He was impressed with the performance and he thought my desktop was the latest processor, etc… He asked me to have a copy to install on his computer because this new Windows is amazing and much faster and responsive than what he has. On his way out we agreed that he will backup his data then I give him the CD or copy to install. HE confirmed with me he is waiting for me to give him the copy.
Surprisingly, I told him, I will be honest with you, this is not Windows it is Linux! Instantly he said Linux, no of course, I will never use Linux, it is difficult to use, and difficult to do anything with it, it needs a techie to use it… etc. (He did almost everything he ever dreamed of a few minutes ago, I just told him where to click for the wordprocessor or the music player…)
Well, it wasn’t me honestly. I got it from many Linux forums and Linux websites, just search it.
Let’s get this straight - for professional use apart from system administration and server tasks, Linux isn’t likely to achieve the same level as Windows. It’s not that Microsoft has put a big sum of money on the tables of companies - it’s the corpos like Adobe which have zero interest in making software for Linux. The cost is too high and packaging format choice too big.
I’d also like to refer to @limotux’s point about Linux not being preinstalled - I guess there is no consensus about which distribution should the hardware be shipped with.
Back when I was searching for my first ever laptop there were laptops from major manufacturers with Ubuntu preinstalled. Those were times when Ubuntu still used Unity as their primary DE. But that eventually came to an end, most probably because Linux was still struggling with gaming, hardware compatibility and available software quality.
Now, it’s highly unlikely those times come back, even though I think we are living in the Decade of Linux Desktop™.
First of all, the deals between Microsoft and large OEMs are lucrative as hell.
Second of all, who exactly is going to sign a deal with manufacturers which is as comparative as Microsoft’s? The Linux Foundation? Companies responsible for distros (Canonical, Red Hat, SUSE)?
And last but not least, not everyone wants to make a leap, even if the distro is the comfiest of all (I mean the Mint and Zorin OS level of comfiness). Take my family as the example. They are somewhat capable to use both my laptops with Xfce distros installed - but can’t take Linux more than “just a toy”. If there is a high probability of low-to-none revenue, why even bother?
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Agreed with all of this.
I must say, however, that the only reason these big companies don’t care about Linux is because the majority of the world cares more about convenience than privacy and control.
If people started hopping over to Linux due to a preference for privacy and control, that would create a demand for those same companies to care about Linux.
Fortunately, those same companies are helping more normal and specific use case users care more about privacy and control. Adobe, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, etc. have all done something in the last 4 years that make people want something different.
That being said, all of this is unlikely, but the efforts of individuals to persuade normal users and specific use case users to try Linux is still important.
I believe we have Debian based (Canonical) and RPM based (SuSE and RedHat). So we have 3 distros, maybe 2 if SuSe and RedHat agreed to join forces and create one RPM based distro (so we will have 2 Distros)
Any of them will be OK. We already have Intel processors and AMD processors, NVIDIA and Intel graphics, we have Mac as well.
Any computer manufacturer can offer different tastes as they offer different hardware. The same machine, same hardware some can have this or that or that. This is not a big issue.
If there is a will there is a way!
Isn’t this like asking if being Drunk is a sign of Alcoholism? I mean unless there is undeniable medical evidence showing that such a statement is true I would deem its just speculation.
For me I had dipped my toes into Linux back in the Days I thought I was college material. However I didn’t switch from Windows to Linux until I actually had my family and had 4 computers to maintain and to keep stuff like Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spyware and the cost it was coming up to for the Licences (This was before the 3 machine Licence which I did get for their stuff) Not wanting to make rich people richer while I stay poor I decided to give Linux a try again. After my wife Left and it was just me again I kept Linux as I gotten accustomed to it. I fell in love with the fact that I was control of what I wanted and not some corporation telling me what I will have. So my deciding to stay with Linux was a control issue and not an autistic one.
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Yes I would say for me partly being curious and finding keeping busy helps a lot with my mental health, when I stay still and do nothing for too long the mind starts going.
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