As Torvalds pointed out in 2019, is that while some major hardware vendors do sell Linux PCs – Dell, for example, with Ubuntu – none of them make it easy. There are also great specialist Linux PC vendors, such as System76, Germany’s TUXEDO Computers, and the UK-based Star Labs, but they tend to market to people who are already into Linux, not disgruntled Windows users. No, one big reason why Linux hasn’t taken off is that there are no major PC OEMs strongly backing it. To Torvalds, Chromebooks “are the path toward the desktop.”
So Linux, “the free alternative to Windows”, needs corporate backing to sell it and make it mainstream?
This has been tried before and a lot of Linux fans don’t like it. The first time I’m aware was Lindows, which was offered on CD at Walmart and other retailers. Microsoft sued and they changed the name to Linspire. It was corporate Linux, and the best thing it had going for it was that it wasn’t Windows. Beyond that, it was kind of garbage. I mean, I guess it was Linux, but it wasn’t right somehow.
If you want a corporate backed alternative to Windows because you don’t like certain things Microsoft stands for, get a Mac. Honestly, you can’t do much better than a MacBook Air these days, but the $500 M4 Mac mini (down to $480 in some stores for the holidays) is pretty damn hard to beat. It doesn’t run most games though, but beyond that it’s fine. Just know that Apple stands for a lot of things Microsoft does. Regardless, it’s a corporate-backed OS that is an alternative to Windows, with solid hardware support… and it’s not really denting Microsoft’s market share, despite being objectively better for everything but gaming and repairability (the latter of which does not extend to Microsoft’s Surface machines, but PCs in general).
I think the best thing for Linux was the end of Windows 10’s life. Computers with 7th gen Intel and older were able to run Linux perfectly, despite Microsoft drawing the line in the sand there. My last Wintel machine ran a 4th generation Xeon, and it ran Windows 11 just fine with hacks (though not recently, I’ve been a full fledged Mac user for 2 years since that rig died).
And I think the worst thing, the thing holding Linux back the most, is the divisiveness of the Linux community. It’s not everyone, but the guys who run Arch (and some of the Debian guys) looking down their noses at the Mint and Ubuntu guys… like, suck it up princess! People gotta start somewhere, and if you show the Mint and Ubuntu guys you’re willing to help, they’re more likely to be Arch and Debian guys in the future. But for now, depending on what you like (KDE/Mint for Windows expats, and GNOME/Ubuntu for Mac users), those beginner Linux distros are just fine! It’s a foot in the door. And if they’re happy with it, more power to 'em. (And if they got a Mac? Hey, at least it’s not Windows!)
I have been using Linux for a few years now I have never seen someone say “arch btw” unironically. I swear, memers do more damage to its perception.
I first heard of Arch in 2013. It was something talked about at work as being a bit of a pain in the ass to get going, but once it was running, “kinda nice.” That didn’t interest me at the time. It still doesn’t. I didn’t want to do extra work to make my work computer functional. I borderline hate these fucking things.
I only “heard” one person bragging that they used Arch, but that was in 2017 or 2018 on a Discord thing for a game I was playing at the time. I haven’t “heard” anyone brag about it since then, but I’ve read maybe 4-5 comments since 2018 where the writer was coming off like they were proud of themselves because they use Arch.
It’s weird as fuck.
I don’t think it’s that weird personally, it’s more just a disconnect in how different people see operating systems. If you’re the type to not want to do extra work to make your computer functional you probably view your OS as more of a tool, but people proud of their arch installs usually see their OS as a hobby/project and put the amounts of research/time/effort into their OS that you’d expect from any other hobby.
As a related anecdote I see cars as tools and absolutely do not want to do extra work on them, similarly to how it sounds like you see your OS. My car people friends will spend hours fucking with their cars just to change the color of something or add a bit more power that they don’t actually need, and at the end of the day they’re really proud of their machines (exactly like people installing arch). I don’t think this is weird even tho I look at cars very differently than they do, cuz I can respect the time, effort, and knowledge they invested that makes them so proud - even if at the end of the day I still just see cars as a way to get from point A to point B.
Fair perspective. I don’t think you’re wrong, but I don’t think of the car guys and the arch people as similar.
As a non-car guy, I’ve never had a car guy try to be smug with me about an engine he built.
I don’t know what communities you’re frequenting but this is not my experience of the Linux community at all. Possibly you’re reading jokes as serious, or you’re just hanging out with lots of children (Discord?) without realising it.