I think it’s really matured in the last few years. I’ve used linux on and off for the last 20 years, but things only tipped in favour for me at least about 2 years ago. For me it’s a combination of the polish of KDE, and the maturity of Wine/Proton for gaming. Before that I was dual booting but spending most time in Windows because I’d get in the habit whenever I started playing a game.
So I think despite the jokes, now really is the “year of the linux desktop” because it’s finally tipped over to being an all round 24/7 good choice for most people.
I’ve used Linux pretty consistently since about 1995-96. In the 90s, it was for the nerdiest of the nerdy computer science students. In the aughts canonical and others brought in a lot of attention, polish, and funding. That knocked off some of the biggest rough edges. Making it a perfectly valid daily driver for general computing for anyone. The 2010s was the decade of wine, proton, steam, and valve. Tearing a gaping hole in Microsoft’s platform lock in. The 2020s are shaping up to be the decade of OEM support. From Tuxedo, to System 76, to framework, to valve themselves.
The last big hurdle was hardware designed to work with and shipped with Linux. It’s been proven now. And there’s no taking it back. There can still be catches and pain points. Proprietary software requirements and bespoke hardware. DRM. But that’s becoming less and less acceptable. I’ve switched my 70 year old parents. Once they’re up and running it’s been less constant support than windows.
I think a lot of people would enjoy it if they gave it a chance. I wish I had sooner.
I think it’s really matured in the last few years. I’ve used linux on and off for the last 20 years, but things only tipped in favour for me at least about 2 years ago. For me it’s a combination of the polish of KDE, and the maturity of Wine/Proton for gaming. Before that I was dual booting but spending most time in Windows because I’d get in the habit whenever I started playing a game.
So I think despite the jokes, now really is the “year of the linux desktop” because it’s finally tipped over to being an all round 24/7 good choice for most people.
I’ve used Linux pretty consistently since about 1995-96. In the 90s, it was for the nerdiest of the nerdy computer science students. In the aughts canonical and others brought in a lot of attention, polish, and funding. That knocked off some of the biggest rough edges. Making it a perfectly valid daily driver for general computing for anyone. The 2010s was the decade of wine, proton, steam, and valve. Tearing a gaping hole in Microsoft’s platform lock in. The 2020s are shaping up to be the decade of OEM support. From Tuxedo, to System 76, to framework, to valve themselves.
The last big hurdle was hardware designed to work with and shipped with Linux. It’s been proven now. And there’s no taking it back. There can still be catches and pain points. Proprietary software requirements and bespoke hardware. DRM. But that’s becoming less and less acceptable. I’ve switched my 70 year old parents. Once they’re up and running it’s been less constant support than windows.