Could Desktop Linux use a play from the Google playbook?

Today we discuss an idea I had after looking for a linux solution for a couple of members of my family. We look at Apple in schools in the 80's and Chromebooks recently in schools with low cost entry point laptops. We look at the potential need for desktop Linux in education, for "browser bro's", and for everyday users. This is just an excersise and hopefully a start to a positive discussion on ways to get more people to use Linux.

[CompellingBytes]

I think the key to Linux marketshare increase is going to be gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck. (Tinkering) People will learn and adapt to all sorts of things to get their games working on a given system and learn the ins and outs of a given system along the way. For these people, Linux doesn’t only have to be for gaming, and I think they will at least give it a try on other hardware since its “free, ” and the worst that will happen is they’ll have to wipe the drive after a few days.

[catgirlapril]

Interestingly, this was kinda tried way back in the day but its largely gone away unfortunately. The most well known example was the OLPC which ran Fedora (with the Sugar Desktop Environment) and sorta kickstarted the netbook trend we've seen today. On the topic of netbooks, a fairly large amount of them in the mid-late 2000s came preinstalled with Ubuntu. You could walk in to your local Walmart or Best Buy and buy an entry-level Intel Atom powered netbook running an actual GNU/Linux operating system. I'd love to see something like that return.

[pilotbro]

I'm not sure if they are still out there but the Pinebook seemed like it was going to be a great entry level device a couple years back. The issue if I remember correctly is that they were arm based and so not many distros were working yet.

[kintustis]

considering chromeos is the closest thing to a successful linux distro, I'd say looking to it for inspiration is a good idea. It works for people not on the spectrum, has a comparatively homogeneous design, and is possible to manage for IT teams. Same with steamos. Looks like it takes a for-profit company to turn linux into something usable.

[famousmwofficial]

Use chromium os as a standard for every one to follow and fix what they dislike with it but it can be a standardized Linux

[warthunder]

Even if somebody could package a lower cost device with Ubuntu on some i3 or pentium based device to rely on for internet based computing - I agree with your comment here. Right now your choice is some old thinkpad or whatnot.