5 Reasons Linux Will Never Dominate the Desktop

Many Linux enthusiasts think Linux will still rule the desktop. I'm going to give you 5 reasons why that just isn't the case, and why it really doesn't matter.

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[asifshamsi]

A Windows user here. MS Office has more programs than Libre Office. I have used LO on Windows. It does not have some basic option like filter by background cell color in MS Excel. Besides, MS Outlook, part of MSO, is just not an email client it is a PIM. LO Base has no compatibility with MS Access. Such things has stopped business users from using desktop Linux. The main reason for desktop Linux non- adoption is lack of industry standard software availability. Hardware support is also very poor.

[kdawg]

This is the most thoughtful, comprehensive, and well-described take I've seen on this topic. It covers the view from the consumer's eyes very well. I'd love to also see a perspective more from the developer's eyes. You need for-profit software developers on board, because you need the standard software everyone uses. I think that's the Achilles Heel that will always keep Linux off the map. Adobe products, Autodesk products, Microsoft products, proprietary industry-specific design software, and everything else that is the standard for doing business. And since so many people are doing more creative stuff by themselves nowadays, some of that filters to your home consumer as well. These are the companies with dedicated development and support teams with a financial incentive to always be working on their product. There's no ambiguity about who's going to be developing this stuff and whether they'll continue to do it. While I am quite often astonished by what the FOSS community can produce in terms of amazingly functional and even brilliant software, you also need the stars to align to get a group of people willing and able to work on that software for free.

Thinking as one of these businesses, I can see a multitude of problems developing for Linux. 1) The time/money it would take to develop for another platform, especially one with those little idiosyncrasies spread across the infinitely fractured distro and desktop environment landscape. Many established companies especially in more nuts and bolts industries won't even develop separate versions for MacOS, because that user base is too small to make it worth their time for development and support. The user base of Linux is even smaller and much less defined. 2) Licensing. I admit that I don't a whole lot about the subtleties of this, but software companies make their money by not being open with their code. It's a trade secret. If there's anything about licensing to natively develop for Linux that's going to demand they make some or all of their code FOSS, they're not even going to entertain that. And if the nature of the Linux user community is such that that's what they really want, companies aren't going to futz with that. Microsoft and Apple give them control over their software. 3) The average user of Linux is probably not going to be real interested in obtaining a free (as in beer) OS and then plopping down a ton of money for proprietary software. Especially knowing that support for Linux from that company is going to be scarce. You'd basically have to be choosing to use Linux simply out of the desire to use Linux to fit into a group that still is happy to pay for software but use it in Linux, and that is a narrow slice of a narrow slice of people.

The very essence of what makes Linux Linux and makes it work so well for a lot of behind the scenes applications is also the very thing that's going to always relegate to staying in that position.

[arnabbasu]

The 4th point that you have mentioned is slowly making me to revert back to Windows. One part of me still wants to continue with Ubuntu but everyday its becoming more and more difficult. Trobleshooting in Linux is a literal nightmare. It takes up so much time to actually come to a solution that I sometimes ponder that whether the desktop is there to do certain jobs on it or is the actual job is to get it running. Its becoming more unsustainable each day.

[gameexe]

finally a non delusional, level headed linux user

[ericpa]

I like how you didn't try to sugarcoat the whole thing, many linux enthusiasts, say "well, linux is easy, even my mom uses linux and she doesn't know how to use a terminal", when the guy's mom probably hasn't a decades-old workflow based on using Adobe, or any other software that isn't available for linux.
The way I see if someone is really noob and just uses the computer to go on facebook and so on, probably linux is enough for them. Also, ironically, probably if you're a really advanced user, a geek, someone who definitely knows his way around computers, probably you can get by on linux from troubleshooting to troubleshooting
And in the middle of all that you the vast majority of people who have a pragmatic approach towards these things, they expect the software they use to be available for the OS they use, they don't want to relearn everything they already know how to do (which probably would make them switching to something like mac OS easier), and all so they don't want to have to troubleshoot to fix weird bug that happens on linux, when windows and mac OS "just work".

[zerotheory]

One big hold back.. Installation. How many devices do people own where they have to install their own OS? More and more people are looking for a windows/mac alternative in order to regain their sense of privacy. The more PCs that will ship with linux nativly the faster you'll see adoption. People are calling for a choice most just don't have the technical know-how to get there.

[hanes]

Most people only care to get the job done the easiest and most efficient way, and often pick what's popular as it's easy ask someone for help. More and more people nowadays if they can use their phone/iPad over a desktop/laptop, they will.

[furo.v]

The fact that you have to google "how to quit vim" is absolutely ridiculous lol.
In Windows or Mac OS, just press a button and you're done lol. Linux users will never understand...

[hankdean]

The big problem is there isn't as many applications as windows and linux isn't very user friendly either. Most people don't want to learn another OS so I don't think it will ever be as big as windows.

[koppadasao]

You are most definitely *not* wrong. Linux just doesn't have what it takes to get up there in the front seats

[DescendantsOfEnoch]

perhaps the many computers now sold preloaded with Linux can help somewhat in turning the tide a bit

[Mattscreative]

because of distros like ubuntu getting in the way with outdated bs linux will always be held back but more and more people are moving to it day by day and as those numbers slowly grow because of gaming linux will one day be up next to windows calling bill a cuck

[TheGodzilla]

I like your channel and your presentation.

[bufordmaddogtannen]

To reiterate the point that consumers cannot use Linux, yesterday I have installed Artix in a VM.
Then I realized how grub, sddm, and plasma all had different resolutions, and the one I had setup for the desktop did not stick (with the kscreen service already disabled).
There was no way to align them using the guy, so I had to edit grub's config to set a higher one, then use xrandr to force the resolution I wanted for the login screen through a script consumed by sddm.
Then the overall experience was the usual (I have OCD): text too big, multiple inconsistent font sizes in the same panels, eccessive padding around text/icons, misaligned interface elements, wasted empty space, and so on...

[sedanchair]

... Excellent video! Linux can be daunting in the beginning. It's a lot like quitting smoking. You try you go back, you try you go back, you try and are successful. Many people like their windows 7, but MSFT will be bulling them out of it by ending support by Jan.14, 2020.

Folks know they were annoyed by MSFT in the past, are now, and will be in the future. For those who will try Linux I recommend Linux Mint. You did learn windows. You can learn Linux.

[Paul-lxpc]

Thanks for posting. I've been using Linux since 2010 and have been generally dual booting with Windows 7/10/11 in that period of time. Windows has always been more polished but so it should be given the amount of investment compared to Linux. I agree with your comments. IMHO the weakness of Linux is the number of distros it has circulating - literally hundreds all competing against each other for very small markets. It's a pity they couldn't pool their resources and focus on producing 5-10 top quality and competitive distros that are devoid of the problems other commenters here have made. That is the challenge of Linux. I've also found a relatively small number of people in the Linux industry who can't contain their egos and look down at those who are trying to gain a greater understanding of the OS.

Having said all that, I've experienced three viruses in Windows and none in Linux Mint, so I'll keep using LM (the Cinnamon desktop is making great strides) for everyday purposes and as long it continues to deliver for me...

[Kretinos]

Linux users are people with either experience in the field or just very curious people. These are a minority. Macos or win users are the masses.

[neversaynever]

Great video thanks, in my opinion Linux may take some users many years to learn and trying many distros to complete part of that learning, but on the up side Linux is great to make any old pc run fast and stay fast, providing many years of good use that the original OS just could not do..

[TheGodzilla]

fast gadgets should create his own Linux Distro.

[Axld]

The reason I didn't switch to Linux is. I'm not a fan of the UI, It doesn't support software that I need for school, it's complicated to install, downloading it takes long or sometime can stop (bad internet in the Philippines) and I don't want to risk my PC to be damage or bricked. And windows come loaded in the PC. And I don't want to waste my data plan That's why I will not change to Linux