6 ms·

Linux has changed my life for sure, like others who have commented here. I just wish there was a bit more commercial support for a true polished, seamless deskt

Linux has changed my life for sure, like others who have commented here. I just wish there was a bit more commercial support for a true polished, seamless desktop Linux experience (and more OEMs selling machines with it preinstalled). Google is the only company who has championed Linux for mass market success, but calling Android handsets and Chromebooks Linux computers makes me cringe a bit. But that's what makes it great, being so modular and flexible. On the flip side, Windows get bashed way too frequently. Say what you want, but since Win8 Windows has been fast, fluid and stable, and gaming and video performance are top notch. That's hard to walk away from when comparing to Linux.

ZenoArrow 10y ago
> "I just wish there was a bit more commercial support for a true polished, seamless desktop Linux experience " You may be interested in Elementary OS, it could be just what you were looking for: https://elementary.io https://elementary.io
- dcdevito 10y ago
  I've used Elementary exclusively for a month. I found it lacking many built in tools and utilities, and the UI an OSX ripoff and also rather stripped down and limited.
  - rhodysurf 10y ago
    What built in tools and utilities did you find it missing?
jhasse 10y ago
> Android handsets and Chromebooks Linux computers makes me cringe a bit. Why?
- chippy 10y ago
  I believe the comment was saying: calling Android handsets and Chromebooks "linux computers" makes me cringe (versus "both android handsets and chromebooks make me cringe") if that helps understand the context a bit more.
  - jhasse 10y ago
    Ups, yeah. Sorry I just missed copying the whole sentence by accident. I wanted to know why it makes him cringe to call them Linux computers ;)
    - skosch 10y ago
      Presumably because they're so far removed from the Linux-On-The-Desktop Experience™ we (the HN crowd) are familiar with. It's the tradeoff between mass-market UX and raw power and customizability, and Android/Chromebooks are at one end of the spectrum while what we associate with "Linux computers" is at the other.
whitegrape 10y ago
I don't know what a true polished, seamless desktop experience on any OS would look like. Windows 10 may be better (I'm still on 7 for work/gaming) but I still notice it BSODs and is apparently heavily resistant towards custom configurations like improving your privacy and control over the machine you own. I don't understand the Mac's UI and popularity among power users or casual users so I can't comment on it much. In the end I agree with Linus, the real issue is user inertia, but I also think it's not really an issue. Linux won everywhere but the Desktop, and it's not like that fact stops me from having the best desktop experience I can get using Linux. Did you ever pay to support the various commercial endeavors for a Desktop Linux that Dell et al. have tried? I haven't, for one simple reason, though a second builds on it: their hardware is always subpar (laptop or desktop) -- which I can't even blame them for if they're trying to get sales from the much larger market of non-power users, but then the price isn't that competitive either. Second I'm going to reinstall the distro to one I prefer anyways, or even if the same distro at least one that I'm sure is free of any bundled crapware that is supposed to make the experience more polished and seamless, so I'm going to do it on better hardware. The only time hardware has been an issue for me was, I don't know, 15 years ago with a laptop's built-in wifi? Linux runs on a lot of things, some of those things include laptops and desktops.

ZenoArrow 10y ago

> "I just wish there was a bit more commercial support for a true polished, seamless desktop Linux experience " You may be interested in Elementary OS, it could be just what you were looking for: https://elementary.io https://elementary.io

dcdevito 10y ago
I've used Elementary exclusively for a month. I found it lacking many built in tools and utilities, and the UI an OSX ripoff and also rather stripped down and limited.
- rhodysurf 10y ago
  What built in tools and utilities did you find it missing?

jhasse 10y ago

> Android handsets and Chromebooks Linux computers makes me cringe a bit. Why?

chippy 10y ago
I believe the comment was saying: calling Android handsets and Chromebooks "linux computers" makes me cringe (versus "both android handsets and chromebooks make me cringe") if that helps understand the context a bit more.
- jhasse 10y ago
  Ups, yeah. Sorry I just missed copying the whole sentence by accident. I wanted to know why it makes him cringe to call them Linux computers ;)
  - skosch 10y ago
    Presumably because they're so far removed from the Linux-On-The-Desktop Experience™ we (the HN crowd) are familiar with. It's the tradeoff between mass-market UX and raw power and customizability, and Android/Chromebooks are at one end of the spectrum while what we associate with "Linux computers" is at the other.

whitegrape 10y ago

I don't know what a true polished, seamless desktop experience on any OS would look like. Windows 10 may be better (I'm still on 7 for work/gaming) but I still notice it BSODs and is apparently heavily resistant towards custom configurations like improving your privacy and control over the machine you own. I don't understand the Mac's UI and popularity among power users or casual users so I can't comment on it much. In the end I agree with Linus, the real issue is user inertia, but I also think it's not really an issue. Linux won everywhere but the Desktop, and it's not like that fact stops me from having the best desktop experience I can get using Linux. Did you ever pay to support the various commercial endeavors for a Desktop Linux that Dell et al. have tried? I haven't, for one simple reason, though a second builds on it: their hardware is always subpar (laptop or desktop) -- which I can't even blame them for if they're trying to get sales from the much larger market of non-power users, but then the price isn't that competitive either. Second I'm going to reinstall the distro to one I prefer anyways, or even if the same distro at least one that I'm sure is free of any bundled crapware that is supposed to make the experience more polished and seamless, so I'm going to do it on better hardware. The only time hardware has been an issue for me was, I don't know, 15 years ago with a laptop's built-in wifi? Linux runs on a lot of things, some of those things include laptops and desktops.