Comment by enasterosophes | Hacker News Reader

Comment by enasterosophes | Hacker News Reader

> Desktop Linux is an untapped gold mine! All a company needs to do is provide a homogenous/coherent user experience, smooth the rough edges, and not be as scummy as Google, Apple, or Microsoft and they will win.

Ah, yes. Everything must be monetized.

Very well then, let us ask what is the business model for this monetized desktop Linux?

* People who already use Linux won't suddenly decide to start paying money for support that they never relied on before.

* People who were never into Linux before aren't going to suddenly start jumping ship just because they can choose to pay for a supported distro. Let's face it, most people don't like spending their time thinking about what OS to run, and maybe that's even healthier, since the more I learn about computing, the more I realize it all kind of sucks in one way or another.

* If the idea is sell proprietary software to people on Linux desktops, it's not impossible (as shown by success stories like Steam and Matlab.) However, it also needs to compete with the ecosystem of free software, as well as web-based apps which are inherently OS-agnostic, along with the pre-existing markets like Steam.

* Before our glasses get too rose-tinted, let's remember that although Linux works fine on desktop, it's not easy. You either need to go the Ubuntu route of being opinionated and one-size-fits-all, or you need to accept that the flexibility of Linux makes support difficult. I've been using Linux exclusively for 15 years, so I'm used to fiddling with all the knobs required to keep it ticking over smoothly. I would thoroughly resent any pressure anyone would put on me to change the way I do things. On the other hand, I would never suggest to a newbie that they should try doing things the same way as me. In fact, I advise against it. "Kids, just try ubuntu first. If you like it, great. Come and talk to me again when you're sure you really want to be a weirdo."

Agreed. One of the reasons I use Linux and other open source software, is not to be dependent or beholden to a single company. I can't count the amount of times I experienced or read about others experiencing a company doing a rug pull on users of their software by either changing direction, abandoning the product, or changing licensing terms.

I do donate monthly to a number of open source projects because I like their work, and want them to stick around. But even if they don't, as long as the software is there and the user base is there, someone will pick up the baton and move it forward, even if it is at a slow pace.

I used Linux on personal machines for decades but recently switched to Mac because I no longer have the patience to deal with the constant jank (and these M1/2/3 macbooks are so good).

I would pay for nice vertically integrated Linux laptop where everything works well and I don't have to deal with numerous small problems that amount to a suboptimal experience.

You forgot about people who used Linux and were put off by all that maintenance work required to have updated and stable environment. I would gladly pay subscription for a stable Linux desktop experience.

I am currently using Windows, hate it, but I know that I can update it and be almost certain that it will work tomorrow.

I understand what you're saying, although my experience with Windows was the opposite.

I would have had much less motivation to switch from Windows to Linux all those years ago if I could rely on Windows to just work. Except for some brief optimism surrounding Windows 7, nothing I've heard in the intervening 15 years makes me think that Windows is more stable than it used to be.

I'm not sure what Linux you tried before, but your mention of requiring an updated and stable environment without much work makes me suspect that you never tried a rolling-release distro. Or maybe you did, but didn't update often enough? I've tried a few different rolling release distros, and invariably find that they remain both stable and bleeding-edge so long as you remember to regularly give them a quick update. That way, if there is something wrong with one package, it's easy to identify what changed and roll it back for a bit, and it won't affect everything else in a systemic way.

It just seems we have much different experiences.

In the last 5 years I used Windows on 3 different computers with different configuration (during the same time: 1 for work, 2 at home). I have never had any significant problems with updates nor with stability.

When I used Linux (it was quite a long time ago, but checking comments about desktop on Linux makes me think that not much has changed since then) usually it took less than one year before reinstall or lengthy system repair was needed. I used "versioned" distributions (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora) and rolling releases (Gentoo and Sabayon).

Ironically, I had to do more tinkering to keep Windows running smoothly over the years than I had to do on Linux in the two years since I switched over.

Same here. I am so glad my parents and aunt decided to switch to GNU/Linux. I live quite far away from them and with Windows had to travel a lot for constant problems with Windows (about each month). Since they switched to GNU/Linux, it is mostly just set and forget and now it happens less than once a year that they need my help with their computer. And even if they do it is so much easier to do it remotely.

Nobody prevents you to use RHEL and/or paying someone to remotely manage your personnal computer.

Windows or MacOS aren't any more managed/stable.

> Ah, yes. Everything must be monetized. > Very well then, let us ask what is the business model for this monetized desktop Linux?

On point. Not every (sound) technical decision is monetizable.

The article completely handwaves that "gold mine" statement.

The one set of people that have made monetized desktop Linux work are Valve. And that's because, like Apple, they provide a vertically integrated solution. They sell the hardware and the software that people want to run, with Linux on Steam Deck sitting as a little slice in the middle that isn't directly monetized.

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