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by hot_gril 738 days ago
It adds complexity, especially for new users and even more for corporations. There's maintenance burden as different DEs fall out of favor, things become incompatible, and you have to migrate. Even sticking to one Linux distro, the default DE can change across versions. If you want to troubleshoot online, you can't Google "how to do X in GNU/Linux," you have to specify the DE and version too. Vs with Mac or Windows it's quite clear what you're using and how you get help for it.

Most people don't even think that far though, they just want a name brand they can trust and understand. So the most popular desktop Linux is probably ChromeOS.
1 comments
wkat4242 738 days ago
> how to do X in GNU/Linux

That's because GNU/Linux isn't an OS. The distributions are distinct OSes. They just have a lot in common.

> It adds complexity, especially for new users and even more for corporations. There's maintenance burden as different DEs fall out of favor, things become incompatible, and you have to migrate.

Corporations can easily mandate whatever distro and DE they please on their internal systems. Not an issue.

The maintenance burden is on the distros and they can choose which DEs they support. They don't have to offer them all. In fact some distros come with a single DE only.

I know the wishful thinking that Linux would be a single system that would make it big with consumers. But if that happens, people that love Linux now will absolutely hate it. It will be unrecognisable. All the power and control will be gone because consumers don't want that. They must want to pay someone and trust them.

Case in point: ChromeOS. It's exactly that: Linux for the masses. How many Linux fans actually use that because it's Linux?

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nolist_policy 738 days ago
I do, IMHO as MacBooks are/used to be for developers, Chromebooks are for Linux developers.
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wkat4242 738 days ago
Really? You don't mind Google's extensive datamining and lockdown of the OS?

I would never ever consider using that. I'm surprised also, in our company nobody uses chromeos. But we have thousands of linux laptops and hundreds of Macs.

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hot_gril 737 days ago
I've considered a Chromebook at work where the real coding and builds are being done over SSH on a headless Linux machine anyway, but the fuss involved for just a basic shell and SSH were enough to turn me away. So I can't imagine using one for local development too, data mining aside. I know some people use it and it works with the right workarounds, but why bother.

Also idk why there's nothing as good as the Mac iTerm2 for Linux.

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nolist_policy 736 days ago
Um, you literally go to Settings -> About ChromeOS -> Developers, enable "Linux development environment" and after 5 minutes have access to fully featured Debian Linux.

The standalone (non-linux) ssh client is indeed not the best, it's okay.

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hot_gril 734 days ago
We aren't allowed to do the first suggestion at work. If you can, and it's literally Debian, then it's fine.
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