[lmm]

> I'm not sure that that's the win that you think it is. Linux 10 to 20 years ago was pretty terrible, at least on desktops.

For all its usability issues, Linux 10 to 20 years ago had advantages that, for a certain kind of user, were worth the cost. Frankly Linux on the desktop today is the worst of all worlds - it doesn't have the ease-of-use or compatibility of Windows or OSX, but it doesn't have the control and consistency/reliability of BSD either.

[darkwater]

I believe this is pretty unfair. Today's Linux on desktop is pretty straightforward for any normal user, given that there are no lines anymore between local and remote software. Windows shoves ads down your throat and MacOS make you pay a premium on HW which normal people spends on phones, not laptops or desktop computers anymore.

[philipallstar]

I just tried installing Zoom on my Ubuntu desktop, and the options seem to be:

- find Zoom in the package manager (can't)

- find zoom-client in the package manager (can, but it appears to be authored by some person and not Zoom Inc)

- go to the Zoom website and download a .deb and then run a command

This is fine for me, but let's not pretend that a regular user wanting to install something as basic as Zoom is going to have an easy time of it.

[tombert]

Most Ubuntu based distros let you just double click on the deb and just install the deb file. I don’t see how that’s appreciably different than Windows.

[philipallstar]

If you look at the website[0] you might see the difference.

[0] https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_arti...

[int_19h]

This page presupposes that the graphics tool to install .deb packages is not preinstalled, which isn't true for either Ubuntu nor Mint. If it is preinstalled the steps are really just "double click on it and then click install".

Same thing for RPM distros. So the only real catch is knowing which package to download.

[philipallstar]

It's possible the image could autodetect the OS (or even autodetect the presence of a package manager) and present a single option to download or launch the package manager into the right screen, which would then put Linux at parity with MacOS or Windows, but currently it can't.

It's definitely harder than those things, and lots of regular people struggle even with them.

[darkwater]

I mean, it's either "App Store" or downlaod from vendor, no?

Btw I just went to Zoom as well with my work Mac and I got TWO buttons: "Download for Apple Silicon" and "Download for Intel". I guess that a normal user will panic here, no?