# The Death of Linux



## Son_of_Perdition (May 13, 2016)

The death of Linux (desktop that is), as a stanch supporter of Linux for the last 15 years I was reading an article published by another supporter of Linux.  He was lamenting the demise of the Linux desktop.  I steeled myself for a let down, as the article continued I realized what he was getting at.  As a desktop OS Linux has lagged behind Apple & Windows world wide.  Mainly because of marketing & profit.  Linux as a desktop leaves the user restricted to the whims of the distro managers & the drive to develop better & more usable software, money again!

MicroSoft is a marketing giant, no doubt about it.  Apple relies upon it's user base loyalty.  It has been an uphill battle for Open Source.  But, enter the smart phone/tablet devices & you'll discover that Android (Open Source/Linux) is dominating that arena, fully 85% of all new devices sold are Android!  I've been hesitant to move in that direction & have argued unrelentingly for friends & neighbors to adopt Linux mainly because of ease of use & cost (FREE!).  Good reasons but now after buying a tablet & a smart phone I finally have to admit that it is the most prudent path.  

I was reluctant to use my newer devices, finally being motivated by a need to adopt them for a planned journey where taking my laptop along would be cumbersome & unneeded.  I started playing around with the app store (Google Play), installing my pension/credit union/Facebook/gmail/spreadsheet/cloud access I realized I now have a much smaller more usable portal to do the things I was normally do sitting in my chair sliding my TV tray that holds my 5 lb laptop in front of me.  

So as I move on to better methods & devices I will slowly shelve my laptop & minimize my electronic footprint with a tablet or smart phone.  I had the same issues when I was adopting Linux over Windows.  I needed 2 desktops/laptops then I found I could setup one desktop/laptop to dual boot both Windows & Linux, then I found after arriving at a comfort zone with Linux I could eliminate Windows from my life.  I've been mired in a holding pattern since retirement & health issues, things change I will change with it.


----------



## Guitarist (May 13, 2016)

Last year I was so happy and excited to buy a Windows laptop.

It started having problems right away and within 10 months it had died.  

This year I got brave and went out on a limb and bought a Chromebook.  It does everything the Windows laptop did, and does it better, and I have not had one problem with it.  

While I was saving up for it I got my old Macbook out of the closet and used it.  It is very old and can't do some things a new laptop can, but it served me so well for 3 months that I wished (and still wish) I could afford a new Macbook.  But this little Chromebook is great and now I am saving up to buy it a printer-scanner-copier.  

So I have learned to go back and forth between DOS and Windows, Windows and Macs, and now Macs and Chromebooks.  It always turns out to be easier than I anticipated.

You will be fine, SoP.


----------



## Son_of_Perdition (May 13, 2016)

Guitarist said:


> You will be fine, SoP.


I know I'll be fine, after 53 years working in tech support from punch card/1st generation computers/DOS/MVS/VMS/Mac/Windows/UNIX/Linux support, I have adapted.  It's a small learning curve just need the motivation.  You are using Linux with your Chromebook, welcome to Linux.


----------



## packrat (May 13, 2016)

i recently updated my computer from XP to Linux. I wasn't looking to either.
But XP support wasn't going to be anymore. Worse, I needed a better computer to do
all the things I was always doing before with XP. You know, more ram, more drive, more new and
the heck with what you used to do with the old stuff. 

Why isn't this operating system (many flavors) more popular???

It took time to get used to using it, but there are more FREE options for the 
home based user. Many of the features Windows claims are new are with the standard
older version of Linux I use.

I have more support than I could ask for on the net. 

Dead you say??? Windows 10, went back to a regular desktop.
Like a REAL computer. Most of the things which cost extra with Windows
is standard with most Linux flavors.

So Son-of-perdition Avoid the Gates of Hell, use Linux instead.


----------



## tnthomas (May 13, 2016)

I discovered Linux in 2004, and by 2007 switched all my machines to Linux.  I love the freedom, and  having total control over the computer hardware that *I *own.  

 Wife has a Dell laptop with Windows 7 on it, that's her computer, her choice.

My favorite Linux distribution:  Debian GNU/Linux


----------



## Son_of_Perdition (May 14, 2016)

tnthomas said:


> I discovered Linux in 2004, and by 2007 switched all my machines to Linux.  I love the freedom, and  having total control over the computer hardware that *I *own.
> 
> Wife has a Dell laptop with Windows 7 on it, that's her computer, her choice.
> 
> My favorite Linux distribution:  Debian GNU/Linux


My goal is to get as many seniors living in my park converted to Linux as I could, I found that I had to keep it as simple for them as I could & still have a reliable distro for myself.  I did look at Debian at one time but that was back in my SUSE days.  I tried several others but was looking for a decent replacement for XP or 7.  I tested & liked LunixMint.  It was easy to install, easy to configure & easy for the seniors to understand.  Most had been using 7 since release & they were looking for help when they called with the inevitable questions or problems.  I wanted to have a like system on mine so I could step them through a solution.  They didn't learn if I did it for them.  I needed to follow them on my laptop when they were describing the problem.  I found that Mint was the consensus distro to replace 7 for them.  I also loaded the same flavor (cinnamon).  I asked them to jot down all their passwords with understandable titles so when they needed updates or network connections, it made it easier if they could read & understand their notes.  I have 7 members besides myself that belong to our little Linux club singing it's praises.


----------

