Why is Linux desktop not popular among non-programmers?

[notebook]

Dear Amit,

I'm not really sure if this conversation leads to some improvement. But I'll drop in my two cents.

I guess I see what you're claiming. I think you're not the only one feeling that way.

I think you're immensely oversimplifying things - as some have pointed out, already. I think the "problem" (whichever it is) is many-fold. And it changes over time.

Function-wise, I think all the problems eventually boil down to the following two:

(1) Resources in OSS are generally extremely scarce. Time and money is not nearly as much for macOS or Windows. Comparably they seem to have infinite resources. And when resources are scarce you have to focus them.
( Brian Dylan had a very nice talk about the cost of OSS )

(2) There is no "the" in "Linux desktop". It's many parties you could play at. All with their own level of standards (as someone pointed out already). "standard" is being used in a very wide sense.

Everything else mentioned in any discussion is probably caused by either one or both of these points.


User-Wise I think a great deal is:

(3) Who do you ask for help in case of a problem? Who do go and rant at in case of a problem? Who do you sue in case of a problem?
You can call Microsoft and Apple, but Linux Desktop has no goto. Well "the community"... that's "comforting"... (beware of sarcasm).

So even *iff* you'd be making a conscious decision and Linux software was "better", most people will take the hand that's stretched at them. They want to feel safe (if they are, different story).


With my "second cent" I'd like to pick up a couple of details you mentioned. Not because it will change anything in the software, but may

> Microsoft Windows is insecure, Apple is costly
> I don't use windows because it is insecure. It can get hacked.

Every system, including Linux is insecure. Please don't make that mistake.


>  they don't sell Linux desktops because Linux desktops are not up to the mark.

Bullseye, I think. Linux desktops don't offer the same office suite experience as Windows machines. Boom. Discussion over for most businesses. And most students. And what else is there? Students grow up eventually. Why change the OS?
But again: No budget, no working MS-like office suite.


> I am sorry if I have offended anyone. People don't like constructive
> criticism these days.

I guess I understand the reason behind this sentence.
However, I'd be careful writing that. I think this does not add value and can do more harm than good if you think about what you implying


Regards
Chris - DT


On 2025/01/28 19:38, Amit wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have been programming since 1998 mostly in C language and Linux. I
> use Debian Linux and my user interface is GNOME Flashback Metacity (I
> don't like the GNOME 3 interface).
> 
> Even Linus Torvalds was critical of GNOME 3
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME).
> 
> According to the following website
> (https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide), linux
> desktop has 4.13% of the desktop market share while Windows has 73.41%
> market share.
> 
> So, it looks like non-programmers have not yet embraced Linux desktop.
> 
> Some people will say that it is because of marketing by Microsoft and
> Apple but I don't buy this answer.
> 
> I am listing the no. 1 reason that I believe is behind the
> un-popularity of Linux desktop among non-programmers (I know some
> people won't like it):
> 
> I don't think Linux desktop development teams (GNOME, KDE, etc.) are
> interested in increasing the usage of Linux desktop among
> non-programmers. The main reason for coming to this conclusion is that
> Linux desktop development teams don't ask people (non-programmers)
> what they want, they just go ahead and do what they want to do. An
> example of this is that the GNOME development team went ahead and
> created GNOME 3 without asking the users (non-programmers) whether
> they would want this kind of user interface or not. In my opinion,
> GNOME 3 is less user-friendly than GNOME Flashback Metacity.
> 
> Recently, I opened a discussion on Discord to talk to GNOME developers
> and I told them that GNOME Flashback Metacity is more user-friendly
> than GNOME 3. They got hurt and closed the discussion thread. Then I
> also got angry and forced them to delete the whole discussion.
> 
> But, if Linux desktop development teams are really interested in
> increasing the share of Linux desktop among non-programmers then they
> have to think from non-programmers point of view. They should also ask
> non-programmers as to what will convince them to use the Linux
> Desktop.
> 
> My analysis is - Microsoft Windows is insecure, Apple is costly, so
> Linux desktop(s) should become very popular among non-programmers but
> it is not.
> 
> It looks like there is not much will to make Linux desktop popular
> because where there is a will, there is a way.
> 
> I am sorry if I have offended anyone. People don't like constructive
> criticism these days.
> 
> Regards,
> Amit
>