First time I ever believed that Linux will win it all
Posted by keremimo@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 170 comments
Today I was hanging out with my father in law at lunch time. He has been reading up on how France is going to adopt Linux fully in government and schools, so he started having some interest in it. He knows I use it for work and for personal stuff. He asked me: "Can I do this on Linux? Can I do X? Can I do Y? Does Cubase work? Does it have a web browser?"
I was really surprised because they like living life simple, no politics no drama. I did what any Linux enjoyer would do and answer his every question. Explained that he can dual boot to use Cubase and do everything else on Linux. Today after I'm done with my work, I'm bringing him a flash drive that has Ventoy and all the beginner distros, going to liveboot into them on his laptop and let him try it out.
If regular people starts considering Linux, that's the victory. I'll do my part!
mithoron@reddit
And then your laptop nearly bricks itself by running updates and you spend days chasing down obscure search threads hoping to find the fix. Just from updates. This isn't 1998 anymore, that's not acceptable and yet those kinds of horror stories are still happening on a bog standard business laptop from dell, and a mainstream distro/DE. (ie: yesterday, to me icymi... yes I'm salty)
I really want linux to succeed, M$ needs some serious competition, not just atrophy from mobile-only migration. It's so much better than even just 5 years ago, it should be good! But too often I need to use my professional IT skills for what should be basic elements of using an operating system. Can you do all those things? Absolutely, but stuff like this ensures that the year of the linux desktop is perpetually "next year... maybe".
djfdhigkgfIaruflg@reddit
Can't Cubase work with wine? Or did that introduce too much lag?
Anthea_Likes@reddit
Maybe easier with Winboat đ
djfdhigkgfIaruflg@reddit
Isn't it the same thing underneath?
Sober_Muscle@reddit
Iâm surprised that Iâll see Cubase appeared here. Iâm using Fedora now, still do not have the courage to setup the music production environment, I image that will be quite some work.
Refridganinja@reddit
If we could get Native Linux support for DAWs like Cubase, Fender Studio, Ableton, etc. that would be incredible and make a huge move over to linux. Right now I have two machines because I need to have the most compatibility with VSTs, Daw, etc.
I_Think_I_Cant@reddit
It's in public beta atm.
https://www.fender.com/products/fender-studio-pro
Refridganinja@reddit
Thank you so much for that news! I've gotta try it now since I already own it.
I_Think_I_Cant@reddit
I use Reaper on Arch, btw. (I'm required to say that.)
Doug2825@reddit
Defaults are what matters. When EU kids use Linux in school instead of Windows they will keep using Linux into adulthood. When government workers are using Linux by default developers for their software will be forced to support it.
hurlcarl@reddit
100%. Macs had the better layout, but it was hardware bound. Windows went on everything... everyone grew up on Windows. It's really no more complicated than that. Linux is now, IMO good enough to truly replace it. Yes there's pockets here and there (blah blah ADOBE which who cares with AI anymore) but if someone were willing to learn and especially if they grew up on it, it will have a massive impact. As more and more companies try to shoehorn you into their services it will become more and more appealing. Those saying 'well they're backing off XYZ' yeah right.. this is late stage capitalism baby! they'd sooner drive their company off a cliff if the alternative is not bilking their existing customers for every dime they can.
VerryRides@reddit
This is it. 99% of the general public uses what they are familiar with. Your average Joe with a computer doesnt have the time, patience, or desire to set up a whole new OS on their pc, and on top of that, unlearn everything they know about how to interact with it and relearn a new thing.Â
People are raised since the minute they start using computers to believe that Windows is the computer.Â
Ok_Reach_2701@reddit
This is why I hesitate to recommend distros that ship with vanilla gnome as their default to non techs because people will be confused with the lack of a minimize button and dock/taskbar. I say this as some who uses plain gnome with fedora and loves the hell out of it lol.
BashfulMelon@reddit
This is why Mint is the only Debian-derivative that's worth suggesting, and even then it's missing too many features for gamers with modern hardware (VRR, HDR, screens at different refresh rate) which are a huge portion of people switching right now.
SunlightScribe@reddit
I'm willing to bet 90% of them would be willing to ignore all of that. They only care that the game or application runs out of the box with no fuss.
Unhappy_Lie_2000@reddit
You are right many live in the mind set rhey have nothing to hide so why should they care. And then they get scammed or their identity stolen and they still don't get it.
BashfulMelon@reddit
They experienced playing games on Windows. They'll notice if it's not as good. If they're only getting 60 fps because they have a second monitor, or X11 screen tearing...
KayJune001@reddit
Moving from Ubuntu to Fedora was jarring, I felt like I just wasted an hour moving OS with just how bare GNOME is on Fedora. I got it it absolutely perfect another hour later but man I wish there were an option to have the good stuff packed in like Ubuntu does (like quarter-tiling?!?!)
Unhappy_Lie_2000@reddit
I actually prefer gnome once I get the gesters working but it blows my mind that the devs had not built better gesters into the base gnome GUI as their default is trash in my opinion.
randylush@reddit
Edge is still one of the most popular browsers lol. People donât change shit unless they need to
BitOBear@reddit
Choice of OS is very like religion. You are almost certain to grow up pursuing the religion under which you were raised but changing religion requires a whole bunch of deliberation and thought.
Only the OS agnostic develop the mindset where they can go into each of the domains and function as the domain requires.
xerods@reddit
That's right. If Atari DOS in all its 8bit glory was good enough for my saintly 6 it's good enough for me.
ray27D@reddit
Si asi pasa con todos, lo mas seguro que tu primera pc usara windows a dia de hoy, yo nacido en los 2000 en adelante el primer ordenador que use tenia windows 7. La gran mayoria de los que usan linux en los que me incluyo es porque en algun momento de tu vagaje por interntet te diera por probarlo
polymath_uk@reddit
My step daughter's school all use Chromebooks. Personally I see kit like that as a toy but anything is better than MS.Â
Dry-Conversation7191@reddit
Hopefully Google doesnât F off there chance to create an ecosystem like Apple with aluminium os.
LaserRanger_McStebb@reddit
Holy shit. Dassault is a French company. Imagine if this is the push that leads to SolidWorks/CATIA coming over to Linux.
Doug2825@reddit
I have a friend who used pirated Solidworks because pirated Solidworks works fine using wine, but his legit copy through university doesn't.
mcsey@reddit
That explains the rudeness.
ColonialDagger@reddit
I haven't thought of this, I fucking hope so.
chuzambs@reddit
Best answer. This is why there is so much interest from Microsoft on making donations of laptops for schools and stuff like that.
Pure-Brilliant-5605@reddit
French here, my computer, given to me in school in late 2000s had Linux on it. It did not especially make people go with Linux in the long run, at all even (they actually went out of their way to install Windows on it). A few years after the launch of the program they gave iPad instead. But considering it was hard to have stuff running at that time and that most people were not tech-savvy, it might change in the near future. But it was actually a good initiative on their part.
CB0T@reddit
It's been a winning formula for many years, I've been using it since 1995, and I feel that since 2010 it's gotten a boost and become really great. The icing on the cake was the pipewire. It's perfect now. đ
HeroinBob831@reddit
Pipewire is great, but Yabridge is what finally allowed me to switch to Linux full time. There really is no alternative for some plugins, and when you get a sound you like you really don't want to change it. I run everything now that I used to run in windows without issue (and, somehow, melodyne runs better in reaper with wine than it ever did on windows and I don't even know how that's possible).
OffsetXV@reddit
I wish I could get Yabridge working, it'd be a life safer. I've tried on Arch, Mint, and Fedora and it just refuses to behave itself for some reason. I miss my old Windows-native guitar modelers and drum libraries :(
NegativeHerons@reddit
I have it working on Arch. I believe it still requires Wine 9.21, which is quite old at this point. Otherwise, plugin GUIs don't work. I used the Arch "downgrade" package to get the older version of Wine.
I used Analog Obsession plugins to test when I was fiddling with it since they're easy to install, free, and work perfectly under yabridge.
OffsetXV@reddit
Yeah, I tried 9.21 and a few other Wine versions on both Arch and Mint, but I still have broken GUIs on everything and sometimes it just crashes my DAW entirely.
No idea if it's me or something with my setup, I eventually just gave up for the time being
NegativeHerons@reddit
I had to do this I think at one point when I was on Debian. I don't think I had to do it on Arch, but you could check if out if you haven't tried it.
https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk?tab=readme-ov-file
But overall, I've just decided to commit and not use any Windows VSTs if I can help it. Even things like Valhalla plugins work fine, but there are bugs like if I remove one of them, Reaper crashes.
HeroinBob831@reddit
Fwiw I do have a setup file I wrote for setting up yabridge, but it's only for Debian based systems. I've installed it on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, and Pop OS with that script and it's seemed to help some folks. I've hoped someone would port it to other distros at some point but it hasn't happened, and I just can't be bothered to learn lol
https://github.com/Heroin-Bob/AudioTools-for-Linux
Setup > setup reqs.sh and setup yabridge.sh. Just make sure you're on wine v9.21 or lower (which will be installed through setup reqs.sh if wine is not installed at all) and you should be good.
OffsetXV@reddit
Oh yeah that sounds great. I'm considering switching to Ubuntu anyway, primarily for the sake of making plugin availability a bit better because a lot of proprietary plugins are only available as .debs, so I'll probably go ahead and give this a try when I do. Thanks!
HeroinBob831@reddit
No problem. Feel free to shoot me a message if you get stuck. Feedback helped me fix some things I overlookedÂ
NegativeHerons@reddit
The existence of linuxdaw.org for the ever-growing list of Linux native plugins is really helpful. There's a ton of stuff on there, including some very well-known vendors.
HeroinBob831@reddit
Top tier site! Found some cool stuff on there. Also https://github.com/nodiscc/awesome-linuxaudio
kevin_k@reddit
Me too! Slackware? How many floppies?
CB0T@reddit
Yeah! Slack i still have mine; 2 disck set (CD).
kevin_k@reddit
CDs? I can finally make one of those "back in my day we didn't have CD-ROMS" comments!
IIRC reasonably priced CD-ROM drives came soon after my plunge into Linux. "This disc holds more than my whole hard drive!!!"
CB0T@reddit
CDs by walnut creek.
I tried to add the photo, but this subreddit doesn't allow it.đŹ
They were quite expensive (drives) at this time; I think I saved up for three years to buy one. Not kidding.
AlarmDozer@reddit
That's because data centers love it because the licensing is a no brainer.
lmpcpedz@reddit
I remember seeing a computer at my friends house in the late 80's. I didn't see a computer at my house til about 1999, what did you use Linux for in 1995?
Max-P@reddit
I knew Linux was gonna eventually win, the only concern has always been "will it keep up enough to not fall far behind". Things were not looking good for a while with GPU drivers back then. Been sticking around since 2007.
But FOSS has always been the great hardware liberator. RockBox on my MP3 player, Linux on an iPod, Linux on the Xbox. When FOSS comes to a device, it eventually eeks out the full power of the hardware. My MP3 player played 240p videos and was able to record FM radio, something the stock firmware would never allow you to do.
The only way corporations could compete is by offering a complete package that exposes the full hardware and leaves the user full control of their device. Obviously that's not happening, greed happens. While Microsoft is busy pissing off their users with ads and AI, Linux is busy catching up and doing things better.
Linux is practically inevitable. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.
TheMightyMisanthrope@reddit
I started in 2003 and it was hard. Now it's foolproof (depending on the fool).
shadybreak@reddit
Guess Iâm a special kind of fool :D
TheMightyMisanthrope@reddit
Nah you're okay.
Need any help?
I mean fools that try to milk money out of it without understanding the basics for example
shadybreak@reddit
Nah, itâs easier than ever to find fixes. Just, a recent Ubuntu install failed right off the bat and I had to boot from commandline, enable networking, and reset/reload the DE or whatever. Followed by a bunch of dependency issues for a piece of software. Followed by driver stuff.Â
It made me think that Linux still isnât ready for mass adoption if the most reputably stable distribution glitches out that way. I think most users are happy to have left the terminal far behind and donât want to go back, or to have to dig into the nuts and bolts of the OS at regular intervals.Â
Institutions are a different matter though if they hire IT staff.Â
Puzzled-Garbage-250@reddit
I am of the mind that wide adoption of linux will bring ruin. Soon enough Linus Torvalds will retire. I believe the linux foundation like any other can be bought. I don't care to convince people to use linux. I am completely ok with contributing and helping others who want to use linux but I don't think there is such a thing as winning it all and I fear if linux were to become mass adopted, there would not be a solution of the same mind to replace it which only spells a shittier future.
AlarmDozer@reddit
Dual boot? It's going to break with the next Windows update or whatever. Windows is petty like that.
angry_lib@reddit
VM...
Your welcome
JoyousWhimsy@reddit
I switched to Mint and bought an M4 Mac Mini for audio stuff (I use Ableton), got one for $400 of Facebook marketplace, it's been great as a second machine, storage leaves a little to be desired though, and upgrading it gets expensive
Debisibusis@reddit
Make sure he writes Cubase support that he switched to Linux and would like to keep using their software there.
Another huge win for Linux happened yesterday, Davinci Resolve 21 will support full raw photo editing, so we have our first professional Lightroom/C1 replacement on Linux! You can even directly import your Lightroom libraries.
yawara25@reddit
Did darktable not already hold this title? Or is there something more that DVR does? Honest question, since I'm not much of a photography guy.
Debisibusis@reddit
A lot of people have issues with Darktable. I know there are some people that swear on it, personally, it always took me ages, to come even remotely close to my edits on C1, where you have good results from the getgo and can dive deep from there.
RapidRAW is also FOSS and promising.
But Davinci Resolve is an insanely powerful tool (it's literally what Hollywood uses for colorizing), and it looks like the worked together with Camera manufacturers to get good result. I hope it will be a fully C1 replacement for me soon, the only reason I ever boot Windows.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
I saw that, amazing for content creators and photo enthusiasts! Iâll also start using it.
WeAreGoingMidtable@reddit
Linux is good enough but it still can't offer anything that is close to Microsoft Office (no, Libre Office is not good enough) and many other applications that run only on Windows. My wife works for the Copenhagen City Council and they use so many Windows-only business applications that simply don't exist on Linux. There are simply too many legacy internal applications and a lot of custom built software for Windows. Office workflows are tied to MS Office formats and macros. There are also identity systems built around Active Directory. Migration costs are huge (training + rewriting software), productivity dips during migration, support contracts stiĂŚĂŚ cost money... So it will be like this: France will be slowly reducing dependence on Microsoft where feasible.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Office used to be good. Not the case anymore. EU citizens have every reason now to reduce dependency on US products. Best part is that they now understand this as a fact.
ge6irb8gua93l@reddit
It's still miles better than LibreOffice though
Anthea_Likes@reddit
It might be a great time to consider making GNU Hurd complete đ
I truly hope I'll be able to run GNU Guix on GNU Hurd and continue spending my time on GNU Emacs, so everything else isn't relevant besides saying "I use GNU, btw."
the_bighi@reddit
Linux probably will never "win". It's usually many years behind commercial OSes, even in things that people use frequently.
But I don't need it to win, I just it to be good to me. I don't care if it's the most popular OS or not.
Anthea_Likes@reddit
People tend to live in the browser nowadays... The flaws are proprietary, Windows-only, professional, and specific to software... But that will evolve too at some point
pirisca@reddit
Linux doesn't need to win it all. Competition is good, the resulting products suit different tastes and needs. There's plenty of space for multiple OS.Â
AlarmDozer@reddit
Sure, but as long as whatever tool you need can be offered in those other OSes. If gaming and Adobe tools weren't pegged on Windows and macOS, Linux would be primo.
McGuirk808@reddit
Well I agree competition is good, I genuinely don't think Microsoft knows how to make a good operating system anymore. It seems like all of their effort goes toward unnecessary UI changes and AI.
Most of their strengths are on the Enterprise and cloud side right now. I don't think the windows operating in system itself has much appeal. Right now change is being held back by third party support, but as Linux gets more popular, the gap there is going to dissolve.
Once the third party support situation is resolved, people are going to eventually realize that Windows itself doesn't really have any strong points anymore. The operating system itself is just lacking in pretty much every respect.
crshbndct@reddit
Yeah windows is fundamentally worse in every way. This is what I try to explain to people. The only thing Windows does is have a larger base of available software. That is it. Every other part of the operating system is worse in every appreciable way. There are some edge cases but they arenât really dramatic.
For example if Cubase worked for the guy in the post he would probably switch.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Linux itself has competition with different distros for different needs, so I'd say that part is already covered :)
TonixAmoto@reddit
Well done! I guess I uses a nice machine for Cubase.
He probably needs windows for this reason.
So, you could offer him the possibility to have an old second hand laptop to start enjoying Linux for the rest of the things he is using his PC for.
Just an option.
Natural_Night9957@reddit
It's worth checking whether this can be applied to his use case: https://suparious.com/debian-audio-guide/
Blitzbahn@reddit
My dad (84), a Windows user, said, "Why isn't there a simpler system for us oldies with less confusing options". I said, "Well, actually..." I installed XFCE Mint and he is really happy with it.
puce_glitz@reddit
I'm a linux newb, I followed a YouTube video and I just gave an old dell PC new life with cinnamon. I'm super stoked by how sleek the system is!!
nazgand@reddit
I have a Ventoy thumb drive in my wallet for emergencies.
TommyTheTiger@reddit
AI tools have also made linux way more accessible for tweaking. You can just ask the AI how to figure out what is going on in your system even if you don't know systemd, yada yada. Nowadays, anyone with claude could configure a custom linux box to do all kinds of stuff like mediaserver, installing all the programs you're talking about, etc. Reading the docs is a lot more work than asking for something and getting a command to do/install it.
denikec@reddit
this. i would've gone completely insane from a third of all the debugging I had to do if I couldn't use AI.
mglyptostroboides@reddit
My 74-year-old mother uses an old Dell business computer I got decommissioned from work when I worked at a small college. I put Debian 13 on it, stock GNOME. I gave her five minutes of instruction on the basics and she took right to it. She'd used Windows at work for 30 years (to be fair, most of that time wasn't a desk job, but you still use a computer from time-to-time as an ICU nurse, but after that she was doing an on-call job, a desk job) so the differences in UI weren't an obstacle. I know she's using it because I'll see her dropping likes on Facebook, I get her emails and last time I was out at the farm, I'd seen that she'd filled up her "Documents" directory with whatever she's working on now. I never taught her to use OpenOffice, but she figured it out.Â
Geek_Wandering@reddit
History doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes. Germany made a similar attempt in the early 2000s. The most prominent part was the city of Munich rolling their own distro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiMux It was abandoned and they returned to Windows eventually.
During that period the MS ecosystem was less tightly coupled than today. Multiple services were either not offended by Microsoft or their offering was below competitors. Now, it's a much bigger lift to escape the gravity of MS ecosystem.
I genuinely hope they commit actual resources, others join them, and they get to a stable competitive point.
Zestyclose_Diver_377@reddit
Interesting story. From the Wikipedia article, looks like there may have been some murky deal between the then mayor and Microsoft that caused them to switch back to Windows. Also there was opposition from users and the public to the switch back and the mayor was forced to defend the decision. Not a situation where Linux inevitably failed because of the superior force of the Microsoft "ecosystem".
rarsamx@reddit
I'd encourage to change your thinking. FOSS wining is remaining free.
If more people chose Linux it's good for them but Linux success should r be measured in market share on the desktop.
Every time a proprietary software or driver enters Linux, Linux loses a bit. Every time there is a FOSS alternative Linux wins a bit.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
To me, true freedom lies in being able to also choose between proprietary and FOSS. To someone who does not write code, FOSS wonât matter as much, it is more about the ease of use and convenience, which Microsoft keeps losing at.
If you exclusively use FOSS and refuse everything else, in my opinion that is just trading one walled garden for another.
GildSkiss@reddit
Linux doesn't need to "win" anything, and you wouldn't like the consequences if it did.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Linux already won 99% of the server market, the consequences are obvious.
GildSkiss@reddit
The kinds of people who run servers are the minority I'm talking about. That's clearly not the application you're addressing in your post though.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
No no. You are right. But in an ideal circumstance thereâs a chance it ends well.
Worst situation, we get Android as mainstream Linux. Not like they did not try. Glad it failed.
HAL9000thebot@reddit
ardour is the alternative to cubase
Bratkartov@reddit
Or any DAW running on Linux like Reaper, Bitwig , Studio One etc.
Truckuto@reddit
Honestly, do you even need to still dual boot? There is a tool out now called WinBoat. I would suggest looking into that too.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
I'll have a look, but for starters I do not want to overwhelm a first time user :)
Truckuto@reddit
Thatâs perfectly acceptable! But definitely have a look at it! Itâs supposed to be able to run basically anything that Windows can!
Oflameo@reddit
No need to worry, once Linux wins, the hipsters will figure out how to replace it with something more fashionable and esoteric.
coderguyagb@reddit
The BSD guys right now: So there's a chance?
DreamCatcher_tv@reddit
first to NixOS, than to BSD
Oflameo@reddit
NixOS / kBSD
SpeedDaemon1969@reddit
I've been using Linux for 32 years, and for me it never was about "winning" by having the biggest team, it was about having a better tool at a price I could afford. Helping others has been something that good people do, but I worry that with so many lusers coming from commercial products, the self-entitled will make it a circus that I never wanted. For that reason, Linux marketers are not welcome by me.
ClubPuzzleheaded8514@reddit
We already have dozens of Instagram-like posts on CachyOS subreddit, by newbies who show their manga desktop. Many others ask for Windows-like functions (antivirus for example) and UI (blurring, or Config panel because terminal is evil, you know)
Yes, not sure we really want Linux to become a trendy product...Â
SpeedDaemon1969@reddit
Yes, the clannishness and the feudalism. The adolescent competition to be top dog that some never grow out of. Sadly that pervades all of modern society.
avg_php_dev@reddit
I was doing research on Debian few weeks ago. Found it's community to be worse then I expected. When I started questioning some things in good faith I was swarmed with toxicity like "you don't understand what Debian is about". I don't care much, but I visited website, looked at photo and everything was clear for me. When politics and wokeism touches something, it's usually fucked one way or another. Why I'm saying this? Point is that people tend to gather around some ideas and they reject or attack everyone around who disagree.
I wanted replace my 8 year old Mint with fresh Debian, cleanup some things but then I realized I don't want to be associated with any particular distro community, because im fucking poweruser :D
So, still same Mint with Cinnamon last time used 2 years ago, because im fully on i3wm for 5 years now (compiled from sources because mint packages had no gaps version back then). Zilion of my own bash scripts, dotfiles, docker containers, etc etc. Also I mange few servers running Debian.
I started all this linux shit like 25 years ago with Mandrake linux
Linux is now linux for me, distro don't matter - I was doing Fedora and Arch for few years also and see no difference except packages availibility.
DreamCatcher_tv@reddit
i recommended CachyOS to a friend as his first distro because i used CachyOS (i'm an IT-professional and could give him support)
he learned a lot and after a few weeks he knew how to lookup a problem the right way and didn't trust a random CLI-command from the internet.
he uses it as his daily driver for games and didn't break it (I recommended updates every 1-2 weeks)
one time it broke his boot-manager but that was caused by windows (an installation just to play GTA V on private FiveM-Server)
GildSkiss@reddit
I'm shocked at how many people here view this as a game that they need to "win", it just seems like an immature and unnecessary goal.
I do not care at all what operating system other people use on their computers, as long as I am allowed to use the one I like on mine.
I agree that the "mainstream-ification" of Linux will have negative unforseen consequences.
SpeedDaemon1969@reddit
I am no longer shocked, but very tired of the kind of people who make every last part of life just like sports hooliganism, with mindless tribalism, othering and no rational thought.
electricheat@reddit
Strong agree. Been using it as my primary desktop for 25 years, and am slightly concerned at all the talk about how linux needs to change to be mainstream: fewer choices, more limits, more hand-holding, more corporate influence.
UpOrBeyond@reddit
Is lusers a typo or pun?
SpeedDaemon1969@reddit
Luser is a pejorative term that admins use to describe users who want a computer for the bragging rights, but who refuse to learn how to use it, and get others to do everything for them. In business, lusers are a drain on the business. And in a community like Linux, they tend to hog all the attention, making it hard for more polite people to ask questions and get help. Generally speaking, I'm in no hurry to see the Linux community turn into Facebook or Twitter.
ibeerianhamhock@reddit
Honestly one of the reasons why Linux is so freaking good as a server OS is all the effort corporations put into contributing to the effort. So many corporations are are deeply invested into making the kernel and standard user space work in enterprise engineers.
There's pretty much no historic private interest in desktop environments until relatively recently. Probably one of the reasons x11 survived for so long. Desktop environment has historically been an afterthought in Linux.
Valve showed folks what was possible when when corporations got interested in Linux user experience (on multiple fronts) and with more private entities having a stake at Linux as a desktop environment it will probably accelerate Linux desktop environments continuing to improve. I mean hell valve and redhat are the only reasons we actually have a good production grade Wayland as a standard for desktop environments now.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not about winning or anything but I feel like moves like this (esp if other countries follow) will cause more private entities to invest into the OSS effort behind linux desktop environments and maybe Linux will go from awesome kernel and user space utilities + good desktop environment to awesome all around OS that's not just enterprise grade but also consumer grade as a good beginner friendly OS for anyone that still has all the power of Linux behind it.
Wentyliasz@reddit
I don't think 2026 will be the year, but we did pass that 5% mark on steam. Genuinely the days of windows dominance are numbered. I don't expect a turnover where everyone is on Linux, but by 2030 "What OS are you running" will be a legitimate question
rainingcrypto@reddit
Damn, bringing him the USB with ventoy preloaded with a bunch of distros... He's gna be like a kid in a candy shop.
regeya@reddit
First time?
But yes, I feel like an entire EU country committing to it is a good sign.
I've used Linux more or less casually since '96 and honestly...Linux won, just not on the desktop. And that's okay. People don't count routers, phones, and Chromebooks, and that's their viewpoint. The average person in a Western country doesn't get through their day without Linux being involved in some way. They just don't. I can't even watch TV without Linux being in the mix.
INITMalcanis@reddit
There is a high probability that others will follow suit.
regeya@reddit
True, current events are making the rest of the world distrust my country and it'd be nice to have source that can be audited, wouldn't it?
INITMalcanis@reddit
Exactly so. For individual national security purposes, I suppose the ideal would be a specific custom closed sourced OS that wasn't like any other, but that's not really practical. Next best is, as you rightly say, an auditable one.
The best thing about France's move is that it's going to create a massive demand for linux appliction developers, and linux-native applications are exactly where the big gap is now.
Zeroneca@reddit
If he doesn't have a huge VST library maybe a DAW alternative working native on linux is a good alternative.
Some alternatives are: Ardour (OpenSource), Reaper, BitWig
maybe_boisvert@reddit
What distro did you installed for your dad?
keremimo@reddit (OP)
None yet but he is warming up to Mint! I do not want to rush it to scare him off of it, let it happen on his pace :)
maybe_boisvert@reddit
Keep sending updates, this post is interesting and peak :)))
hexwit@reddit
Be ready for regulations that will restrict linux freedom.
thefeedling@reddit
MS is working extra hours to make it happen
BortGreen@reddit
They've managed to come back from worse versions, the Copilot mess still doesn't reach Vista or 8.0 levels
But back then people would just stay on older versions instead of moving to Linux, this appears to be changing but still has a long way
FlyingBishop@reddit
Most of the problems with Vista and 8.0 have become status quo since then. Apple/Microsoft/Google constantly are re-making the UI mistakes of those eras because they can't leave well enough alone.
Anonymo@reddit
*Co-pilot with MS
RetroGrid_io@reddit
Perhaps, with their much-unloved Clippy 2.x aka "CoPilot" but what's really driving this is the now chaotic and untrustworthy United States government. One minute threatening to take over part of Europe, another minute throwing around anti-trade tariffs that change every few weeks, and then another minute blaming Europe for not backing the US in a stupid war everybody knew was going to cause chaos and ultimately fail. (Iran)
The United States used to be the safest, most trustworthy country to invest in. Now it barely fares better than Nairobi.
Icy-Astronomer-9814@reddit
Also TrumpÂ
Hessian_Rodriguez@reddit
Brought to you by copilot.
bapfelbaum@reddit
I wish there was an accounting of microsofts overtime spend on sabotaging windows, because they really work quite hard at it. And windows used to be quite a decent platform some time ago.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
No, they are spending extra AI tokens.
fake_agent_smith@reddit
You might want to reconsider using Ventoy. I understand the sentiment, I used to use Ventoy myself because it's comfortable, but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ventoy&oldid=1345715048#Concerns_over_software_security_and_validity_of_open_source_claim
and this huge thread https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/issues/3224
Competitive_Tie_3626@reddit
Nice! Spread the word brother!
Question: This software he needs cannot be run with Wine/Proton? If you can make it work there will be no turning back!
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Cubase is even worse than Adobe products I'd say when it comes to locked down products. Doubt there's a chance but I'll introduce him to some alternatives just in case he feels like trying some :)
shadybreak@reddit
Iâve had a decent experience with bitwig on Linux, but only stock plugins.Â
KlyeUnbranded@reddit
Cubase and its higher end counter part Nuendo are pro audio suites. They use a proprietary audio driver that has proven very difficult to use with Linux. The plugins for them also donât work in wine. Lastly the license agreement includes hardware / software requirements that are incompatible with using it (legally) on Linux. For his dad, who knows nothing of Linux, this would be a major hurdle.
PuddingEmergency3207@reddit
"I did what any linux enjoyer would do" Thank god you didn't replied like an arch fanatic "READ THE F*CKING MANUAL!"
tonecc@reddit
So funny enough, all my computer related classes when I was a kid (10-14) were using Linux. I went to a French school that uses the French guidelines, this was 20 years ago already.
I ended up using Windows anyway and now use Linux for work everyday but still, it was never a strange thing for me. Although I am pretty sure the school just did not want to pay Windows licenses probably!
Ill_Scientist_2239@reddit
My sister has an old hp laptop she bought in 2021. Its got 8gigs of ram and a ryzen 3 3000 u series cpu. She keeps complaining that its insanely slow now because of her ryzen 3 cpu, but when I checked, she has all the startup apps enabled by default, got multiple browsers (chrome, firefox, brave, edge), even got telemetry enabled in almost all apps she uses (instead of saving storage by not downloading apps like pinterest or notion or spotify and use the web, she downloads all the apps) all in a single 256gb ssd. I have told her all the reasons why her laptop is slow and even mentioned that people who actually know how to use a computer could actually put some life into it by using linux, but she doesn't want to use linux because there is risk of "damaging" the pc when installed by ourselves and not by a technician. She doesn't listen to me when I tell her how to optimize the pc and does not even delete the installer files after installing the apps. Mind you folks, these people are the reason why windows still has a marketshare. I feel like crying everytime I see her laptop.
Actual__Wizard@reddit
That's how the world used to be. Ever since 9/11 everything has "gone crazy."
I'm not surprised at all. The products these companies are creating, like Windows 11, are more like digital cancer than they are useful tools. Windows is seems like a "slow motion bait and switch scam."
Back in the day, it massively improved productivity, because "it just worked and it didn't have much of the cancerware that it has today."
But today, it ruins productivity. You have to spend at least an hour, turning stuff off in Windows 11 to protect your privacy, secure your system, and turn off tons off of annoying garbage that wastes our time.
The whole Windows experience is now a giant waste of my time and the only reason I have it installed at all is to play a two games.
AncientFollowing6111@reddit
Hi Iâm a newb (that has used linux ten years ago for a basic raspberry pie project) and I know I can probably google this, but what goes in a flash drive that has all the beginner distros? Is there a place I can download a âstarter kitâ folder or something? Would you mind sharing the contents of the flash drive youre sharing with your FIL?
keremimo@reddit (OP)
You can search for "Ventoy", the rest is just adding the isos.
VisualSome9977@reddit
Is 2026 the year of the linux desktop...?
zabby39103@reddit
Honestly, most normal people just use Browser/web apps nowadays, and maybe a bit of Word. Linux can do that easily.
Yeah Adobe products don't work without Wine (and even then color correction is off), and not all games aren't perfect especially at launch. That really is a minority of normal people though. Especially since people typically have their own computers now, not family computers.
autra1@reddit
It's not done yet. Only one small part of the french Administration (the DINUM) is going to switch for now. Current news overstate things a bit...
thisbenzenering@reddit
My mother in law wanted to try out linux a few years ago, so I explained how to do it and how to look up errors. She told me she would reach out of she had problems. She is retired and was an accountant in her career. She had a computer but was never very serious about it until she was almost retired.
She is now on her second computer with linux she installed on it without ever needing my help more then suggestion where she would look for the answer.
Linux will totally win and it will be a flood of users once it gets recognised in its ease of use
zabby39103@reddit
If she is capable of looking up errors, she is smarter than 99% of computer users and a natural Linux user.
MurkyPurpose1925@reddit
So the France Linux thing is real?? That's amazing, but I believe there should've been double options like a long time ago to evade such the monopoly from Microsoft, specially on laptops that don't get much power to begin with like my 19's laptop to avoid ewaste
MstchCmBck@reddit
Does your father in law really needs Cubase ? He doesn't want to switch to something better like Reaper ? Or something open source like Ardour ?
sylario@reddit
As much as I want an alternative to windows there is still a lot of work to do to make it consumer ready.
This week end I had to install the client for a drive/mega like service on a ubuntu. It was an appimage. It failed with appimageinstaller. I ended up uninstalling app image installer and setting up the appimage in the CLI.
How can I honestly recommend it to non technical user ?
ManFrontSinger@reddit
Wake up, babe! New year of the linux desktop post just dropped!
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Guilty.
Dimitrij_@reddit
My small story time:
I selfhost quite a few services and my dad an i had a discussion someday about linux and so on and i told him that all services he uses at home (windows vm he uses for testing, plex/jellyfin, dockerized services for various stuff, nextcloud, even his network drive, homeassistant and much more) all these systems run on linux. Even almost every website he has ever visited. Thats when something in his head clicked and since then he kind of sees the world with other eyes. I also gave my old thinkpad to my mom and it still runs on archlinux (my mom runs arch btwđ) she mostly uses the browser or does some stuff with onlyoffice.
Even my grandpa uses linux. His laptop is old and slow so i customized his installation for easier use. He also does everything in a browser and sometimes prints something out so it is really fast and reliable and also a bit more secure if he accidentally downloads something bad. Also makes it easier to manage for me. just ssh into the machine and done (vpn tunnel to my grandpa :D)
my dad moved to an macbook because he always wanted one and is happy too. Not a 100% win but every step away from microslop is a good one.
INITMalcanis@reddit
Can't deny that this got a little chuckle out of me
INITMalcanis@reddit
From recent (2 weeks ago) experience, Linux Mint is incredibly easy to get going with, and in most ways it's the ideal "lifeboat" distribution. I would sincerely recommend trying this one first if your father's workflow isn't super complex.
Apart from any other considerations, 22.3 being an LTS distro, once it is up and working, nothing really needs to change for 5 years.
grathontolarsdatarod@reddit
Its a move I think basically all governments should make.
Two_oceans@reddit
My elder parents are not technologically inclined, they just want it easy and simple, but my mom just asked me to teach her Linux when they'll change their PC later this year. The privacy concerns, the forced updates and AI everywhere got too annoying even for them.
spin81@reddit
FYI in Ubuntu 26.04 beta there's a bug in it where it won't install if you use Ventoy. Not sure about other versions. So if you want to try Ubuntu you'll have to make it a dedicated USB drive.
sidusnare@reddit
LOL, it already won.
funbike@reddit
Linux has already won almost all of it. For every Windows computer there are 5-10 Linux or Unix computers.
Most likely your router, phone, car, and TVs run Linux. Reddit runs on Linux. Macs and iPhones run on Unix which is very similar to Linux. Even the coffee maker at my office runs Linux.
IkoIkonoclast@reddit
Once they start forcing users to migrate to Windows 12 from 11, there will be many switching to LInux.
littypika@reddit
I think it's less about being the first time Linux will win it all, and more about Windows will lose it all.
We've seen Microslop become complacent, adopt anti-competitive practices, and fumble extremely dominant positions in the market (e.g. Internet Explorer's decline into irrelevance).
I know I switched to Linux Mint in Sep 2025, when I found out that Windows 10 reached EOL last year, but my PC was perfectly working hardware. Best decision I made for my PC.
thehighnotes@reddit
I do think so.. migrated from windows a year or so ago.. best decision I've ever made. On pop_os, works like a dream for dev work, while being able to play games.. heck I can even do my VR steam gaming:)
Happy as a clamp
bapfelbaum@reddit
Same, i honestly see almost no reason to ever use windows again for anything non work, and hopefully companies will start that shift too. I still am a gamer though, gaming is pretty good om linux, more stable than last year on windows when i left it as a daily driver. And if linux becomes a plurality we wont be locked out behind stupid platform bound anticheat which is a good thing.
thehighnotes@reddit
I actually do run windows..
I have one those persistent licenses.. so I run it on a virtual.. haven't touched in months.. don't want to be faced with the inevitable.update neither , even in that virtual environment haha
I mainly keep it around for compatibility, if needed, and a/b testing, if needed. But haven't had to.. Linux has become insanely capable.
Waaay back, when I was a kid I tinkered a bit with SuSe 6, :p it's come a long way since then
AuDHDMDD@reddit
It's pushing competition. I know Microsoft is working on improving windows. But I don't think it will be great long term as they reverse QoL again. Plus, Microsoft firing a lot of their teams and pushing AI means a lot of windows might become vibe coded
DrunkenGerbils@reddit
I think Microsoft is more concerned with pushing AI features and slowly turning Windows into a software as a service product to be honest. If things continue in the direction they're going Windows will essentially turn into ChromeOS. Between Valve helping to improve gaming on Linux and Microsoft being dead set on the enshitification of Windows, Linux is in the best position it's ever been in.
lantz83@reddit
They are? Hadn't noticed...
KnowZeroX@reddit
You may also want to show some DAWS that do work on linux while at it. Dual booting is nice and all but if one meets their needs without rebooting, that is even better.
keremimo@reddit (OP)
Definitely going to show him some DAWs on Linux, who knows.
He spent hours reading the manuals for Cubase though so I assume he likes it :)
janne_oksanen@reddit
I've been a Linux user for over two decades. A few years back I started learning audio production and got my first ever Windows laptop. It became my daily driver for a while but over time I grew more and more dissatisfied with it. About a month ago I decided that it was time to go back to Linux. I bought a 2nd hand laptop on FB marketplace and set everything up. I even got most of my audio production software working. I just now realized that I haven't even thought about my Windows laptop in a month.
DizzyCardiologist213@reddit
My dad will literally know nothing about it. He's working with a 13 year old core i3 dell inspiron or something, and when it needs to be upgraded, if it does, it's going to linux. He used to use a browser and a desktop email app, but has gone to just checking email in a browser. He'll have no idea that it's not windows, but he's 80, and somewhat wisely (for him) doesn't do anything on his PC. Stores nothing, no banking in the browser, no personal information, no nothing other than his basic browsing history.
My wife is a physical therapist and does barely more than that, though she does store files from her phone and use libre office sometimes. I moved her from windows to ubuntu studio and put the same shortcuts on the desktop.
FWIW, after 30+ years of windows, I only switched to linux in October or so of last year, and now have it on five PCs in the house. One forlorn PC still has windows on it, but sits closed, just waiting for the once or twice a year there's some windows only firmware for a new device for son. I just don't trust microsoft won't misbehave in a dual boot situation.
Switching to linux returned to me use of some older physical peripheral hardware that windows couldn't "power manage" and ceased willingness to connect to. this is stuff like top tube microscope cameras, not something cheap and common.
NeedleworkerLarge357@reddit
Great job! More and more people see the benefits now, this might be full exponential growth. This will not keep up infinitely but should get Linux where we need it to convince those stubborn companies to finally give us native Linux applications. Great to see this, keep it going!