"Why Linux Is Still Not Ready For The Desktop"

[computerquip]

I agree with all of his points. Maybe some reasoning later if I have time.

[duby229]

Good at least we don't have to deal with his dumbass here. He can stay on Windows for as long as he wants.

[Kano]

The problem with his view about Linux as desktop seems mainly that he tries it when he has basically no time left to learn. I don't see a huge deal with installing Flash with Kanotix as this is automatically installed as soon as you login for Iceweasel (rebranded Firefox), if he would install Google Chrome then he has the lastest Flash, but nobody told him that somehow. Usually after an plain install i add "msttcorefonts" that webpages look the same, if i want to watch dvds then i add and libdvdcss2. Icedove (rebranded Thunderbird) is already preinstalled. That he does not find an app after installation then there must be a problem with the Ubuntu UI for first time users, KDE is much more Windows like. Maybe simpler to understand coming from Win 7 users than Win 8.1, Win 10 will be a bit better, but you still need to learn something. He should ask somebody to explain him the UI or exchange it (sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop). Linux is not only Ubuntu...

About his other problems with Libre Office vs MS Office and GIMP vs Photoshop: Libre Office is 99% enough for basic office work, if you have to adjust some layouts you do that once. It is much better to switch to Libre Office on every PC (on every OS!) if you don't have to exchange docx with others all the time. It is free, multiplatform and suits most needs - i would even say it is simpler to understand coming from Office XP/2003 than using a new MS Office with ribbons. Of course there are differences, if you manage to write your problem in the google search field into your webbrowser of choice you should find solutions to many of em. If you are a hardcore MS Office users and you still have got a MS Office 2007 copy flying around just use winetricks to install it. For several Photoshop versions there are also instructions available:

http://wiki.winehq.org/AdobePhotoshop

But it is NO Linux problem if somebody has no time to learn to get used to something new! For rare apps you can use VMs with Windows, just not with ancient hardware - you can use older hardware but for high performance you need a similar PC than you would need for Windows.

[haplo602]

Maybe he could try Fedora ? Or some other distro ? Or change the article to say why UBUNTU is not ready for the desktop since Ubuntu is only a Linux variant ... He could say same about Windows 8 and conclude that any Windows version in general is rubbish ....

[DanL]

Linux - If you don't get it by now, you never will.

All this talk of "Linux for the masses" and "the year of the Linux desktop" is tiresome.

Fudzilla?? Is that a flamebait blog?

It's a site that's the tabloid version of hardware/software news. Lots of sensationalism and unsubstantiated rumors. If you thought Phoronix sometimes posted clickbait articles, Fudzilla puts it to shame.

[cocklover]

Linux as a Windows replacement is not easy. It depends so much of the user. For web browsing you can use even ChromeOS and the user will not note any diference more than UI changes, but for workers, is a diferent story, you cannot change the workstation of a Windows user from one day to another, and there must be a good reason to do that, more than fanatics stuff.

[duby229]

Fudzilla?? Is that a flamebait blog?

Yes. He tries intentionally to take the most controversial stance he can.

[DarkCloud]

Companies need to hedge their bets

Intel just anounced earnings today - a billion dollars short. Companies like Intel, HP and Dell have all been caught in the downward spiral caused by the Microsoft Windows 10 drain. It makes you wonder why these companies and others continue to hitch their wagons to this dead horse. MS is a company that misread the internet, search, mobile, and recently blundered with their own core compenetence - the desktop. So why don't all these giants of the computer industry at least hedge their bets and invest a little money in some kind of consoritoruim which innovates a real Linux (or even BSD) desktop. I hear HP is is trying to go it alone with a new desktop product, but maybe it is just another Palm OS wannabe. A few tens of millions would go a long long way to add stability, usability and uniformity to a Linux Desktop, and just maybe give some real competion to Microsoft. It seems folly that so many companies continue to let Microsoft determine their destiny.

[alexThunder]

About his other problems with Libre Office [...]

You may stop bothering about this. If you want, you can always find smaller things to moan about. Even if we had the original MS Office on Linux, people would find that one exotic feature which works slightly different on Linux than on Windows and then claim Linux was unusable just because of that.

I migrated some of these people, who basically just need a webbroswer, to Linux (Ubuntu) and they're fine for over 2 years now.

[Xaero_Vincent]

The desktop is slowly "dying" in favor of smartphones and tablets for general users simply because they don't really need a PC to do things like surf the the web, check email, skype and watch netflix. The desktop is increasing becoming a platform for professionals and gamers. Windows is currently the best platform for professional applications and gaming but it's changing.

Steam, GOG, Desura have brought an explosion of games to the Linux platform in just a couple years. Linux can definitely be used for gaming now and graphics drivers are improving and we'll see a big improvement with Vulkan.

Although Photoshop and Office are an industry standard, most people don't really need all the specialized features they have and it's not like the free open-source versions don't have extensions.Gimp, Gimpphoto, Krita, etc. these are powerful software solutions and there are also plugins available to extend their functionality. Furthermore, Photoshop CS6 and PS Creative Cloud are supported by Wine. Linux has LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice. However, it also has professional office suits that almost nobody ever talks about: Kingsoft/WPS Office and Softmaker Office. Furthermore, Office 2010 and earlier will work in Wine.

To me, the only area where Linux is lacking for me is with tax preparation software that supports eFile. Now it's possible to do taxes online with TurboTax Online but it still doesn't have all the features of the desktop programs.