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TechBites: My Opinion On Desktop Linux's Future

 

I started using Linux in 1999 and my love for Linux never got eroded with time. Initially, I predicted that Linux would make it to the mainstream operating system (OS) within 10 years but sadly, it never happened. The consolation was the company Redhat, which supported the Redhat Linux distribution, turn commercial and made ripples on the OS industry for servers running Redhat Enterprise Linux. However, there was little progress on the desktop space for Linux.

    After being a user of Linux for more than 20 years on and off, I should say I am not too optimistic about desktop Linux. Why even when Linux desktop is comparable to other desktop OSes or even better?

Issues preventing wider acceptance:

Proprietary drivers
Some hardware companies don't open-sourced their drivers, making them not detected during installation, like Broadcom(network), Nvidia, and ATI (both graphics). Unless specific computers are preinstalled with Linux desktop, or being aware of proprietary hardware, average users will not be able to install their Linux desktop. This will put off any new user to use Linux desktop. 

Too many distributions 
There are hundreds of Linux distributions or flavors and  confusing variants. Desktop Linux like Zorin OS, Linux Lite, LinuxMint, and Elementary OS is a good start. These are able to use older hardware. Variants from Debian, Ubuntu, and Redhat are common as they use these Linux distributions as a base and finetune their windows desktop applications ranging from Xfce, Gnome, KDE, or Mate or application selection or specific purpose like security distribution like Kali Linux.

Limited support
There are limited IT companies supporting Linux desktops. Most of the support comes from the Linux distribution forums or searching the web for a solution. Rarely a support line for you to contact. Being too diverse makes supporting Linux desktop difficult. 

    However, it does not mean that desktop Linux has no future. Now, there are many different desktop Linux available such as Zorin OS, Linux Lite, Elementary OS, and LinuxMint. There is even UbuntuKylin Linux for China Chinese market. 

No need to use command line
Nowadays, there is no need to use commands as most applications comes with a GUI interface. Gone were the days Linux is only for geeks. 

Almost all applications are free
There are many open-sourced applications that are free to use. Some come default with the Linux desktop distribution. Common applications like Office suite, media player, package manager, file manager, web browser, and personal firewall comes with each Linux distribution or install applications on your own using package managers. 

Faster updates or upgrades
Linux usually takes about less than 30 minutes to do full updates or upgrades. Even with system updates. 

Application availability from other OSes
Other than applications with Linux support, there are also alternative applications in Linux which may have similar functions. Such as LibreOffice compatible with Microsoft Office. GIMP is compatible with Adobe Photoshop. 


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