Why Year of the Linux Desktop is Bullshit

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2021-08-01 19:30:06

The title of this alone speaks volumes greater than the exposition that’s to follow, and I’m sure that some of my peers are already bounding from the sheds with pitchforks and torches in hand, but I’ve never been one to not voice a concern even when the house is burning down.

Yet again, we in the Linux users community find ourselves at an interesting juncture. Microsoft has as of 14 January 2020 officially EOL’d Windows 7. As with XP before it, this will likely be a major issue for the immediate future considering how prevalent its use is in the desktop market (Gartner estimates still have Windows penetration at greater than 90%). As expected, most of the podcasts and reporting sources are cobbling together pieces to launch yet another slew of volleys, perhaps to rally the uninitiated to take another look at Linux if they haven’t already done so.

This nonsense of the Year of the Linux Desktop has been going on for as long as I can remember. And from working with those who have vastly longer tenures than myself in the Linux world, it seems as if it caught on well before my dive nearly fifteen years ago. From the gate, I too shared this sentiment. I had been a Windows user from the start, and although Linux was a monstrous beast to handle back then, I still loved it with all my silicon heart. And I, like every other witness, wanted to espouse my love to the world in the most compelling and boisterous method I could imagine. I’d rake myself through the coals of Hell to learn all I could about Linux, and while still salving my burns thought there was no way anyone else wouldn’t want to be a part of this. The computing revolution was here! Or was it?

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