8 months
The End of Windows 10 is looming. The world needs a simpler, easy, quick, snackable alternative
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- anothermember@feddit.ukEnglish8 months
It would need someone to set it up, but I have my non-techy family members on Silverblue and it suits the purpose as outlined. Also not sure why all the fear-mongering about btrfs, I would say it’s ready and suitable for mainstream use now, or you don’t have to use it.
8 monthsYou’re being downvoted, but you’re right.
People want something simple. Something that just runs the basics and automatically backs up online and invisibly.
The vast majority of people don’t need to have the choice of 17 different browsers, or 43 office suites, and they certainly don’t need the terminal or Powershell, or anything else. They just need a browser and a way to maybe write a letter and view photos. Maybe a way for the kids to do their homework. If their laptop spontaneously combusts, they want to be able to sign into a new one and have everything put back as it was automatically.
ChromeOS is perfect for them, apart from being a Google product. It’s something we tend to miss because we’re technically minded, but most people don’t care about computers, and don’t want what we want. They want an appliance. If someone created that system with privacy built in, it could be great :)
- 8 months
You’re absolutely right. We need to have many different options for many different people.
- 8 months
I think you’re still missing the point though. People that see a computer as an appliance don’t want or need many different options and can be overwhelmed by the choice. We need a Linux Basic of some sort that all of us coalesce around to recommend to non-technical users, that is designed to be absolutely bulletproof and unbreakable. I’d say it should be immutable to prevent any accidental fluffery, have flatpaks as the main software installation method (snaps can go to hell and appimages just suck for updating) and come with a productivity suite pre-installed as well as typical codecs so things like streaming services work OOTB. Mint could have been such a choice, but it’s just still too niggly for users with no technical skills and no inkling to learn them. We need an “it just works” distro goshdarnit!!
- 8 months
No, we shouldn’t be encouraging people to use tools they don’t bother to understand how to use.
- 8 months
People have lives ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s awesome that us tech-minded nerds can get under the hood, mess with it and customise to our preferences. We can then make it simple and easy for the folks that just need a computer.
If we want Linux to succeed more broadly, than it needs to be accessible to everyone.
- 8 months
Is ChromeOS even that successful? Hasn’t it been merged with Android already? Seems to me nobody wants “snackable” OSs…
- 8 months
Is ChromeOS even that successful?
I think this probably makes sense from within your “bubble”, that of being the sort of technical user that’s on a Linux forum on the internet. Chromebooks are incredibly popular in education, and ChromeOS has held a marketshare of 5-8% over the last few years, only dipping to 2.5% in the last six months.
Linux already will run on a literal brick, we just need an OS that is web-first and locked down for high school kids in a way where educational institutions will want to buy it in bulk. As for device, we really need something built to be a modern netbook. The Framework 12 could have been that, but it starts at $1244 in fully base spec with an i3-1315U, no Windows license and DIY. What we need is a Framework 10 without expansion cards, without a digitiser/touch, running the barebones Intel N100 4c/4t, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. Make it as repairable but single SKU and pre-built. Partner with someone like Universal Blue for the OS, who they already have as an official partner for other devices with Bazzite. It also needs to be sub-$600 to compete.
By the way, ChromeOS being folded into Android isn’t a negative reflection on it. Google are trying to mimic Samsung DeX with their Pixel devices and it just isn’t a smart business decision to develop two parallel desktop experiences when ChromeOS already runs on the Android kernel anyway. Android also has more brand recognition, and overall it will probably encourage developers to make proper desktop kb+m versions of their apps (which can exist in the same apk). A way for Linux to compete there would be strong system integration of Waydroid but that’s probably mostly a “bonus feature” if they manage to succeed with everything else.
- 8 months
“Please, world World, FOSS World Needs Funding for Something You Want”
- 8 months
I don’t know that very many people would understand the limitations of it just like they didn’t with ChromeOS. Just need a major hardware manufacturer to start putting a Linux distro on their machines and make a more stable application installation system than KDE Discover or shore up Discover a bit and it would be great to consolidate rpm, deb, etc., rather than adding new systems like Snap and Flatpak.
- 8 months
I don’t think that would work. The reason for things like flatpak and snaps to exist is because they don’t interfere with the host package manager. Combining debs and rpms would be a disaster. Unless it would be possible to create a package manager that can track all of those different formats, but i don’t know about that.
