Is Linux fighting back?

[MikeR]

See

1) https://kde.org/for/w10-exiles/
2) https://endof10.org/

[Eadwine Rose]

Been the same every time support ends.

No fight at all. The users either pick one or the other.

[AVLinux]

Meh,

Linux will certainly not lose ground with GenX and Boomers but in my experience despite being raised with computers as a daily reality Millennials and GenZ seem much less hands on with hardware (as always there are exceptions). Their generations are often used to being handed a complete 'device' experience and simply getting a new one as needed because their helicopter parents can't endure to see them lacking long enough to find their own solutions.. I think many people will just use their phones more instead of personal computers and leave other needs to their work (or their spouses) computers which will remain with Windows. Any uptick in Linux adoption will probably revert to a degree when people who need specific Windows workflows get frustrated enough to bend the knee and accept Windows 11. Relatively few people who enjoyed Windows 10 are going to suddenly grow a strong opinion about OS politics, they are more likely to take the path of least resistance which will be Win 10+ extended security or Win 11..

Just my opinion.. take with the necessary volume of salt..

[richb]

@AVLinux
I am so far away from GenZ (and GenX for that matter) that I know squat about their proclivities. However your assessment seems sound to me.

[jj 5117]

"Is Linux fighting back?"

Have you ever heard Torvald talk?

[Artim]

Fighting? No, there's nothing to fight about really. The only time we use desktop computers is in the computer lab at school, and maybe the one in the library to find a resource we need for a school paper or project. The rest of the time it's tablets and smartphones, unless you're a nerd like I am. My friends at school don't know the difference between Windows, Mac, or Linux. They're all just "computers" like the ones at school; that our parents used to use at home or in the office.

[uncle mark]

I think many people will just use their phones more instead of personal computers and leave other needs to their work (or their spouses) computers which will remain with Windows.

If my experience is any indication, this has already happened, and happened long ago. Gone are the days when the home computer was the centerpiece of ones online experience. I once had a pretty decent side gig going fixing PCs and cleaning up infected Windows systems. That went away when people reverted to their phones, Windows got a lot more secure and less prone to infection, and the price dropped to the point where people could just go buy a new laptop for $300 rather than pay me $100-150 to fix their five year old machine.

I gave up fixing Windows machines quite a while ago. The only thing I'll do now is take an old machine down to bare metal, install a load of MX-KDE, tweak it a tad, and hand it back to them. No charge. Those that accept that appear to be happy with them -- I never hear back from them.

[AVLinux]

Been the same every time support ends.

That reminded me that 'support ending' is much more of a common thing to encounter in Linux, even if you use up to date Debian Stable variants or Ubuntu's LTS releases you're look at 2-3 years max (of course for uber nerds and experienced Linux people longer lifespans can be coaxed out) . Linux support ends in other ways too when they do huge sweeping system deep changes like systemd, PipeWire and in the nearing future Wayland. I think most general daily computer Users coming from Windows are going to be rather shocked when they encounter the gnat-like short lived lifespans of Linux Distributions vs. how long a supported Windows version lasts and of course there are numerous corporate greed and privacy things to not enjoy about Microsoft but you cannot fault them for not making a long-supported backward compatible OS that doesn't tear the rug out from under your feet with it's subsystems changing all the time, love or hate Windows they prioritize this kind of stuff MUCH better than Linux and those are the kind of things that actually attract and keep non-enthusiast type of people on a given platform.

I still require and use Windows 10 for a lot of Video production workflow, I love Linux and it is my main squeeze for other things and it does it very well but I haven't yet decided how even I am going to deal with the end of Win 10 support, I already moved to Linux more than 15 years ago and it's been wonderful but not enough for a full exile experience but for many general Users it certainly might be, but there is much more to get used to than the Desktop Environment simply being different..

[txm0523]

I am a Boomer. Have always loved PC's / Laptops. Have always loved building a home PC, modifying PC / Laptop components, improving perofrmance. Guess I am a " Geek by nature, Linux by choice " type of person. I do hate using smartphones for anything except making / receiving calls, sending / receiving SMS, listening to music or taking pics. I don't feel the need to buy a new cell phone each year. I don't feel the need to be on my smartphone every minute of the day either.
When I worked in healthcare, part of my job was doing lung testing, which required use of MS Win based PC. Nothing like coming in to work in the morning and seeing displayed on your PC screen that you have been automatically updated to the latest MS Win OS, which in turn, crashes the lung testing software ( as in, it's not friggin working at all ). All attempts by Tech Support people could not reset MS Win back to previous version. I have not used any MS Win device in the last 5 years. Whenever anyone has a problem with their Windows device and they ask for help, I say, " Sorry, I don't do Windows ". Then I jump into showing them Linux OS. But, most Windows users don't really care and they will pay the slave tax and buy a new PC with the latest version of Win OS. So sad. Although Linux OS is great, don't like the " End of Life " situation most distros have, which forces you to re-install Linux OS. Maybe if all Linux distributions went to a " rolling release " model, you wouldn't have to keep re-installing ( which most users won't want to do ). Just wondering.

[Germ]

What 99.9% of die hard windows users don't realize is that it is a simple matter to use Rufus to install windows 11 on nearly any modern PC/Laptop that M$ says will not support windows 11.

I actually did it to my wife's laptop. She's one of those die hard windows users although I did persuade her to dual boot. She still likes windows but does boot up linux on a regular basis.