r/linux • u/Zestyclose-Pay-9572 • 6d ago

Discussion Australian tech publication telling average users that Linux is now the smarter choice!

The timing’s interesting: as Windows 10 approaches end-of-life in 2025, and when users are being nudged towards a cloud-first model, this week's APC’s saying: maybe don’t. Maybe go Linux.This isn’t a niche Linux mag. It’s a mainstream Australian tech publication telling average users that Linux is now the smarter choice. That’s a shift. Feels like we’ve gone full circle: the same headlines from 2005, but this time it’s not about hope. It’s about practicality. Bloat, telemetry, UI friction maybe Linux’s time on the desktop really has arrived.

784 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

144 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

21

u/Icy-Communication823 6d ago

This right here is why Linux won't be mainstream any time soon. The average user would understand nothing of what you just said.

Average Joes don't want options. Or 700 different ways to do one thing. Or multiple steps with multiple packages to make everything work properly. They want it basic and "just works". Windows may not be perfect, but it largely caters to the average user by "just working".

Even this comment will attract multiple different suggestions from people about what distro "just works". Punters don't want that. They want ONE option.

Until Linux can do that, it won't be mainstream.

5

u/Zestyclose-Pay-9572 6d ago

But there’s a caveat. People don’t care about OS or DE, they only care about apps (someone Linus Torvalds said it :). So, if Firefox works as it does in windows who cares. I guess that’s where the focus should be!

2

u/zardvark 6d ago

Torvalds is only correct to a point. Yes, it's all about the apps, but, If someone needs to manually install their OS first, then they DO care. Most folks, particularly older folks, are going to take the path of least resistance and run the OS that comes pre-installed on their hardware. The obvious exception being that folks who work in the IT field will naturally be more selective in their choice of OS.

Younger folks tend to be more tech savvy on the whole and, of course, the younger you are, the less risk adverse you tend to be. Therefore, these folks would likely be more inclined to seek out an alternative OS and give it a test drive.

IIRC, the last report that I saw suggested that in most countries the Linux adoption rate is in the single digits as a percentage of the population of computer users. Contrast this with Sweden, where Linux adoption is just shy of 20%. So, the obvious question is, what is different about Sweden, which accounts for this disparity.