Reply to post: Linux on the desktop

So the 'Year of Linux' never happened. When is it Chrome OS's turn?

WolfFan Silver badge

Linux on the desktop

I have Linux (and Windows) servers. I have Windows (and Mac) clients. I do not have Linux clients. I've personally put Linux on machines at home, usually in a second partition; I find that I rarely boot into the second partition. Linux makes sense as a server OS. It makes less sense as a client OS. The reason why is simple: compatibility.

The vast majority of the applications I must support at work have Windows (and usually Mac) versions, but no Linux versions. That would be why I don't, why I can't, have Linux desktops right there: they can't do the job required. A large segment of the hardware I must support at work have Windows-only drivers; they will work on Macs if I install Parallels or VMWare. They are a pain to make work on Linux. Once again, Linux simply can't do the job required. No, we are not getting rid of our (in many cases, very expensive) applications and replacing them with Linux-based applications, even if there were Linux-based applications which would do the job, which in many cases there are not; the training and associated costs alone would dwarf any savings from making the switch. No, we are not getting rid of our (in many cases, very expensive) hardware and replacing them with hardware with Linux drivers; in many cases there are no such hardware available, not at any price.

The applications I run at home have Windows and Mac versions, but, as in the office, rarely if ever have Linux versions. (Go on. Find a Linux version of pretty much any major game. LibreOffice simply is not MS Office. The GIMP is not Photoshop.) I have several printers and scanners. Two of them have 'official' Linux drivers, in that I can search the vendor's site (HP) and get unsupported drivers. Others can be made to work by doing things like taking drivers intended for Apple's CUPS and playing with them. Others, including all of the scanners, just don't work. It's possible that I could find a scanner which works in Linux; it's certain that I'm not going to junk my working scanners, one of which I've had for more than a decade, to get one which works with Linux. Especially when the software I use to play with the scans I get from the scanner doesn't work with Linux, and, to repeat, the GIMP ain't Photoshop.

Android on the desktop might be better; MS has a version of Office which works in Android. It'd be interesting to see if it worked on the Android desktop. Hardware would still be a problem. Some scanners have Android support; my ancient flatbed is not one of them. Chrome, as it is currently, is a non-starter. No application support, no hardware support.

Sorry, but there it is.

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