First year for me not on Linux desktop for my primary device since... 99? M1 Air was the culprit. I still don't particularly love Mac OS and remain somewhat puzzled by the overwhelming love people have for it but:

1. It's usable enough and it's certainly polished and much more importantly

2. The M1 Air is the laptop I always dreamed of. Fast, doesn't get hot, SILENT. It's worth the trade-off for me, but I hope Linux on M1 succeeds and I get to run Linux again.

I had the choice of a M1 or a Thinkpad (which is what I've been using for the past decade). It was a very difficult decision - everything I hear about the M1 is incredible. I ended up getting a thinkpad because I really don't like macOS. But I don't know if I'll make that same decision in a couple years.

I switched almost 2 years ago to macOS, I still have a hard time resizing windows and I miss how well it worked on Windows. But as yourself I’m in love with my MB Air, I bought it as a placeholder while waiting for the new Pros but I can’t go back to a heavier machine to get performance that I don’t need out of it. Sure it’s leaking in screen real estate and brightness, but I’m afraid there aren’t any alternatives to a fanless M1 Air.

I have been using the Magnet app[0] since 2013 for window management on Mac. You can use it to position/resize windows using mouse gestures (dragging to edges etc) and shortcuts. BetterTouchTool is another powerful tool that can be used for window management along with many other things.

[0] https://magnet.crowdcafe.com/

[1] https://folivora.ai/

I too just moved from a 2010 macbook pro over to a S76 lemur pro as my main machine a few months ago. I think a lot of people who fit that wedge of "not hardcore techies, but passionate about freedom of software" have been dismayed with the recent apple/microsoft moves/censorship/etc, and are realizing linux is actually pretty user friendly with plenty of software options versus ten years ago.

Quite possibly. Their Lemur Pro laptop is really amazing, and I consistently grab it over my Macbook Pro or Macbook Air because it is lighter, faster, gets better battery life, and the PopOS UI is better than the lipsticked pig that Mac OS has become these days.

Why does the Lenmur have so much batter battery life than the Galago? The Galago lasts maybe 3-4 hours web browsing or watching videos.

The Lemur has a 73 Wh battery, while the Galago is 49 Wh, so 50% more battery. I'll also guess that the Lemur has much lower resting power consumption, since it doesn't have fancy graphics and has a lot of firmware designed to minimize power usage and turned on by default.

Every year is the Year of Linux on the Desktop as more people move over.

20 years for 1%, there is always hope I guess.

Only if you view the achievement as trying to win market share, but since Linux is FOSS there technically is no market to share with the commercially provided OSes. Market share only matters if you're trying to make money by creating the OS. Otherwise Year of Linux on the Desktop is a personal goal for the user so the usage is actually 100% when they switch over. 2021 was the year that Sally and Bob switched, 2022 will be the year Derrick, Anne and Louisa switch, etc.

Like many security exploits have proven, being FOSS matters very little when there aren't resources to keep it going.

Derrick, Anne and Louisa won't switch if it doesn't support their shinny new laptop.

By the way, I do use Linux since Slackware 2.0, winning Windows desktop market share was the original goal of The Year of Linux Desktop.

Now one can to turn it around to make it mean a slightly different goal, so that after 30 years it can finally tick the box.

Ironically the Year of Linux Desktop has been achieved indeed.

Derrick, Anne and Louisa don't need to switch, because it already runs on a VM installed via Windows Store.

Twisting the definition to a more practical idea is better for progress, and will attract more users because it will seem like a more tangible goal. And I don’t count WSL as Linux on the desktop because it was already possible to run a VM of Linux on Windows and vice versa before it existed.

Twisting the definition is acknowledging having lost the original goal.

Projects don't pivot just because it feels good doing so.

Same applies to Windows on the server room, WSL did not became a standard option despite the years of Virtual Box and VMWare just because Microsoft though it would be nice to do so.

> Twisting the definition is acknowledging having lost the original goal.

No it doesn’t. It just acknowledges that times change, software gets better, and idea is made more accomplishable instead of betting on a single year where some sort of great migration happens (which was silly).

Steam Deck should at least double that.

The same way that counting Android phones as desktop does?

Nothing alike. Steam Deck is running a full Linux distro under the hood, using existing repositories for updates, along with their own launcher (not DE).

On the contrary, XBox has the full disposal of Windows Store and UWP applications available to it.

So no difference than using Windows 10S, 10X or whatever other UWP only variants Microsoft has released thus far.

UWP is nothing like it. Steam Deck is just running Linux with an existing DE, with some Valve-supported software and drivers.

Indeed, XBox runs two versions of Windows via a type 1 hypervisor, one version is a minimal Windows kernel tailored for gaming, while the other supports the OS services required to have the UWP runtime running on the same hardware.

Not at all the same thing. /s

Indeed, Steam Deck runs one version of Linux (based on Arch) and enables Windows games through a non-virtualized compatibility layer (Proton, forked from Wine).

Not at all the same thing.

Whatever dude, we will see the hard numbers quite soon.

It is if you plug a monitor and peripherals. Runs a full KDE Plasma desktop.

Ah, then we can add Xbox to the amount of Windows desktops in use as well.

The Xbox doesn't show a Windows desktop when you plug stuff in. Your constant trolling on Linux threads isn't appreciated.

It is called experience from a failed Linux Desktop sales pitch.

Been there done that.

Ex-Linux zealot, whose digital trail even includes emails using M$ on the signature.

You've gone from being one zealot to another. Oh well, whatever floats your boat.

That depends on the definition.The year we break 1% market share (usually with the steam survey as reference)? Already happened.

I would say it's gonna be exploding after steam deck launches.I think it's gonna be higher than 2%,maybe 3% this year.Would be surprised if it gets past 5%, but that's a decent stretch(though not impossible at all).

Gaming was always the one thing that kept the more tech-savvy on windows boxes. I know it kept me there for a long time as a teenager.

If that can be broken, I don't think 10% is infeasible. Though I think Microsoft would have to really screw up to lose their status as the "default" OS.

Valve's new Steam Deck device runs Linux. If it proves popular, that will be a big incentive for developers to improve Linux support for their games, and help jump that hurdle.

>Is it finally the year of Linux on the desktop?

Considering that the hope behind this term was about winning the desktop user share from Windows, and not just "being usable" on the desktop, or "being used" on the desktop, no.

Yeah, it was a joke.

Every year can be that year if you just use it.

Now that Windows Vista is a thing, I think winning desktop user share from Windows will be easier than ever before. What else is the average Joe going to do with their DX10-less devices?

Keep them on 10, and eventually throw them and upgrade when the time comes.

We heard similar comments about Me, Vista and 8.

Having worked at an independent PC repair shop, there are a lot of people who would rather keep using their old 6+ year old laptops and have SSDs installed in them than go out and buy a new laptop. Yeah there are cheap ones for sale, but they're underpowered, have regular old HDDs, and only 4GB of RAM. Plus, now they're coming with Windows 11 preinstalled, which will annoy a lot of people who are used to Windows 7 or 10.

Currently work at an independent PC repair shop, and can confirm this.

It's not uncommon for us to get a machine which is limping along on Windows 7 for the 15th year in a row, add an SSD and reinstall 7, 10, or rarely Linux Mint depending on how stubborn the user is on not upgrading to 10 and how open they are to change.

Windows 10 is like 6-7 years old now no? This cannot be representing the majority of the market. How much of the market actually upgrades their OEM pcs?

6+ year old laptops run very decently with 8gb RAM, a SSD and a modern linux distro.