I find for most day to day uses, there are already decent options available for Linux. There still needs to be a bit more polish for non technical users, but it’s getting really close to being a viable mainstream option nowadays.
needs to be a bit more polish for non technical users
There’s a curve to this. If they’re non technical enough, learning to use Linux for browsing Facebook is just as easy as learning windows. I’ve switched a handful of my older customers to Linux and they’re my least needy customers now.
Honestly, the use case with the least/worst options on Linux is CAD. Yes, FreeCAD is a thing but it’s terrible and it’s established userbase insists that actual modern CAD packages are unnecessary.
Apart from FreeCAD, there’s a browser-based option that looks good, but most people won’t use it because it forces everything designed on their service to be open-source.
There’s still a lack of professional software for music, photography and video production. It’s not just a matter of there being a good tool; you want a good tool that’s established and widely used in the industry. If some of the makers of professional software in these fields were to port their stuff to Linux, Linux’s market share would grow and the momentum would prompt more software companies to do the same. But getting that ball rolling has proven hard for decades. Maybe as Windows becomes more and more frustrating, more ordinary users who don’t need these particular tools will migrate and increase Linux’s market share, causing software companies to take note. But people are quite used to putting up with a lot of nonsense on Windows.
I’d consider these niche use cases though. If you’re working in a particular industry where you need to use a specific tool then you’re stuck with whatever platform the tool’s available on. However, apps that most people use day to day definitely exist. Personally, I’d also prefer it if Linux ecosystem wasn’t primarily reliant on companies. I’d love to see polished open source software become the foundation, and commercial tools to be the exception for niche use cases.
I find for most day to day uses, there are already decent options available for Linux. There still needs to be a bit more polish for non technical users, but it’s getting really close to being a viable mainstream option nowadays.
There’s a curve to this. If they’re non technical enough, learning to use Linux for browsing Facebook is just as easy as learning windows. I’ve switched a handful of my older customers to Linux and they’re my least needy customers now.
That’s true, I’ve set up Linux for my parents before and it just worked since their use cases were very basic.
Honestly, the use case with the least/worst options on Linux is CAD. Yes, FreeCAD is a thing but it’s terrible and it’s established userbase insists that actual modern CAD packages are unnecessary.
Apart from FreeCAD, there’s a browser-based option that looks good, but most people won’t use it because it forces everything designed on their service to be open-source.
There are a few more options like BRL-CAD, QCAD, and solvespace. And there are commercial options as well like BircsCAD.
There’s still a lack of professional software for music, photography and video production. It’s not just a matter of there being a good tool; you want a good tool that’s established and widely used in the industry. If some of the makers of professional software in these fields were to port their stuff to Linux, Linux’s market share would grow and the momentum would prompt more software companies to do the same. But getting that ball rolling has proven hard for decades. Maybe as Windows becomes more and more frustrating, more ordinary users who don’t need these particular tools will migrate and increase Linux’s market share, causing software companies to take note. But people are quite used to putting up with a lot of nonsense on Windows.
I’d consider these niche use cases though. If you’re working in a particular industry where you need to use a specific tool then you’re stuck with whatever platform the tool’s available on. However, apps that most people use day to day definitely exist. Personally, I’d also prefer it if Linux ecosystem wasn’t primarily reliant on companies. I’d love to see polished open source software become the foundation, and commercial tools to be the exception for niche use cases.