Seasons of Jason
Microsoft recently wrote that TPM 2.0 is a "a non-negotiable standard for the future of Windows." This pretty much confirms it won't back down on its hardware requirements for Windows 11, an OS that is seriously struggling to gain new users (~35% of Windows users) after 3 years.
When October 2025 rolls around and support for Windows 10 ends, this will force tens of millions of Windows 10 users to buy new hardware.
#Linux community: We have work to do.
Seasons of Jason
More context:
It's estimated that a staggering 240 million PCs currently running Windows 10 aren't "capable" of upgrading to Windows 11.
As you know, those PCs can easily run any flavor of #Linux. It's a massive opportunity to get people off Windows, AND prevent literal tons of e-waste.
Seasons of Jason
@Uraael "...old junk information out there that needs destroyed."
THIS! There are so many nonsense myths about Linux that need to be debunked.
Scotsbear 🏴🐻
@killyourfm@layer8.space As a recent convert to...well, no, let me change that to recent adoptee of Linux (I've always been favourable to Linux even when I wasn't using it) I think technically we're pretty much there apart from the more specialized use-cases you invariably see haunting 'Move to Linux' threads. (But muh fotoshop/vijyo editing!)
Changing people's minds will be the nut to crack. There's also a lot of crusty stereotypes and old junk information out there that needs destroyed.
But an even bigger challenge than that will be readying some Linux spaces for the influx of more casual but more demanding users. Still pockets of Elitism out there that we'll need to either abrogate or funnel folks away from.
Gonna have a think myself for some solutions to this.
Seasons of Jason
@ernie The answer is simply and sobering: mountains of cash.
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm Excellent point. I think one thing that could make this transition viable is commercial software. We have seen Steam/Proton prove this out for gaming, my question is, how do we get more productivity software to follow suit?
I don’t think commercial software replaces FOSS to be clear, but I think if your goal is to bring in businesses transitioning from Windows, it’s easier if it feels like they aren’t giving up as much.
Seasons of Jason
Fabian (Bocchi) 🏳️🌈
@killyourfm 5 PCs done so far for a customer 🤞
Seasons of Jason
@Dunstable That's awesome! Mint is a solid choice.
There are PLENTY of people around here to lend a hand if you have any questions. Happy Linuxing!
Ryan
@killyourfm I'm a long-time Windows user and this is my plan - hoping to get Mint installed on my home PC over the holidays 🙂
Seasons of Jason
@firebreathingduck What inspired those 2 family members to make the switch?
firebreathingduck
The hard part is the gentle sell. Nobody likes being pushed to a change that wasn't their idea in the first place. If we push them anywhere near as hard as Microsoft is, they'll go with Microsoft anyway.
I tried the hard sell on Linux to family members ten years ago, and it didn't go anywhere. A few years later, two family members switched on their own.
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm The place where my head went was that Red Hat should strike some sort of deal with Adobe to make RHEL a first-class platform for the Adobe suite. Red Hat is one of the few companies in a position to pull something like that off.
Joe Ressington
@killyourfm people aren't going to just throw them away the second security updates stop appearing. They'll use Windows 10 for months or years beyond the deadline in blissful ignorance. Then when their machine "breaks" they'll go and buy a Windows 11 machine.
Seasons of Jason
@JoeRess Very optimistic of ya, Joe :D
Seasons of Jason
@jfred What an awesome idea! Will you consider sharing the course outline somewhere? I bet other people could adapt it for their own communities.
Jonathan Frederickson
@killyourfm This makes community outreach and education just that much more important. A lot of people can't afford to buy new computers for a software upgrade, and it'll generate tons of unnecessary e-waste if we don't repurpose those old devices
I've been thinking about running a class at my local makerspace on fixing old laptops and installing Linux on them. The area we're in is pretty low-income, so especially if we can find a good way to reach local folks I think it could be pretty good
Jo
Booted to Windows for the first time in 5 or 6 months.
Jo
My laptop: Has TPM 2.0
Microsoft: Get Fucked no Win11 for you.
Me: Ahh, OpenSUSE on all my computers then.
Seasons of Jason
@ElsaPreme What in the world. Why? That Ryzen 2700U is perfectly capable!
Seasons of Jason
@jfred This is HIGHLY relatable. I can sympathize!
Jonathan Frederickson
@killyourfm Oh absolutely! Though I'll be the first one to admit that I have too many project ideas to follow through with all of them in practice 😅 this is one I'd like to try and get to though
Seasons of Jason
@ernie Ah, your head is in the right place. That could bring about a substantial shift in perceptions. I certainly dislike Adobe's business practices, but they're entrenched.
Plus, you get a bunch of influential content creators to switch seamlessly over to Linux with Premiere Pro, etc, and that could be something special.
+ There are obviously massive business incentives for RHEL to get Enterprise customers to make the switch.
Seasons of Jason
@Uraael Please do let me know if you have any awesome brainstorms. I think one of the largest hurdles is simply choice paralysis new Linux users are faced with.
Seasons of Jason
@ernie Huh! I TOTALLY missed this announcement, and I was actively covering Linux at the time.
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm And it also helps that Adobe is already in a strategic partnership with Red Hat.
Seasons of Jason
@ernie Years ago I interviewed Adobe about the technical hurdles of porting libraries and engines over to Linux, and the tl;dr of that conversation was "it's possible, but is a giant engineering effort we can't justify."
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm And also Red Hat is already a prominent enough customer that Adobe is promoting them on their blog. https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/10/11/how-adobe-express-helped-red-hat-marketing-ibm-company-achieve-10x-time-savings
If Adobe makes the move to Linux, even money that it’s through RHEL.
Seasons of Jason
@Uraael no these are great thoughts! A site like DistroChooser (https://distrochooser.de/en/) may be a half-step in the right direction. Some of the questions will baffle the average user, unfortunately, but I do appreciate the wide range of questions it asks.
It would be FANTASTIC if you could instantly "demo" the distribution it recommends, though. Perhaps a cloud-based VM or something that just fires up the Live desktop.
Scotsbear 🏴🐻
@killyourfm@layer8.space
Choice paralysis, eh? On that one I've often thought a simple carefully structured questionnaire/website might actually work wonders. e.g.:
Command line or GUI? GUI
focuses on Distros with great UI tools
Does the thought of not having any updates to anything for six months freak you out? Yes
*filters out fixed-release Distros*
DE's. Do you like tweaking things?" No:
*narrows to Gnome-focused Distros, or Distros with Gnome spins*
Aaaand so on. There's got to be a way to do that that is easy to understand and doesn't bamboozle folks.
Perhaps we even start Grading distros according to certain criteria, so they can display a CERTIFIED AWESOME FOR NEW USERS! badge, or something.
Random thoughts. Idk. Need food.
Tobias Frisch
@Uraael @killyourfm I think we really need to tackle the angle that staying with Windows implies Microsoft will always keep the option to shutdown your systems support and force you to buy new hardware, whether the responsible change is reasonable or arbitrary. So from the perspective of reliability, Microsoft has essentially started to sell E-waste as software by not offering an upgrade path. That makes any free software the more reliable option long term.
Seasons of Jason
@thejackimonster @Uraael This could be a compelling angle. I have SO many thoughts about this but I'm tripping over my virtual tongue trying to distill them into a short message.
Speaking of "we" -- how do we organize and mobilize? How do we stop being thousands of disparate voices and start rallying around common messaging? I know that sounds ambitious and borderline impossible, but it needs to be done.
Seasons of Jason
@thejackimonster @Uraael I *tried* to do something meaningful in the past with Make It Linux (intended to sort of be the "marketing arm" of the Linux community), but I had way too much on my plate and it barely saw the light of day.
Seasons of Jason
@Uraael @thejackimonster Hey enjoy the breather, and please know I appreciate your input!
The most important thing we can do is keep the conversation going.
Scotsbear 🏴🐻
@killyourfm@layer8.space @thejackimonster@wehavecookies.social
Herding cats would be easier, lol.
Taking a breather (has been a long day). I will come back to this, though. Even if we can get enough of us in the Fedi talking it might spark some other ideas for broader reach.
Seasons of Jason
Every word of this article still hits home.
We need a Desktop Linux Alliance.
Seasons of Jason
Food for thought: In 2019, the Chinese Linux distribution "Deepin" released a series of short, polished trailers showing off its new features. A professional agency probably created them for less than $15,000.
Those trailers put Deepin on my radar. I wrote *ONLY TWO* articles about the distribution, and those 2 articles generated more than ONE MILLION views.
Desktop Linux needs professional marketing.
Seasons of Jason
@ernie I've wondered that for years. Here's some light reading (/s) on the topic: https://sunlight.makeitlinux.org/
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm That’s interesting. I wonder if there’s room for a Linux-specific marketing agency?
Seasons of Jason
@ernie I really, enthusiastically believe it's time to put together a thinktank. This energy and these ideas can't be lost on Mastodon timelines.
(Make It Linux was something I tried to materialize back then, but the timing wasn't right due to workload and personal stuff)
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm Hmm, this certainly sounds like something that I would be interested in personally, though you’ve worked closer to that area than I have with your work on Thunderbird.
Kind of weird that the Linux Foundation doesn’t emphasize this kind of work, honestly. It’s strange that I get all my scoops on what’s happening in desktop Linux from Brodie Robertson (I enjoy his channel a lot, I just think it reflects the point you’re getting at).
Seasons of Jason
@ernie To your point about Brodie and The Linux Foundation, absolutely right: it's all awesome inside our echo chamber...
Seasons of Jason
@ernie YES! I'll send you a DM in a bit.
Ernie Smith
@killyourfm I can tell there’s interest, I get the emails from random places, but I never have a place for them. Wanna get on a call sometime and actually talk some of this stuff out?
Seasons of Jason
@petes_bread_eqn_xls @ernie Oh my. No real call to action, no explanations, vague narrative.
Yea, that's the perfect example of an ad that sounds AWESOME to everyone inside its echo chamber or IBM's business circles, and totally perplexing to almost everyone else on the planet. But it probably checked a box on IBM's marketing KPIs...
petes_bread_eqn_xls
Hopefully better than when IBM advertised Linux
Seasons of Jason
@lightweight @ernie One thing we can glean without any doubt is that the Linux Foundation has little to no interest in *desktop* Linux.
Dave Lane :flag_tino: 🇳🇿
@killyourfm @ernie think we need to be careful about thinking that the Linux Foundation is an ally to Linux or #libre in general. My impression is they're largely captured by big tech corporations, who've stacked their board and have staffed the organisation. By all accounts, Foundation staff shun the use Linux themselves. But they control a lot of resources. At best, they damn with faint praise. Seems they're the disguised fox in the hen house.
mhoye
@killyourfm @ernie I think about this about twice a week. How can I help?
Seasons of Jason
@mhoye @ernie THAT is an excellent question! I honestly don't know, but the offer is appreciated. Can I send you a private message with my contact info so we can keep in touch about it?
Seasons of Jason
@gardiner_bryant NOTED good sir! You're now on my list. (It's a good list.)
Gardiner Bryant
@killyourfm my services are available and I charge a lot less than that. Haha.
Seasons of Jason
@tomjennings That's wonderful to hear, and it sounds like they've progressed a lot since I checked out their first model.
But can they get on a Mac user's radar who's never heard of Linux? Heck, I'd wager that a large portion of the Linux community doesn't even know about Kubuntu Focus.
tom jennings
I bought a generic-ish laptop from kfocus.org. they specialize in making Kubuntu seamless. IT IS. Even CUPS worked as is. A boot up config process as easy as a new macintosh.
Drivers and apps, just wonderfully done.
So it can be done and today. It's a lot of fractal details.
Seasons of Jason
@marews That's awesome to hear! But I'm sorry you're having a few issues. I suppose that also happens for various people using Windows and macOS too.
The Linux Mint community can probably help you solve them if you find the time/motivation. I'd be willing to bet people right here on Mastodon have the answers.
Thanks for sharing!
Mar
@killyourfm people are being mostly negative, but I wanted to let you know I did exactly this! I didn't want to throw away a functional computer, I saw someone here recommending Linux mint, so I installed that instead.
It has some glitches I don't know how to solve (and I don't have enough time or motivation to tackle it). But for the most part is working quite well. Except for the occasional glitch, I don't even notice the difference.
Seasons of Jason
@n0madz This is a great, but tough, question to answer. I'll lean into what I think is the best general advice: take your time and enjoy the discovery process!
Dual boot for a while if there is any Windows-only software you haven't found an alternative for (or while you're learning the alternatives on Linux), or games you want to play that might not run on Linux. And don't let anyone give you grief for doing that :D
ProtonDB.com is a solid resource for game compatibility and tweaking tips.
n0madz
@killyourfm I saw your other post about using Garuda with a new pc and then stumbled my way to this thread. Any tips/resources you can share for making the switch to Linux from windows?
I’m a strictly pc gamer falling into two boats: have an old pc stuck on windows 10 and am in the middle of building a new pc (going SFF) that I’m tempted to go full Linux on. Garuda gaming edition looks pretty cool.
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