Discord joke that it's The Year of the Linux Desktop

Quoting: Linux_Rocks

Quoting: LinuxwarperGoogle is increasingly a great example of a company that used open source like a cheap prostitute, excuse my vulgarity, and now they are shutting down Android.

One could also argue the same thing with Apple and macOS. As at the start, Apple were touting the open source origins of Mac OS X.

Not really the same. Apple butchered Darwin, sure (never mind CUPS, OpenGL support, and probably others), but it never covered anywhere close to what was under AOSP. All Apple cared about with Darwin marketing was attracting whatever Unix fans they could.

Last edited by Phlebiac on 14 May 2026 at 7:35 am UTC

The year is not here yet, I'll celebrate once we hit perhaps 10% of the desktop market share. At least according to Steam we're doing quite okay.

Already exceeding 10% there, if you only care about English.

Quoting: Phlebiac

Quoting: Linux_Rocks

Quoting: LinuxwarperGoogle is increasingly a great example of a company that used open source like a cheap prostitute, excuse my vulgarity, and now they are shutting down Android.

One could also argue the same thing with Apple and macOS. As at the start, Apple were touting the open source origins of Mac OS X.

Not really the same. Apple butchered Darwin, sure (never mind CUPS, OpenGL support, and probably others), but it never covered anywhere close to what was under AOSP. All Apple cared about with Darwin marketing was attracting whatever Unix fans they could.

My bad, I just remember them being all like "*BSD this" and "open source that" with Mac OS X and software. I also remember there being a thing with the Yellow Dog Linux people at the Apple Store near me too. I was really surprised about that, even back then.

Quoting: LinuxwarperProblem I see with the statement "Year of Linux" is that people dont consider the negatives of increased userbase. Users can also be a detriment. Ideally you would have just enough percentage to ensure platform is supported and doesn't get neglected, whether that be 5% or 40% is irrelevant.

No, ideally it would be everyone, because how do you want to protect your data if the data leak is not on your PC, but on your friends PCs?

All the people care for freedom etc will not disappear. Do you really think Debian or Arch will change with a bigger Linux user-base? As long these two distros are clean, I do not fear the future of Linux.

Now if Discord would make it so that Pipewire audio could be captured that would be nice. I think that might be the reason why on FF based browsers the desktop audio doesn't work.

I personally wouldn't want to use the app, but would like to use Discord in a web browser cause it's in a nice browser tab instead of a separate app.

Or maybe it's some other issue. Would need to test it out.

Last edited by TheLinuxPleb on 14 May 2026 at 11:19 am UTC

Quoting: PlayingOnLinuxphone

Quoting: LoudTechieIt's also scary, since I want to design complex tools and not be thrown under the bus next revolution.

Haha yes, that is also very true. But I think as long things are done with best will it is very unlikely. The revolution usually starts when something goes very very wrong.

I'm not saying I fear to be the one to trigger it(a little bit though, I've written some code with guillotine potential).
I'm saying I fear to be one the people taken down with the ones to blame.
Mobs aren't really known for their discerning eye in who to take down.

Quoting: Linux_Rocks

Quoting: Phlebiac

Quoting: Linux_Rocks

Quoting: LinuxwarperGoogle is increasingly a great example of a company that used open source like a cheap prostitute, excuse my vulgarity, and now they are shutting down Android.

One could also argue the same thing with Apple and macOS. As at the start, Apple were touting the open source origins of Mac OS X.

Not really the same. Apple butchered Darwin, sure (never mind CUPS, OpenGL support, and probably others), but it never covered anywhere close to what was under AOSP. All Apple cared about with Darwin marketing was attracting whatever Unix fans they could.

My bad, I just remember them being all like "*BSD this" and "open source that" with Mac OS X and software. I also remember there being a thing with the Yellow Dog Linux people at the Apple Store near me too. I was really surprised about that, even back then.

One of their tricks which sadly worked is swift.
MacOS is completely POSIX/UNIX certified.
This means it's completely possible to write forward compatible and platform agnostic code for MacOS, but if you actually want in the appstore or signed by Apple you've to use their completely separate functions set, which is neither of these things forcing you into their developer tools.

Wine succeeded, only because Apple needed it.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyMy year of the Linux desktop was somewhere around 2000, I can't remember exactly. The Linux desktop sucked really hard back then, but so did Windows 98, so.

There is something unbeatable about the early 2000s Linux desktop aesthetic. I'm nostalgic for it and I wasn't even there for it!

Quoting: Linux_RocksOne could also argue the same thing with Apple and macOS. As at the start, Apple were touting the open source origins of Mac OS X.

Maybe in the future Valve will go down that route too. With Gabe Newell, and other principled individuals at Valve gone, and new leadership they may decide "Yeah we need to milk the customer. Let's stop with all these open source stuff". It wouldn't surprise me if it happened, what keeps bad practices at bay isn't just the fact that a company is private but also the individuals who are there.

Quoting: PlayingOnLinuxphoneNo, ideally it would be everyone, because how do you want to protect your data if the data leak is not on your PC, but on your friends PCs?

Do you mean that if everyone is using Linux our data will be safe(r)? Linux can be corrupted just as much as any other platform (Android, Ubuntu/Microsoft/Amazon). Age verification/attestation "laws" is yet another testament to that.

Quoting: PlayingOnLinuxphoneAll the people care for freedom etc will not disappear. Do you really think Debian or Arch will change with a bigger Linux user-base? As long these two distros are clean, I do not fear the future of Linux.

Linux will never go away but it will be like the city of Zion in the Matrix. A continual cycle of building up to defeat the machines and regain the planet, comparing it to Linux users wanting a utopian Linux platform (anti ads, bloat, telemetry, lock in and with good game/app support), but when they reach that point the cycle is refreshed and the city and ressisstance has to be rebuilt. Linux will never go away but we will be in the same predicament of lacking support, features and having issues and roadblocks (proprietary stuff). If everytime you build a homestead and someone comes and makes you move your attitude is "We will just move and rebuild somewhere else" you will find out that at some point you get fed up and tired, or maybe you die before that happens = leaving the FOSS project.

In order for Linux desktop to remain strong it has to be solidified by principled individuals and organizations so that it cant be corrupted by greed, politics and companies like Google. If Linux can't achieve that I fear at some point some corporation (mere example, Google ChromeOS), may take the mantle and provide with the vast amount of Linux users (who have switched) with an option they can't refuse (proprietary features like Android). At that point a big portion of Linux users are then using the wrong Linux, not the free one, and we will be in a similar situation as with Windows. Only difference would be the "Linux" that Google has provided has Linux kernel powering it but the philosophy of ads, telemetry, lock in and so on would not difer much if at all from Microsoft's Windows. And if you run away to a corner to an Arch distro you will be yet again in the "Damn I wish Linux got more support" because I promise you EEE will be enforced by corporations to ensure your experience on said distros will not be good.

There are numerous other things threatening Linux also. Like X11 vs Wayland politics, Rust (erosion of GPL license?) being forced, Systemd and so on. For a platform that we say and hope to be about freedom I sure see alot of resistance to people saying "No I dont want this". Somehow software and quality of code you present, what should be at core of Linux projects, is no longer most important. I don't want to discuss these things I've mentioned, my point is simple; Linux has no bulletproof vest. It can be shot down into an stagnating stage yet again. And by Linux I mean all the distros that value what sets Linux apart of all platforms: freedom.

Last edited by Linuxwarper on 14 May 2026 at 4:53 pm UTC