• synack@lemmy.world
    2·
    3 years ago

    I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

    Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

    There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

    • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
      1·
      3 years ago

      There’s definitely a long way to go, but as more people start using Linux adoption is likely to accelerate. You’re more likely to switch if you know someone personally who already uses it and can help you get over the initial hurdles, and the more people who use it the more attention it’ll get from hardware and software vendors, making them more likely to support Linux directly instead of so much relying on compatibility layers and reverse-engineered drivers.

  • Uniquitous@lemmy.one
    1·
    3 years ago

    Meanwhile, the servers, containers, and phones are all running some flavor of *nix. But yeah, nice to have a little toehold in desktop-land, I guess.

  • confusedbytheBasics@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 years ago

    Do desktops really matter in 2023? What fraction of computers are desktops now? Most computers are phones and servers last time I checked. As we all know Linux dominates there.

    • Master@lemm.ee
      1·
      3 years ago

      I have one phone… I’ve got three desktops at home, one laptops plus two steamdecks, two servers and one ipad we never use.

      At work we have 15 desktops plus 2 servers and 4 laptops.

      I dont know how people live with just a phone as a “computer”. I couldnt even live with just a laptop… Like what are you people doing just browsing tiktok and youtube?

      • 0ddysseus@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 years ago

        Yel that’s exactly what they do. I’ve asked around, and at a guess, half the people I know only have a phone. Whole families just using a phone each to look at YouTube and tiktok, do banking talk to friends on WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook. They watch tv, play sport, go out socialising, shopping, etc. They honestly have no use for a PC at all

        A huge percentage of people don’t use a computer at work either.

        Its easy to get lost in tech, but in reality the vast majority of people in this world just have no use for desktops or laptops.