The vast bulk of the data snooping that we are subjected to is done by the browsers that we use, not the operating systems. And those broswers leak your data equally on all operating systems - they are making us vulnerable initially through cookies and, increasingly, through fingerprinting. Windows does not (yet) present a "store front" - we get bombarded with adverts through our browsers. I was a Linux developer until last year and, for many years, it was Linux application design and development that was my main source of income. Linux is by far the best server-side operating system - I had to do some Windows server-side years ago and it was painful. But for desktop, there is little to choose between Windows 11 and Linux. I've recently retired from professional software development and rebuilt my Dell laptop with W11 - it runs just as well as it did under Kubuntu. It has never crashed on me since I installed Windows - and it is heavily loaded much of the time. The WLAN and Bluetooth network adaptor that was so troublesome under Linux is equally annoying under Windows - but that is a known hardware fault - I've bought the Intel network adaptor that Dell sometimes installed and will swap it in the next time that the installed device locks up! I used Open Office and Libre Office when my laptop was running Linux - they work well enough, but they just feel amateurish. Once I rebuilt the machine under Windows 11 (Pro), I bought a remaindered MS Office Professional 2021 licence for around £30 and it is excellent. I also purchased a remaindered licence for Visio Pro 2021 - there is nothing under Linux to touch that. The problem with the applications market for Linux is that almost everyone expects to get everything free and that removes any incentive for developers to put in a lot of effort. I'm developing open-source software for ham related applications now - I give it away for free and the users take what they are given or go somewhere else! Martin (G8FXC)
Yes, you made that point before about the browser leaking information. Maybe you don't grasp the concept, the idea is to give up personal data as little as possible to as few entities as possible. The fact that a web browser gathers usage data doesn't mean that I want to give up more data to MS or to anyone else. Avoiding Microsoft and Google and Apple is only one strategy, using a more secure and private browser like Brave or LibreWolf is another. I don't get bombarded with adverts, my browser blocks and/or deletes cookies, and it is highly resistant to fingerprinting. You can test your web browser's leakage here: https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ (I hope that you're enlightened enough to NOT use Google Chrome) You used the words "bought", "purchased", and "license" when describing your software choices. That is your prerogative if you want to avoid programs that feel "amateurish". For the vast majority of home computer users who just want to do web browsing and simple everyday tasks, the software that comes with Linux distributions is more than adequate. The mere fact that this thread exists because Microsoft is ending support for Win 10 illustrates just one aspect of the problem. Win 11 demands more hardware resources, so even if computer users are willing to tolerate Microsoft's increasing intrusion into their lives, many of them would need to purchase a new computer. Most Linux distros (especially if it doesn't use the KDE desktop) will work on 10 or 15 year old hardware without a problem, and will continue to work until the hardware fails, the operating system won't demand an "upgrade" to continue to work, and it won't become less secure as time goes on.
Indeed! There's not a big market for Linux desktop software. There's a big supply of freeware, but not commercial stuff. And that means little support. The Linux attitude seems to be that you have the source codes so you can fix it yourself (devs writing for devs) or go on some forum somewhere and beg others. Beyond that, commercial software vendors don't want to give away the source code. And since there are approximately Avagadro's Number of Linux distros, and some substantial variety of packaging systems, there's no such thing as a single Linux version. At least not in executable form. All that "freedom" makes it harder for developers, so it's a nice toy for recreational programmers but not a desktop for most people. And for sure, Libre Office is no substitute for Microsoft Office in the business world, when you have to exchange documents with other people and mark things up. For most private, single-user applications it may be adequate, but that's home use, not work. (But let's not even joke about replacing MSAccess with it.) MSOffice has gotten worse over the past decades and that's unfortunate, but it still mostly works and we're stuck with it.
For me anyway its not about fixing a problem yourself, but the idea of knowing what is in the source code, so that we can see if there is back doors, or spyware software sending your information to someone. Any Linux application can run on any Linux distro, if you know how to install it, most people just want to use their computer for basic things, most all basic applications are already in the software center, or has easy to understand installation instructions posted on the website, most are copy and paste in the terminal. It is a perfect desktop for most people, its the so called power users that needs to learn a few things, but you don't need to be a programmer.
I started with Knoppix in 2003. Then head first into Debian. 24 CD's, $24 dollars plus postage. Dial up was no way to go to download a large distro, so I did the CD thing twice, till faster internet showed up. After that, it was off to Linux Mint, and have been running that till the present day. After learning Debian, you basically have a handle on any distro out there. Mint just runs. So much easier that having to reconfigure Debian at every upgrade.
The percentage of Windows users who are capable of understanding Linux source codes is somewhere that requires some zeroes to the right of the decimal place. It's not quite as low among Linux end users but not all that high. And back doors, spyware, etc., can be obscured in code so the typical coder can't find them. I dunno... there's a lot of controversy or at least division over, say, flatpak, RPM, deb, etc. Of course a real power user can figure out a lot of that, but it's not like Windows where it's easy to create an installation binary that Just Works. I've tried Linux desktops. I'm pretty technical myself, and have been "on the net" since the 1970s, though I'm no coder (I did a tiny bit in the distant past but not in the Unix world). Linux desktops have rough edges. You find them when you get scratched by them, and it's not like the proverbial "scratching an itch" of the Open Source movement. It's a dune buggy compared to a Windows say Chrysler sedan. Sure, the Chrysler is bloated and maybe not all that reliable, and needs a dealer to fix some things, but it's rather plush.[/QUOTE]
Most programs that are not in the software center, but on a website, will give you more then one option. Been using the Linux desktop since 2010 or I could say Linux Mint-10. I haven't seen Windows since XP / Vista. The KDE desktop has the best Eye candy in my opinion, but I really don't care about that, I like the performance that Linux gives me.
Making more than one option available is more work for the dev and thus more support. It is a disincentive for commercial producers. If you haven't used Windows since Vista, you are not really familiar with the actual product now. To be sure, XP wasn't bad, though a bit crude as it was still finishing the merger of the unstable consumer version (98/ME) with the professional version (2000). Vista was a dog. That's MS's tick-tock release structure: Alternate major versions are okay and awful. Maybe there are two teams alternating releases and only one is sorta competent. So Vista stank but Windows 7 was rock solid. Then 8 stank but 10 is pretty solid. I don't trust 11 in part because of that tick-tock, and in part because it adds almost zero for the benefit of the user and is worse in several respects. I don't find any of these sluggish if you have enough memory. They do need a lot more than Linux does. But that's pretty cheap nowadays, and a reason to never buy a machine with only soldered-in memory. And yes, occasionally processes do run crazy and slow the whole thing down and that requires an occasional visit to the Task Manager to kill them (Firefox does that to me at times).
The best option is to put out the source code and allow the user to compile it them self, after that anyone can create a .deb or even create a repository to add to the Linux package manager, posting on their website allowing users to download it. I forgot about Windows ME, I didn't use it for long, and I always have heard good things about Win7 but never got the chance to try it, but didn't care at that point. Also be sure to buy a computer that you can upgrade the power supply, the HP I was using the power supply only two wires for the motherboard and everything plugs into the motherboard. So no upgrading the graphic card.
In all of my career in the engineering plastics business in R&D, administration, and operations roles I had only one occasion to write and use a VBA application. While it enabled me to modify and update several hundred MSWord files in just moments, I never had reason to use it again. I'm grateful to be able to use LibreOffice and Firefox for free. Robert KG5RLD
