You just have to Flash coreboot, I have three chromebooks deployed with family, one with mint and two with Endeavour. Even Touch and audio drivers work for those specific models (Acer Santa and Asus Babytiger).
I got GalliumOS onto an old chromebook last year. It was a bit of a fight and there are a couple parts if you mess up it's possible to brick it entirely. Gallium was specifically for chromebooks, it's been discontinued last I knew, and getting a different os in there sounds even more painful to me... But yeah you can cram Linux into one!
I'm like actually excited for updates to my operating system. That hasn't been true for Android or Windows in years. The last I remember being excited for an update was iOS on my iPod Touch, but from what I hear, people aren't even really that hyped for iOS updates any more.
iOS has been getting a bit buggier for me these past few years, but iOS 26 is a whole other level of bad.
With what Google's been doing to AOSP, I just hope GrapheneOS and LineageOS can hold on just long enough until we can get some livable solution for Linux phones.
I think it depends a bit. Your first times with arch is definently experimental. You install it, you learn to configure things, and at some point you probably want to reinstall, because you have done something that makes the system be buggy. I reinstalled lots of times in the beginning.
But you learn proper Linux by using arch. At least if you actually do the install yourself by following the wiki. You will change a few things in a few config files and you will learn about Linux from that.
After that initial phase of reinstalling lots of times, you start to feel like you know the system intuitively. You know where the system looks for things, which files are read. Then you feel like you really like arch because now you dont break it anymore, and if you do, you can fix it.
Maybe its like that with other distros too. But for me, arch has been that journey. Im on a arch installation from december 2022 now appearently.
I always end up coming back to arch specifically because it's easy to maintain and mostly just works. There's so little to break and when something breaks it's always easy to fix
Linux gaming also taking off. New Jolla phone on the way. Valve is also being helpful. On top of that the 'Buy European' movement also comes at the right time.
the tablet fiasco, they didn't ship them and they only refunded to a few people. media was not interested in it at all. and the largest shareholder is or at least used to be some russian government entity
Gaming is the best commercial inroad I’ve seen, and exploding.
But I think the “kernel anticheat” thing is going to be a hard wall until Valve works it out. Unfortunately, big OEMs don’t want to ship a “gaming PC” that can’t run Fortnite.
I know that the market verdict is "eh who cares", but I really dont think anyone should think that invasive kernel-level anticheat is at all acceptable.
There probably would to be a kernel API to check for anticheat measures. Even then, the OS being FOSS means that you can easily create rootkits, obviously. So secure boot etc will also be a requirement for Linux anticheat.
The real issue is devs not wanting to pay for hosting server side anticheat. I'd much rather have Valve convince them VAC is a good idea than to have them use intrusive anticheat measures or make Linux worse.
The real issue is devs not wanting to pay for hosting server side anticheat. I
Or allowing self hosted servers. With actual mods that just ban people who are being jerks, and basic anticheat tools shipped to them.
Whatever the issue and solution, the current state of the gaming market still makes mass linux gaming kind of impossible. Not from the anticheat games specifically as much as the OEM problem.
You can only abuse your customers so much before they move on. I have long enjoyed using Windows, but when they announced my perfectly usable laptop wouldn't be able to get 11 thanks to no TPM, and I had to go through a complicated set of hoops to manually install it, that was my breaking point. I will keep Windows for some limited stuff on dual boot on one machine, but elsewhere I'm going Linux only
you'd think so... but the number of friends and family who still put up with this shit is incredible. Ads in the start menu, copilot popping up every time you press a wrong button on the keyboard, the entire task bar changing overnight with ads and stock tickers...
That last one pisses me off so much... "i dont want to learn linux!"... MF'er, microsoft just rearranged your entire task bar and start menu overnignt and you didnt seem to have a problem adapting your workflow... why would switching to gnome or KDE be any different?
I think some people won't be able to switch just because they've passed the point where learning new tech is possible. But I do think for those with the will to change over, it will increasingly actually be happening rather than being muttered a threat to Microsoft, especially because the main pain points of the past (software exclusivity) is starting to break down.
Some games are now running better on Linux. MS Office is increasingly being superseded by alternatives like Gsuite, Libreoffice, or just learning to code in easy languages like Python/R. And unlike in the past when Microsoft overplayed its hand and changed course to regain users with Windows 7, 10, etc, this time it seems like they aren't going to change. They are in too deep.
The year of the linux desktop is different for every one. For me it was 2003. Haven't looked back since and everytime I'm forced to use Windows, I feel like I need to take a shower.
2025 already was, and it continues. The ecosystem and Proton have changed the game (no pun intended), and even normies are starting to switch.
I finally migrated from MacOS (other than Logic Pro) and Windows. Keep Windows around for some games but it is no longer first in boot order on any machine, and I am delighted.
Every time I boot to Windows it drags ass forever, updates, reboots, repeats, and by the time I can use it I am not even interested.
BSDs are mostly for servers. For personal, "home and office" use the best BSD in regard of hardware support and userbase is FreeBSD.
If you have limited time, please consider buying the BSD (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonflyBSD, MidnightBSD etc.) a coffee once in a while, in order to really wake up some day and see the news of the year of BSD.
Already hit a difficulty since my workplace uses Microsoft for everything and the admins lock out third party stuff. I guess I can access files on outlook and OneDrive via browser based options but God they're awful.
Teams works on Linux and i think OneDrive is technically webdav. I avoid mixing Microsoft and Linux, but i believe the modern (web) applications should work everywhere.
Yeah, I think if it's web apps it's fine, just aren't ideal. I was mostly frustrated I couldn't use a third party email app or OneDrive integration app. It's more a grievance with the university I work for, though.
That's what I figured and I appreciate the confirmation. Since I work in education it's probably a "better safe than sorry" approach since the laws on student privacy are actually enforced, unlike in corporate. (Obviously it's security theater, though, as web apps and Windows integration make emails and files easy to steal anyway).
You absolutely don’t need to know what that means, and you don’t have to wait for it either.
Those are specific things some users want on one desktop environment/window manager, and not necessary to run Linux.
Jumping if you want to and experience it for yourself. I’ve been happily gaming on Linux for 3 years now.
86 Comments
Samsy@lemmy.ml · 60 pts · 226d
I mean its free. Installer are incredible easy. Steam says 90% of games are compatible. Libreoffice has all the features.
The last straw are manufactures delivering hardware with M$ bullshit preinstalled.
rmuk@feddit.uk · 25 pts · 226d
Yeah, that's not a straw, though. It's like a redwood. A forest of redwoods.
gustofwind@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 226d
You can actually buy Linux computers from dell and Lenovo and they’re even cheaper because you don’t pay for the Microsoft license
Samsy@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 225d
Cheaper? Nah I want quality. And for the best, you have to pay more. Nothing is for free. /s
Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 226d
You can technically buy a Chromebook instead. Apparently they kick up a real fuss if you try to install your own OS on it though, Not that I've tried.
VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 226d
You just have to Flash coreboot, I have three chromebooks deployed with family, one with mint and two with Endeavour. Even Touch and audio drivers work for those specific models (Acer Santa and Asus Babytiger).
ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 226d
I got GalliumOS onto an old chromebook last year. It was a bit of a fight and there are a couple parts if you mess up it's possible to brick it entirely. Gallium was specifically for chromebooks, it's been discontinued last I knew, and getting a different os in there sounds even more painful to me... But yeah you can cram Linux into one!
Geodes_n_Gems@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 226d
I mean we have Slimbook for Linux Hardware
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 226d
And Tuxedo and System 76
med@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 226d
Long live the Executive 14 99Wh - you'll pry mine from my cold dead hands
1984@lemmy.today · 58 pts · 226d
Linux is that feeling of your computer not becoming worse every year. Windows and mac users dont know what that is.
Geodes_n_Gems@lemmy.ml · 37 pts · 226d
✨I don't get Advertisements built into my Computer✨
Joelk111@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 226d
I'm like actually excited for updates to my operating system. That hasn't been true for Android or Windows in years. The last I remember being excited for an update was iOS on my iPod Touch, but from what I hear, people aren't even really that hyped for iOS updates any more.
data1701d@startrek.website · 2 pts · 224d
iOS has been getting a bit buggier for me these past few years, but iOS 26 is a whole other level of bad.
With what Google's been doing to AOSP, I just hope GrapheneOS and LineageOS can hold on just long enough until we can get some livable solution for Linux phones.
lonesomeCat@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 226d
Honesty mine gets better, the more I learn about my system the more I can optimize it to my needs
Comrade_Squid@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 226d
Mine gets worse, this is a me problem though. Writing automated scripts that I forget about or give non descript names to 🤤
FG_3479@lemmy.world · -11 pts · 226d
You should try a normal distro like Mint or Zorin.
Arch and its forks aren't stable distros and they're best for experimentation rather than daily use.
Nibodhika@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 226d
Please research the meaning of stability when applied to Linux before parroting stuff. Also, who mentioned Arch?
LeFantome@programming.dev · 8 pts · 225d
Unbelievably ignorant take.
Arch and its forks are, in my view, the BEST options for a daily use desktop.
1984@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 226d
I think it depends a bit. Your first times with arch is definently experimental. You install it, you learn to configure things, and at some point you probably want to reinstall, because you have done something that makes the system be buggy. I reinstalled lots of times in the beginning.
But you learn proper Linux by using arch. At least if you actually do the install yourself by following the wiki. You will change a few things in a few config files and you will learn about Linux from that.
After that initial phase of reinstalling lots of times, you start to feel like you know the system intuitively. You know where the system looks for things, which files are read. Then you feel like you really like arch because now you dont break it anymore, and if you do, you can fix it.
Maybe its like that with other distros too. But for me, arch has been that journey. Im on a arch installation from december 2022 now appearently.
turbowafflz@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 225d
I always end up coming back to arch specifically because it's easy to maintain and mostly just works. There's so little to break and when something breaks it's always easy to fix
LazerDickMcCheese@sh.itjust.works · 46 pts · 226d
Fingers crossed for socials skills in FOSS communities, then it's game over for big tech
eleijeep@piefed.social · 23 pts · 226d
Hear hear. The voice of our community, LazerDickMcCheese.
LazerDickMcCheese@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 226d
I spent several hours last night talking about FOSS projects and tech certifications to a guy in entry-level IT. I'm out here doing my best, guys
med@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 226d
They'll just take the ick out of his name when he assumes his PR/Community manager role
swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 226d
Nah, just add some fancy shit, like Dr. LazerDickMcCheese, esq.
lonesomeCat@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 226d
Even if we have social skills, they've got the numbers.
Zoldyck@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 226d
Linux gaming also taking off. New Jolla phone on the way. Valve is also being helpful. On top of that the 'Buy European' movement also comes at the right time.
I dare to say it's looking pretty good
mybuttnolie@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 226d
gotta laugh at people falling for the jolla scam again. i mean it sounds too good to be true and look at what they did last time
Zoldyck@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 226d
I know they're not perfect, but scam? Or are you referencing to the tablet fiasco?
mybuttnolie@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 226d
the tablet fiasco, they didn't ship them and they only refunded to a few people. media was not interested in it at all. and the largest shareholder is or at least used to be some russian government entity
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 226d
I want that for phone but can’t buy it here
sawdustprophet@midwest.social · 32 pts · 226d
It is 2010. It is the year of the Linux desktop.
It is 2018. It is the year of the Linux desktop.
It is 2026. It is the year of the Linux desktop.
brillotti@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 226d
This year for sure!
hoshikarakitaridia@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 226d
No you don't get it, it's different this time trust me bro.
helix@feddit.org · 4 pts · 226d
Why would it be not the year of the Linux desktop?
For me the year of the Linux desktop has been every year since 2007.
Steamymoomilk@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 226d
Its the millennium of the linux desktop
brucethemoose@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 226d
Gaming is the best commercial inroad I’ve seen, and exploding.
But I think the “kernel anticheat” thing is going to be a hard wall until Valve works it out. Unfortunately, big OEMs don’t want to ship a “gaming PC” that can’t run Fortnite.
Doorknob@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 225d
I know that the market verdict is "eh who cares", but I really dont think anyone should think that invasive kernel-level anticheat is at all acceptable.
helix@feddit.org · 4 pts · 226d
There probably would to be a kernel API to check for anticheat measures. Even then, the OS being FOSS means that you can easily create rootkits, obviously. So secure boot etc will also be a requirement for Linux anticheat.
The real issue is devs not wanting to pay for hosting server side anticheat. I'd much rather have Valve convince them VAC is a good idea than to have them use intrusive anticheat measures or make Linux worse.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 226d
Or allowing self hosted servers. With actual mods that just ban people who are being jerks, and basic anticheat tools shipped to them.
Whatever the issue and solution, the current state of the gaming market still makes mass linux gaming kind of impossible. Not from the anticheat games specifically as much as the OEM problem.
Lrobie@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 226d
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 226d
Okay, but for real, 2027 is going to be a real banger for Linux desktop, I've got a feeling!
dantheclamman@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 226d
You can only abuse your customers so much before they move on. I have long enjoyed using Windows, but when they announced my perfectly usable laptop wouldn't be able to get 11 thanks to no TPM, and I had to go through a complicated set of hoops to manually install it, that was my breaking point. I will keep Windows for some limited stuff on dual boot on one machine, but elsewhere I'm going Linux only
9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 225d
you'd think so... but the number of friends and family who still put up with this shit is incredible. Ads in the start menu, copilot popping up every time you press a wrong button on the keyboard, the entire task bar changing overnight with ads and stock tickers...
That last one pisses me off so much... "i dont want to learn linux!"... MF'er, microsoft just rearranged your entire task bar and start menu overnignt and you didnt seem to have a problem adapting your workflow... why would switching to gnome or KDE be any different?
dantheclamman@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 225d
I think some people won't be able to switch just because they've passed the point where learning new tech is possible. But I do think for those with the will to change over, it will increasingly actually be happening rather than being muttered a threat to Microsoft, especially because the main pain points of the past (software exclusivity) is starting to break down. Some games are now running better on Linux. MS Office is increasingly being superseded by alternatives like Gsuite, Libreoffice, or just learning to code in easy languages like Python/R. And unlike in the past when Microsoft overplayed its hand and changed course to regain users with Windows 7, 10, etc, this time it seems like they aren't going to change. They are in too deep.
ChojinDSL@discuss.tchncs.de · 16 pts · 225d
The year of the linux desktop is different for every one. For me it was 2003. Haven't looked back since and everytime I'm forced to use Windows, I feel like I need to take a shower.
QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 223d
Windows just doesn't feel like home anymore. You can't control it, you can't make it your own.
dubyakay@lemmy.ca · 15 pts · 226d
Recent convert perspectives
wickedrando@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 226d
2025 already was, and it continues. The ecosystem and Proton have changed the game (no pun intended), and even normies are starting to switch.
I finally migrated from MacOS (other than Logic Pro) and Windows. Keep Windows around for some games but it is no longer first in boot order on any machine, and I am delighted.
Every time I boot to Windows it drags ass forever, updates, reboots, repeats, and by the time I can use it I am not even interested.
DrunkAnRoot@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 226d
or the year of ww3.. maybe both actually
Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 226d
The great Linux distro world war.
banazir@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 226d
Wait, is it 2006 already?
flameleaf@lemmy.ml · 13 pts · 226d
For me, it's
date +%sdanhab99@programming.dev · 13 pts · 225d
Half-Life 3 confirmed
Just saying it so it's out there
pineapple@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 224d
Confirmed by who? A rumer?
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 226d
2026 I will continue to use the Linux Desktop. My current prediction and I'm sticking to it
kubofhromoslav@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 226d
Deja vu 🤔
coralof@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 225d
I'm loving to see all these people jumping to Linux. I switched back in 2008 with Ubuntu 8.10. So much has changed since then.
jerkface@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 225d
They come around more often than the Olympics.
FishFace@piefed.social · 11 pts · 226d
That was the free space on my 2026 bingo card!
And my 2025 one.
And the last ten years' ones.
vermaterc@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 226d
...and a year when Half life 3 is released ;)
somerandomperson@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 226d
Nope, it is NOT happening.
uninjects your hopium
data1701d@startrek.website · 11 pts · 225d
The year of Linux on the desktop was the friends we made along the way…
webkitten@piefed.social · 9 pts · 226d
guymontag@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 225d
Based.
dorkofeverything@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 226d
Linux desktop has been here for a while, wake me up when BSD desktops become more viable
racketlauncher831@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 226d
BSDs are mostly for servers. For personal, "home and office" use the best BSD in regard of hardware support and userbase is FreeBSD.
If you have limited time, please consider buying the BSD (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonflyBSD, MidnightBSD etc.) a coffee once in a while, in order to really wake up some day and see the news of the year of BSD.
LeFantome@programming.dev · 1 pts · 225d
FreeBSD has made a real laptop push recently and 15.1 is supposed to offer KDE out of the box.
Depending on your hardware, it is really viable now.
pineapple@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 224d
What is the point of freebs? It just seams like an enfirior operating system with a worse license to go with it.
furycd001@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 225d
The year of the Linux desktop is whenever you make it !! For me, that was 2002, the year I ditched windows for good....
taiyang@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 226d
I'll be trying to contribute to that!
Already hit a difficulty since my workplace uses Microsoft for everything and the admins lock out third party stuff. I guess I can access files on outlook and OneDrive via browser based options but God they're awful.
_edge@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 226d
Teams works on Linux and i think OneDrive is technically webdav. I avoid mixing Microsoft and Linux, but i believe the modern (web) applications should work everywhere.
taiyang@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 226d
Yeah, I think if it's web apps it's fine, just aren't ideal. I was mostly frustrated I couldn't use a third party email app or OneDrive integration app. It's more a grievance with the university I work for, though.
_edge@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 226d
Third-party email clients would work if not blocked for employers configuration.
taiyang@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 225d
That's what I figured and I appreciate the confirmation. Since I work in education it's probably a "better safe than sorry" approach since the laws on student privacy are actually enforced, unlike in corporate. (Obviously it's security theater, though, as web apps and Windows integration make emails and files easy to steal anyway).
Geodes_n_Gems@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 226d
World Revolution 2026 trust.
communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz · 5 pts · 225d
Xx-zones dbus_annotation and ext-tray get merged and implemented into kde and global shortcuts stop sucking and I'll call it.
knexcar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 225d
I have no idea what any of those words mean and that makes me want to stick to Windows.
communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz · 4 pts · 225d
xx-zones allows windows to place themselves
dbus_annotations allows menu items (like file, edit, etc) to be searchable by other apps
ext-tray allows tray icons to display things other than text in their menus (like sliders or whatever)
pineapple@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 224d
I feel like most people dont know and dont care what that is and i definetly dont think its stopping people from using linux.
communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz · 2 pts · 224d
xx-zones in particular is a huge deal for many very important usecases
dbus_annotations is huge for me, but ext-tray fair enough.
global shortcuts is also huge, plenty of people consider that mandatory.
some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 225d
Luckily you don't need to. I didn't know either until I read their next comment. And I've been using various Linux Distros for 15 years or so.
pineapple@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 224d
I have no fucking clue either, and I daily drive linux on my home pc.
witness_me@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 225d
You absolutely don’t need to know what that means, and you don’t have to wait for it either. Those are specific things some users want on one desktop environment/window manager, and not necessary to run Linux.
Jumping if you want to and experience it for yourself. I’ve been happily gaming on Linux for 3 years now.
Twakyr@feddit.org · 3 pts · 223d
Thats why im switching to NetBSD
Paddy66@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 222d
Anyone having any luck running Bazzite for VR gaming?