honest question: have you ever tried to fresh install windows on a pc or laptop that didn’t have an OS (or a previous windows) installed?
I found it way more unintuitive than for example kubuntu installer in the past years.
I haven’t. I suppose that’s a large chunk of where the advantage comes from, isn’t it? New computers are expected to just come with the OS on them already. The entire process of installing an OS no matter whose you use is a completely alien concept to most people, and anyone who thinks it’s “not that hard for the average person” is daft.
Are OEM Linux installs even a thing? For like, ““real”” hardware, from ““real”” (read: mainstream enough to buy on a shelf at Best Buy) manufacturers? Those are what we need to be steering people to, IMO, if we ever want Linux to be competitive with Windows and macOS for an average person.
I hope I’m not moving the goalposts too far here, but I do want to stress that if at any point in this process a consumer has to go out of their way to get the Linux experience, it will never compete. Every lowering of the barrier is progress, but there is a critical mass point we clearly haven’t reached yet.
honest question: have you ever tried to fresh install windows on a pc or laptop that didn’t have an OS (or a previous windows) installed? I found it way more unintuitive than for example kubuntu installer in the past years.
I haven’t. I suppose that’s a large chunk of where the advantage comes from, isn’t it? New computers are expected to just come with the OS on them already. The entire process of installing an OS no matter whose you use is a completely alien concept to most people, and anyone who thinks it’s “not that hard for the average person” is daft.
Are OEM Linux installs even a thing? For like, ““real”” hardware, from ““real”” (read: mainstream enough to buy on a shelf at Best Buy) manufacturers? Those are what we need to be steering people to, IMO, if we ever want Linux to be competitive with Windows and macOS for an average person.
System76 sells OEM Linux computers, but they don’t sell them in Best Buy, to my knowledge.
It’s a start!
I hope I’m not moving the goalposts too far here, but I do want to stress that if at any point in this process a consumer has to go out of their way to get the Linux experience, it will never compete. Every lowering of the barrier is progress, but there is a critical mass point we clearly haven’t reached yet.
You can get most Dell laptops shipped with Ubuntu, but I don’t think that’s available at a brick and mortar retailer.