New Articles About GNU/Linux Success on Desktops
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-02-11 13:33:10 UTC
- Modified: 2014-02-11 15:20:15 UTC
Summary: This month's articles about success stories and debates regarding GNU/Linux on the desktop
GNU/Linux Distributions
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GNU/Linux largely uses open standards so whatever applications and computers you have can all talk to each other and speak the same languages. That allows you to turn a lab or a school into a super-computer as needed. That allows you to set up as many databases, search engines, web-servers, clients thick (resourceful) and thin (using resources of a server), as you need, want or can afford. Basically, you don’t need a brand new PC to get great performance if you can connect to another powerful computer running the software you need. GNU/Linux lets you do that transparently.
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Even if you’re a Windows (or Mac) user, knowing how to use Linux is a valuable skill and it can run a bunch of awesome things in your home — even if it isn’t your main desktop OS. Here are 10 ways you can use Linux even if you’re not ready to go full Ubuntu.
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Engaging in arguments about the superiority of one computing environment over another with individuals who are every bit as convinced of their view as your are of yours is a fruitless endeavor. I used to have lengthy discussions on the relative merits of Linux over Windows or Mac OS X, or BSD, or BeOS, or any combination thereof, none of which turned out to be a productive use of my time, or anyone else's time involved. I like to think that I've grown out of the need to defend my choice of computing platform, and instead focus on what I can do. It is always best to let your work speak for itself.
Chrom*/OS
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A few years ago, Google completely took the web by surprise by launching its own browser. The crowd, which was busy transitioning from the outmoded Internet Explorer to the trendy Firefox, initially took little notice of the search giant's endeavor. However, due to its availability across all platforms, and also its blazing fast speed, Google Chrome became a darling of the web user within a few months. This, in turn, pushed Google to bring more features to Chrome thereby sending the partially open-source browser into a spiral of success.
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First, ASUS announced the ASUS Chromebox, then HP followed with the HP Chromebox, and not to be left out, Google followed with the announcement of the Chromebox for meetings.
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A few days after Asus announced the first Chromebox mini-PC to be introduced the original Samsung Chromebox, HP unveiled its own Chromebox model, which similarly runs on Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS. Meanwhile, Google announced “Chromebox for Meetings,” an enterprise video-conferencing system that initially will be built on the Asus Chromebox, but later this year be available with the HP Chromebox and an upcoming Dell Chromebox (see farther below).
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That processor will also mean the HP Chromebox will cost more its Asus competitor, which will start at just $179 (though probably with a less-powerful Celeron CPU). We'll find out this spring, when HP's model becomes available. With that company onboard, the Chromebox platform looks a lot more viable than just a week ago, when the only Chromebox you could buy was a refurbished Samsung model.
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Have you noticed that a Chrome process always runs in the background when there are Chrome apps active, even if you do not have Chrome browser opened? Even though Chrome apps run like native apps they need the whole Chrome process to run in the background. Google is trying to change this and is working to make Chrome web apps API needs minimal.
Terminology Debate
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Jack Wallen believes that a language barrier is preventing Linux from being adopted, en mass, on the desktop. Do you think a simplified, standardized language for Linux is the solution?
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On the other hand, there's such a thing as dumbing something down too far. One of the big attractions of Linux is the power and control that comes with it. Many of the people who opt for Linux are eager to learn what is necessary for them to truly take control of their computers.
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I've been in technology for more than twenty years. Along the way I've worked for and with many different women that have served in different roles. Some wrote or managed editorial content, while others were focused on the business side as marketing managers or vice presidents, and still others managed the back end and programming parts of the company.
They all had one thing in common though: THEY. JUST. DID. IT.
Education
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No, not literally, but figuratively, the generosity of many IT-companies to “help” schools afford IT is more about enslaving students to use and be locked-in to those companies’ products rather than choosing what works best for the students and teachers. I am surprised that M$ is not on the list…
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In most countries these days, kids start learning computers at a very early age in school and even in still developing countries, computer education is a top priority. Computers are as important part of our daily lives as food and clothes are. Computer Education is considered a very vital part of our kids education today but are we doing it right?
Hardware
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My intentions were different: as I had a play with it in the showroom, I was salivating as I thought of how Linux would fly on such hardware. I planned to replace Windows with Debian GNU/Linux and use the laptop for my work; my existing laptop, an IBM Thinkpad, is entering its 10th year of service and its age is showing.
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The other side of that coin is that barebones PCs can be good for people who aren’t planning on paying for an OS. You can use your favorite Linux distribution on a barebones PC without paying the added cost for some Windows license you have no intention of using.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Web Developers in the US Can Already Disregard Mozilla, Firefox, and Firefox Users
- "Last month, Firefox turned 21"
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- IBM Has No Layoffs, According to IBM, and According to the Media Parroting IBM
- Another day of parrots (losers) who call themselves "journalists"
- IBM Will Make You Unemployed On Christmas Eve
- lists of people to cull
- Within Weeks, Clownflare Has Collapsed Again, Time to Dump Clownflare
- It's run by amateurs who, even if you maintain your site perfectly well, will render it inaccessible without prior notice
- Cars Getting Worse and More Lethal
- Who will be held accountable?
- To "Take Back Control" Start With Actions Against 'Tech' (Mass Surveillance, Mass Censorship, Mass Control) Monopolies
- collusion, price-fixing, a "cartel" of sorts
- Beyond the Hype: Almost Nobody Uses Chatbots, Not Even 1% of Activity Online
- 3 years ago when Scam Altman (Microsoft) acted as if Google (search) was doomed a lot of the press got paid to pretend this was true
- Rumour That Another IBM Round of Mass Layoffs (RAs) in Preparation Before the Current One is Even Completed
- IBM still has strong brand recognition (because of its age and past might), but that won't last forever
- Techrights Publication Pace to Increase Next Year
- one is encouraged to stay indoors
- Upgrading the Site
- Debugging might be needed, so feedback helps
- Why Microsoft is Panicking
- Keep advocating (or "marketing") GNU/Linux to Vista 10 (or Vista 7) users... there are still over a billion of them "out there".
- The Fate of "Blockchains" and "Metaverse" as a Sign of Things to Come for Slop ("AI")
- Doesn't that tell us a lot about the modus operandi of these companies?
- A Year After the Owner of X (Twitter) Performed Several Nazi Salutes on Stage the Germany-Based and Microsoft-Funded 'FSFE' Decides to Exit X (Twitter)
- Will the real Free Software Foundation (FSF) follow suit?
- EPO: What Comes Next
- European media seems to have been sedated by soft bribes from cocaine addicts
- Slopwatch: The Volume of Slop Has Certainly Gone Down a Lot Lately, Slop Image Providers Abandoned/Changed
- It's a big improvement compared to past months
- Thousands Laid Off at IBM, "Last Day" Yesterday
- IBM is a dying company. This is a problem for Red Hat.
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 04, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, December 04, 2025
- Gemini Links 05/12/2025: Espressif ESP32-C5 UEXT Module, Pixelfed, and the Web Getting Much Worse
- Links for the day
- Links 04/12/2025: "People Hooked on [Slop] Far Are More Likely to Experience Mental Distress", Monopolies in Europe, and "Blogging Makes Me Feel Like A Worse Writer"
- Links for the day
- Dr. Andy Farnell: Can we regain control (of technology)?
- "Technology as spiralling mass hysteria has the unsettling potential to draw even rational sceptics like myself into disaffection"
- Links 04/12/2025: "Hey Hi" Implosion and Half of Europeans See Cheeto Trump as Enemy of Europe
- Links for the day
- Communication Needs Open Standards and Open Data
- Standards are imperative
- The "Hey Hi" House of Cards
- The "Hey Hi" bubble is living on borrowed time (days or weeks) and it can implode any time now
- Supporting the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Also Supports GNU Development
- The FSF is mostly raising money to pay salaries
- IBM's "AK Sez" Campaign
- In today's media, to be characterised as important and smart one needn't be important and smart
- Microsoft's Vista 11 Not Gaining, Just Plateauing or Even Going Down (Over Time)
- "Desktop Windows version Market Share Worldwide"
- Bubbles Popping, "Hey Hi" (AI) a Passing Fad
- "Microsoft slides amid report it's cutting software sales quotas tied to AI"
- At The Register MS, "Exclusive Webinar" Means Sponsored Video Ad Disguised as an Article
- Why would one choose to watch these?
- IBM Forces Staff to Sign an NDA If They Want Severance Package, in Effect Bribing Them or Denying Them Money They're Entitled to If They 'Disparage' IBM
- We wrote about the legality or illegality of this in relation to Microsoft two years ago
- IBM and Red Hat Not Done With 2025 Layoffs ("RAs") Yet
- IBM isn't quite done laying off people this year, with only 3 weeks till Christmas
- Gemini Links 04/12/2025: Christmas Looms, Devuan, and Programming
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 03, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, December 03, 2025
- Loads of People Exit IBM Tomorrow
- Way to slam the door on on those who march or walk on
- Slopwatch: It's Blowing, Jim (Gym), the Bubble is Blowing Up
- Let's race to "zero GPT"
- At IBM, "Last Day" Can be Same as Layoffs ("RAs"), Might be Euphemism Advanced by PR/HR Under NDA-Tied Conditions
- They try to act all happy cheerful (in public) about becoming unemployed
- Links 03/12/2025: "Disastrous Hey Hi (AI)", Breaches of Confidentiality, and "Global Democratic Recession"
- Links for the day
- Fake Security and 'Free' Certificates as a Trap of Planned Obsolescence and Top-Down Centralisation
- The boiling frogs
- Links 03/12/2025: UK Budget Leak and Criticism of Peace Posturing Over Ukraine
- Links for the day
- So Far Rust in Ubuntu Has Turned Out to be an Expensive Mistake
- it is certainly seeming or feeling like the wrong people are in charge and they make bad decisions based on false reasoning
- Gemini Links 03/12/2025: Obsession, Ubuntu, and Programming With Scheme
- Links for the day
- The Next Stages of EPO Coverage (and Why That Matters)
- What's at stake here?
- Wayland Rejection Is Not Racist
- We need to collectively reject that
- Reflections on a Month of Techrights Search
- it looks like we've survived nearly a month without the search functionality being leveraged to stage DDoS attacks
- New Year's Resolutions 4 Weeks Ahead of 2026
- the main New Year's Resolution was... sleep
- IBM Layoffs: It's Like They Read From a Script, Like They've Signed a Non-Disparagement Agreement/Clause
- Some new departures
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 02, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, December 02, 2025