No more Windows here, all Linux

[Andysu]

windows sucks , the hit squad pied bill gates , they need to pie him again , linux , the trinnov runs on that system

 

[EJ3]

Been reading TheRegister for a long time. Not quite what it used to be, still an outstanding resource.Then again, I started with a Sinclair ZX81... Still collect legacy gear, gonna come in handy, soon.

Cheers

You mean that perhaps my Radio stuff TRASH 3 might be useful again: Damn good thing I saved it!

 

[PristineSound]

windows sucks , the hit squad pied bill gates , they need to pie him again , linux , the trinnov runs on that system

Windows suck because? It's not free?

 

[krabapple]

I just replaced Windows 10 on my old Surface Pro 3 with Linux Mint. Everything is working except for automatic screen rotation which I don't care about.

The installation was very easy and this tablet PC from 2014 runs like new. Linux is much faster than Windows 10.

The proper comparison would be to a clean new install of Windows 10.

 

[xanalog]

Windows suck because? It's not free?

Give up the fight, @PristineSound, you are trying to swim upstream, it won't cannot work here in the post!
As much as I despise the console-mode, I have tried so many versions -for so many decades- of Linux distros flavors.
But just in a few days of usage, I'd be snagged because some hardware (old or new) or software (old/new) would require me to chase that black cat in that black room, and I'd terminate my attempt.

In the last 6 months, I've tried to install 4 other Linux [notice that I am intentionally not naming names].
The first attempt could not make heads-or-tails out of my dual monitor setup, fed by a Ratheon6750XT (DP1.4).
Second attempt revealed that Dante Controller has no equal in the Linux world. (LoL 2 REW alternatives in Linux).
I've even tried USB-boot Linux and WSL.

Each attempt was botched with some glitch or another and I don't have the patience for a high maintenance Betty, as my desktop/server.
I find Windows and I get along just fine, and it is a tool that works for me, without having to defend to the Linux crowd.
If the hate for Windows makes others gravitate to Linux... chacun à son goût!

Not that Windows (of any flavor) is an OS poster child, but it's been workable for our needs.
I think I have come to the conclusion that throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not going to happen for me.

 

[Joe Smith]

I just had to use my wife's old Win 10 hard drive to set up a new-to-me ipod touch 5 for car dap use. It was just too cumbersome to figure out how to do it in Linux mint. But now that I have 28 or so gb of jazz and classical on there, I won't need to refresh for a good long time.

I am keeping my eye open for a tiny PC with decent ram that I could pop that drive into and then use as an occasional Windows boot machine, just to save needing to swap the hard drive out.

In process of cleaning up ~25 years of photo files and sorting by year. Spent a little time figuring out the Linux syntax today to sort and folderize by year. Claude (Anthropic) was spot on. So once I have all of the photos flowed in, should be easy to get them folderized by year so we can go through and clean up/purge. Unix/Lynux syntax is still a strange beast for me, but now with AI around, it's not that hard to figure out the needed terminal commands even for neanderthals like me.

 

[Berwhale]

I am unlikely to give up Windows as my primary desktop OS any time soon. However, I am spending a fair amount of time setting up multiple copies of Linux my new Aoostar WTR PRO server (picked up from AliExpress for £200 ($270) recently).

The WTR PRO is intended to replace my current ProxmoxVE host (a 10th gen i3 Dell Micro PC) and one of my Synology NAS (I have a DS920+ and a DS420+). The new system will be significantly more performant, use less electricity and I can sell the Synology NAS for more than what I paid for the WTR PRO.

The WTR PRO is running ProxmoxVE as the hypervisor (Debian based), OpenMediaVault (AKA OMV, also Debian) in a VM with several SATA HDD passed through for testing and a couple of Ubuntu VMs for various other services and applications.

I am quite impressed with OMV with it's clean interface and easy extendibility with plug-ins. I am currently testing the MergerFS plug-in with a bunch of old 3TB drives which are in an external USB enclosure...

 

[Multicore]

How about phones? You into Linux phones too?

 

[Multicore]

Windows suck because? It's not free?

IMO because I cannot trust it. I feel I can trust Linux more because there's all those libertarians who make a stink when they find features they dislike. Windows is primarily a corporate thing and those clients have different values.

It would be reasonable to pay more for software I can trust but because of historical reasons I guess that's not how it goes.

 

[Berwhale]

How about phones? You into Linux phones too?

From what i've read, these are still very niche with support limited to a handful of phone models.

The Jolla phone is one example: https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/15/jolla_sailfish_5_hands_on/

Interestingly, the Sailfish OS on the Jolla phone is descended from the Maemo OS on the Nokia 770 internet tablet released in 2005. I own the 770, I don't know where it is, but I still occasionally use the neat little stand it came with...

 

[somebodyelse]

How about phones? You into Linux phones too?

How are you defining 'linux phone'?

 

[PristineSound]

IMO because I cannot trust it. I feel I can trust Linux more because there's all those libertarians who make a stick when they find features they dislike. Windows is primarily a corporate thing and those clients have different values.

It would be reasonable to pay more for software I can trust but because of historical reasons I guess that's not how it goes.

There are pro's and con's. To each, everyone should go with the one that fits their needs. But I just find that the reasons that many others give are more emotional reasons than anything, which in itself is also fine.

 

[Multicore]

How are you defining 'linux phone'?

A mobile phone that runs Linux instead of Android or iOS. There's a few available but I have no experience with them. Wondered if perhaps someone here does.

 

[concorde1]

Only still have W10 for Cubase/Dorico etc.
Mostly on Fedora.

A mobile phone that runs Linux instead of Android or iOS.

I just use non-smart phone. Apps are a joke anyway IMHO

The Linux options don't look great, but Motorola + Graphene may be interesting.

 

[anonyless]

I am unlikely to give up Windows as my primary desktop OS any time soon. However, I am spending a fair amount of time setting up multiple copies of Linux my new Aoostar WTR PRO server (picked up from AliExpress for £200 ($270) recently).

The WTR PRO is intended to replace my current ProxmoxVE host (a 10th gen i3 Dell Micro PC) and one of my Synology NAS (I have a DS920+ and a DS420+). The new system will be significantly more performant, use less electricity and I can sell the Synology NAS for more than what I paid for the WTR PRO.

The WTR PRO is running ProxmoxVE as the hypervisor (Debian based), OpenMediaVault (AKA OMV, also Debian) in a VM with several SATA HDD passed through for testing and a couple of Ubuntu VMs for various other services and applications.

I am quite impressed with OMV with it's clean interface and easy extendibility with plug-ins. I am currently testing the MergerFS plug-in with a bunch of old 3TB drives which are in an external USB enclosure...

View attachment 523309

my single drive NAS is running OMV as well under Debian 12, but with 150$ Radxa Rock 5 ITX SBC 16gb LPDDR5 (arm64) . it actually has 4 SATA ports.
the only thing i find annoying about OMV is its install script insisting the OS not be running any GUI. Of course I understand the logic behind this but, it would be nice if they could add "use on your own risk" install option that would leave the GUI installed

 

[somebodyelse]

A mobile phone that runs Linux instead of Android or iOS. There's a few available but I have no experience with them. Wondered if perhaps someone here does.

I used an Openmoko GTA02 as a daily driver for a year or so. Some years later I picked up a PinePhone, but never started using it on a daily basis. Some things had made a fair bit of progress while others had regressed frustratingly.

One of the major problems is the openness (or lack of) for a lot of the hardware. That leads to compromises if you're a relatively small company trying to make an open phone - it'll probably be outperformed by a bargain basement Android phone from a big manufacturer while costing more and having worse battery life. The alternative is to repurpose an Android phone, but then you usually have to use a manufacturer's Android binaries for bits that don't have open support, hence use of Halium. That puts you in a grey area between pure linux and Android, hence the question. It actually makes it harder for projects like ubports to support fully open hardware like the PinePhone because they're built around using the Android bits that don't exist for the open hardware. PostmarketOS did rather better on that front.

The UI stuff was variable - partly because of gaps in the functionality of the different desktops' phone interfaces and partly because of the same X/wayland issues we see in other areas of linux. There's a shortage of mobile friendly applications, but on the other hand you can run stuff that you'd normally need a desktop or laptop for if you've got a keyboard and pointing device, whether bluetooth or the Pine keyboard that clipped on the back. The mobile apps side could be filled out with Waydroid to run Android apps, at least within limits - don't expect things like banking apps to work!

I can't really comment on the current state - I've not used the PinePhone for a while. The real killer for me was the battery life, but I know I'm an outlier - for most people the lack of certain apps would probably be a deal breaker too.

 

[Multicore]

I used an Openmoko GTA02 as a daily driver for a year or so. Some years later I picked up a PinePhone, but never started using it on a daily basis. Some things had made a fair bit of progress while others had regressed frustratingly.

One of the major problems is the openness (or lack of) for a lot of the hardware. That leads to compromises if you're a relatively small company trying to make an open phone - it'll probably be outperformed by a bargain basement Android phone from a big manufacturer while costing more and having worse battery life. The alternative is to repurpose an Android phone, but then you usually have to use a manufacturer's Android binaries for bits that don't have open support, hence use of Halium. That puts you in a grey area between pure linux and Android, hence the question. It actually makes it harder for projects like ubports to support fully open hardware like the PinePhone because they're built around using the Android bits that don't exist for the open hardware. PostmarketOS did rather better on that front.

The UI stuff was variable - partly because of gaps in the functionality of the different desktops' phone interfaces and partly because of the same X/wayland issues we see in other areas of linux. There's a shortage of mobile friendly applications, but on the other hand you can run stuff that you'd normally need a desktop or laptop for if you've got a keyboard and pointing device, whether bluetooth or the Pine keyboard that clipped on the back. The mobile apps side could be filled out with Waydroid to run Android apps, at least within limits - don't expect things like banking apps to work!

I can't really comment on the current state - I've not used the PinePhone for a while. The real killer for me was the battery life, but I know I'm an outlier - for most people the lack of certain apps would probably be a deal breaker too.

Thanks for that somebodyelse. That seems a good summary of the big issues involved.

Another thing that impresses me is the magnitude of the overall software complexity for mobile phones. It is enormous and has correspondingly large development costs. That's tolerable if you have volumes like Apple and Samsung but for FOSS? I don't get it.

 

[xanalog]

I hope getting information from a chatBot, and posting it here, does not insult anyone's senses... but I must, as a PSA:

[BRAVE]> Beyond the dominant Android and iOS platforms, there are six notable mobile operating systems currently existing or historically significant for portable communication devices. These include Sailfish OS (a Linux-based system by Jolla used in Europe), Tizen (Samsung's Linux-based OS found in smartwatches and some phones), Ubuntu Touch (a community-maintained version of Ubuntu for mobile), KaiOS (a Linux-based OS for feature phones and smart devices, popular in India), Plasma Mobile (an open-source KDE interface for mobile), and HarmonyOS (Huawei's distributed OS for mobile and IoT devices).

• Sailfish OS: Runs on Linux, offers encrypted security, and can install Android apps.
• Tizen: An open-source Linux system primarily used by Samsung for wearables and some smartphones.
• Ubuntu Touch: Maintained by UBPorts, focusing on security and unified touchscreen experiences.
• KaiOS: Optimized for non-touch devices and budget phones with 4G capabilities.
• Plasma Mobile: Provides full customization and runs on KDE Plasma frameworks.
• HarmonyOS: Huawei's system designed for multi-device connectivity and mobile use.

Historically, other systems like Symbian, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, and Firefox OS also existed but are now defunct or discontinued.

Yes, no easy task:

...Another thing that impresses me is the magnitude of the overall software complexity for mobile phones. It is enormous and has correspondingly large development costs...

 

[xanalog]

I hope getting information from a chatBot, and posting it here, does not insult anyone's senses... but I must, as a PSA:

Cross-checked [BRAVE]> answers with:

[CLAUDE]> Pretty close to Brave's list. I'd have ranked KaiOS first rather than fourth given its real-world scale. Otherwise we largely agree — which either means we're both right, or we're both drawing from the same pool of sources.

 

[somebodyelse]

Plasma Mobile isn't an OS though - it's a GUI, as is Phosh. They're essentially mobile-optimised versions of KDE's Plasma and GNOME Shell. Both are options in postmarketOS and Mobian plus more generic distros, along with a few other GUI options. Most of the others listed are linux-based in the same way as Android is - they're using linux and a bunch of other FOSS components under the skin, but they're not exposed to the user and you can't run linux apps on them. That's why I asked how 'linux phone' was defined.

Ubuntu Touch / ubports is still a linux, if an unusual one in having an immutable base image and only allowing apps as Snaps. You can't just 'apt install' something as you would on an ordinary ubuntu install. Sailfish is a bit borderline IIRC - I tried it once ages back and the updates for PinePhone were few and far between. I don't remember it being one where you could build your own install image or run conventional linux apps, but could be wrong.