Over the years, I’ve often thought that, despite how fast-moving the desktop Linux ecosystem is, there’s not much left that could truly surprise me. Yet I keep being proven wrong, and that’s a good thing. Winux, one of the newest additions to the scene, is a clear example.
Whether I like it or not, this distribution brings back memories of about 20 years ago, when Lindows, later renamed Linspire under legal (and fully justified) pressure from Microsoft, first tried to take the path of a Linux distribution built entirely to be as close as possible to the Windows experience.
Today, several Linux distributions aim to position themselves as an easy starting point, and even a replacement for Windows users looking to switch without friction. Zorin OS is a well-known example. Even so, these projects keep their own Linux identity, with similarities to Windows being more indirect than literal.
Today’s non-tech savvy persons usually want Chrome, VLC, and Steam. Yes, there are exceptions but I set up Linux PCs for a few people with unsupported Windows versions recently and they are just fine with that because all they do is to access web services from Chrome, playing back the occasional downloaded media file, and some games.
Yeah, it does depend on the user, like I replied to another person. You have to figure out the needs of the user and adapt accordingly. For some, their needs are far less complex and all of their software would be on Flathub. So package layering is a situation problem, I just got unlucky with 3 out of the several programs that I use. Which is why I’d mention it, as edge cases are always a thing.