this is sad [LWN.net]

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 10:50 UTC (Tue) by anselm (subscriber, #2796)
In reply to: this is sad by nye
Parent article: Klumpp: A few words about the future of the Limba project

We can't really say a lot about demand for preinstalled Linux, other than that if there is demand it is apparently not communicated well enough to computer manufacturers, or computer manufacturers do not think it is worth their while to respond to whatever demand there is.

I don't think there's active “demand” for Windows or MacOS in any real sense, either, to a point where people walk into a computer store and ask for any computer as long as it comes with Windows, and not one of those nasty Macs. Few people buy a computer from Dell or Acer or Lenovo specifically because it comes with Windows – instead they buy a computer because in the first instance they want a computer, and whatever operating system it comes with is mostly incidental. Conversely, many people buy a Mac because they like the sleek hardware and the way it is marketed as the creative person's computer (as opposed to the boring office-supply type computer that everybody else is selling) and possibly also the operating system, not specifically because they're in love with MacOS and the Mac is (unfortunately) the only computer it will run on. How little many people care about what operating system their computer is running is also evidenced by the fact that they tend not to upgrade the operating system that their computer came with – note how Microsoft needs to practically drag many people kicking and screaming into allowing Windows 10 to be installed on their machines.

Linux's problem in this setup is simply that few people know about it to the point where they want it on their computer, and of the people who do, most are happy to install it themselves (if only so they get to pick the particular flavour of Linux they end up with). Therefore there is little incentive for manufacturers to go to the considerable trouble and expense of actually spec'ing a computer that contains only Linux-friendly hardware, getting that built, getting a version of Linux with the right drivers together, putting that on the computers (where otherwise the hard disks would come from the hard disk factory with Windows already on them), training sales reps and service and support staff, and so on. Next comes the uphill battle of convincing people that they actually want this particular machine with preinstalled Ubuntu when of the prospective clientele 20% would really prefer Debian and 30% would really prefer Fedora, and those wouldn't touch a Ubuntu preinstall with a long pole as a matter of principle – they could of course install whatever they liked after the fact but then why bother to buy preinstalled? (There is the added complication that due to all this extra work the Linux machine will probably end up being more expensive than the one with Windows, which for a good-quality Linux preinstall wouldn't be a huge problem but would p*ss off all those people who think Linux, being much-hyped “free software”, ought to be free, as in beer, and so the Linux PC ought to be cheaper than its Windows equivalent. – The latter theory leads us to Cyberax's Russia where people would buy a “Linux” PC because it was cheaper than one that came with Windows, and then install a copy of Windows that fell off the back of a truck somewhere.)

It's reasonable to assume that the demand for Linux would be a lot greater if (a) people weren't preconditioned to expect Windows, (b) people were actually in a position to choose between Windows and Linux versions of the same basic hardware, on a spectrum of low-end to high-end machines, and (c) some entity proselytised for Linux to the same degree that Microsoft proselytises for Windows. This seems to work for Playstation vs. Xbox and various other market segments, but unfortunately it is not how the PC world rolls – not because Linux isn't good enough, but because Microsoft had a ten-year headstart in the late 1980s and early 1990s where it was basically the only game in town, and now it is difficult to dislodge. (In the game-console market, Microsoft started as a complete non-entity but managed to butt in only because they didn't need to make money on the Xbox.)

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this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 11:45 UTC (Tue) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link] (1 responses)

It is worth than that. My university procurement rules means that I have the choice between 3 laptops designed to run windows that are completely linux-hostile or to insist on using Mac OS and somehow be waived the procurement rules and be allowed to buy any Apple laptop.

So the users that are running linux on the lab desktop, get a poor experience with linux on their windows laptop and next time pick a Macbook.

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 15:33 UTC (Tue) by krake (guest, #55996) [Link]

If the Windows laptop options are significantly Linux-hostile, it might be worth checking if the allowed Apple laptops are less Linux-hostile.

While Apple hardware can also be difficult, it might actually be easier depending on how bad the Windows laptop hardware is

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 11:45 UTC (Tue) by hitmark (guest, #34609) [Link] (9 responses)

The Windows 10 thing has less to do with fear of upgrading, and more to do with people confusing telemetry with spying.

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 15:44 UTC (Tue) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (8 responses)

And if I have to pay for internet access by the megabyte?

WHY do I have to have a computer that *insists* on phoning home and racking up bills, when I see absolutely no use whatsoever for the (lack of) value generated.

Cheers,
Wol

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 16:17 UTC (Tue) by nye (guest, #51576) [Link] (7 responses)

>WHY do I have to have a computer that *insists* on phoning home and racking up bills, when I see absolutely no use whatsoever for the (lack of) value generated.

If you have no use for those features, you might consider turning them off? As a Linux user, I'm sure you're used to the idea of changing the default settings to ones that you prefer.

[There are certain bits of telemetry that can't be turned off if you're using a Windows Insider build, since the entire purpose of those is to gather feedback.]

this is sad

Posted Jun 21, 2016 21:32 UTC (Tue) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link] (6 responses)

You can not turn off updates in Windows 10. Let me repeat, you can NOT turn off updates. It can be done through undocumented registry tweaks, but not through user interface.

Windows 10 tries to guess if you're on a metered connection by checking your IP address and doing a tracert (bypassing active VPN, but what's a security violation between friends?) to see if you're inside a mobile network. It usually works but sometimes it doesn't, for example when you're using VPN from your 4G-enabled OpenWRT box.

this is sad

Posted Jun 22, 2016 6:09 UTC (Wed) by zdzichu (subscriber, #17118) [Link] (1 responses)

I'm sure they're first using more standard method, like watching for ANDROID_METERED (and equivalents for other OSes) stuffed into DHCP options.

this is sad

Posted Jun 22, 2016 6:12 UTC (Wed) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link]

Probably. Except I set up this access point myself on OpenWRT. And then a couple of Windows VMs easily ate my month's traffic allowance.

Grr..

BTW, thanks for the tip, I'll add this option to my config.

this is sad

Posted Jun 22, 2016 10:45 UTC (Wed) by nye (guest, #51576) [Link] (3 responses)

>You can not [easily] turn off updates in Windows 10.

Good. It shouldn't be possible for a clueless user to shoot themselves in the foot by doing something that's such a monumentally bad idea, but the option is available for people who seriously know what they're doing.

>Let me repeat, you can NOT turn off updates. It can be done through undocumented registry tweaks, but not through user interface.

It can be done via Group Policy, which is the standard UI for administrative settings that aren't appropriate for most users. For the home edition, I believe you can't use Group Policy but have to edit the registry directly - Group Policy is to a large extent a graphical front end for the registry that explains the settings and their available options (actually this is the case for much of the contents of Settings and the Control Panel). So using the home edition, you'd need to find documentation online on how to do this.

>Windows 10 tries to guess if you're on a metered connection by checking your IP address and doing a tracert (bypassing active VPN, but what's a security violation between friends?) to see if you're inside a mobile network

No, the option to choose whether a connection is metered is up to the user. By default it's a toggle that can only be set for wireless networks, though there are ways to set it for a wired connection that aren't exposed to the UI (and I think I remember reading that it was becoming standard in the next release, but I could be wrong about that). I agree that it's silly to make the assumption that wired connections won't be metered, but that's a very separate issue.

You might be thinking of Windows 10 Mobile? I've not used that so I don't know how it differs, but I can't find any reference to the behaviour you describe.

I find it so enervating seeing the endless array of baseless FUD on LWN. I wish I could just let go and accept that most of the things people say here are clueless and misleading and that's the way it will always be, but some part of me can't let go of the idea that if just one person can be prevented from unknowingly seeing and believing some falsehood then it will be worth the effort.

this is sad

Posted Jun 22, 2016 17:15 UTC (Wed) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link] (2 responses)

> It can be done via Group Policy, which is the standard UI for administrative settings that aren't appropriate for most users.
GP now requires Enterprise versions that is not even sold to mere users.

> I find it so enervating seeing the endless array of baseless FUD on LWN.
What, unturnable updates are FUD?

Nope, Win10 is now firmly in "crapware and spyware" land.

this is sad

Posted Jun 23, 2016 10:33 UTC (Thu) by nye (guest, #51576) [Link]

>GP now requires Enterprise versions that is not even sold to mere users.

Yet again, this is not true. Where did you get this idea? Even a cursory Google search would have disproved this.

>What, unturnable updates are FUD?

You keep saying things that are blatantly untrue on a topic you clearly have absolutely no knowledge of at all.
Would you behave this way on a forum where there's a reasonable chance of finding knowledgeable people, or do you just do it here because you expect there won't be anyone with enough experience to call you on your bullshit?

Are there in fact any topics you do know anything about? I've read numerous posts from you on topics that I know little about, that seem informative and with no reason to disbelieve them. Now though I'm wondering if they just seem that way because I don't know enough about the subject to recognise when somebody is making up nonsense, so everything you say has to be treated as probably untrue unless carefully verified.

this is sad

Posted Jun 23, 2016 17:13 UTC (Thu) by zlynx (guest, #2285) [Link]

Windows 10 updates cannot be ignored forever. This is true.

If you have Pro or Enterprise they can be deferred. They can be scheduled.

They cannot be ignored.

This is a FEATURE and I support it totally. I never want to see another Windows 7 laptop used for meeting room video conferences and presentations with 66 pending Critical and Required updates.

If you don't want them installing automatically in the middle of your work then PAY ATTENTION to the popup dialog and say when you want them done. No, you can't keep pushing it off four hours at a time, and if you try they will install anyway. That's on you.

If you don't want updates and you claim you don't need them then don't connect a Windows system to the internet. Now you're safe from updates and security holes.