Linux Dominates Supercomputers, But Not Your Home PC

482 of the World's 500 Supercomputers Use Linux

In January 2014, a blunt question was posed: is Linux a system suitable for the average person or a waste of time? The trigger was specific—installing a graphics card or a printer could take days—and the response, 308 replies, painted a rather honest picture of the situation. The year was significant: Windows 8 had just launched amidst complaints about its constant data collection, and Chromebooks, with 13-inch models for $279, were emerging as a third option.

What emerged wasn't a single answer, but three open fronts: the open system works better than its negative fruta suggests, it works worse than its proponents promise, and, above all, the benchmark for "works" shifts depending on who is looking.

Windows Wins by Inertia, Not Superiority

One of the most repeated theses: if Windows dominates the market, it's not due to technical superiority, but because it comes pre-installed and because paid software is obtained without payment. Office, Photoshop, and their ilk cost money that almost no one pays. If they had to pay up, several argued, more than one would rush to learn another system. Tacit piracy functions as an invisible subsidy to Microsoft's model, and no one factors that into the accounts.

Some turn the difficulty argument around: setting up Windows isn't exactly a walk in the park either. Three reboots, downloading drivers the motherboard doesn't include, wrestling with the gamepad. The difference isn't in the work, but in who bears the frustration when something fails.

Where Linux Stumbles: Drivers, VPNs, and Fonts

The inventory of specific problems that appeared is the most useful part of the discussion. Scanners without drivers or with rudimentary ones. Barely adequate interoperability with Office formats. IPSec tunnels, which are already a nightmare in Windows, become more complicated here with the usual package. Bluetooth tethering with an old phone that "never works the first time." Rendering fonts on a dark background leaves much to be desired. Canon cameras that only work with Wine, and even then, worse than on their native system.

The flip side also exists: modern distributions that install with "next, next, next" and leave everything working. A person over 50 recounted five years with Ubuntu on an HP laptop without a single problem, including the printer and webcam. The conclusion that emerges: the hurdle isn't the system, it's the last mile of hardware.

The Blame Bias: It's Your Fault, Except on Linux

One of the most insightful analyses in the entire conversation was this: when something fails in Windows, the default reaction is "I must have done something wrong." When it fails in Linux, "this doesn't work." The anecdote illustrating this: someone whose Windows 8 Office was corrupting documents accepted it with "I'll have to adapt," the same person who had rejected LibreOffice for that exact reason. The bar, depending on the system, moves on its own.

From Supercomputers to the Chromebook

One piece of data brought some order to the fray. Of the 500 most powerful computers in the world, 482 used Linux. Eleven used Unix. Two used Windows, at ranks 237 and 309. Zero used Mac. This data doesn't settle anything—we're talking about machines, not desktops—but it dismantles the idea that the system is just a hobbyist's toy.

And then there was the forecast made at the time: Windows, Linux, and Mac would all cede ground to the Chromebook and cloud applications. That's where the matter stood, with the promise unverified.

The original question admits as many answers as there are profiles of those asking it. The analysis gets stuck right there: no one has yet defined what "easy" means when the observer is an engineer versus the neighbor from the fifth floor.