In retrospect that whole value proposition is nuts.

The suggestion here is to spend 10min, let’s say 1h if the connection isn’t far and the USB stick (or microSD) is slow… for something you will then use for years onward. Typically one does NOT re-install an OS frequently unless they want to (e.g. tinkering quite a bit or distro-hoping).

Right, and to be clear I’m not suggesting to “just” buy a PC without an OS.

I’m suggesting both PC manufacturers and OS providers make an effort to facilitate that step.

One good example IMHO would be Raspberry Pi and its Imager. Yes you get your Pi but that’s not just it, you can get install Raspberry Pi OS … or Ubuntu, Apertis, RISC OS Pi, … but also media ones e.g. LibreELEC, OSMC, etc … or emulation with RetroPie, Batoccera.linux, … but still more with RaspAP, MoodleBox, … and countless others. You follow the steps thanks to a colorful GUI, put a microSD card in when prompted, wait, remove it, but in the SBC, boot and voila.

I’m not claiming it’s perfect or that anybody could do it but I believe it’s a good compromise ihelping people getting the OS they need if only they are genuinely ready to spend 10min for it.

Unfortunately for you you don’t have what it takes. You need to be a proper psychopath to scam others.

Your English is good don’t worry about it. What I meant to say is that we should stop talking about a hypothetical time when Linux would become mainstream, that’s in the past. It’s mainstream since at least since February 2022 when the Steam Deck became a commercial success.

Right but Framework is basically new, founded just in 2020. Also I believe most people who go on their website is precisely because of this kind of options. I don’t think, sadly, they are representative of the broader market.

Well 100% in fact as that’s NOT the definition of “out of the box”.

There you go https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/amzn/metrics/revenue-by-segment/ but TL;DR: AWS is more than 15% of their revenue and it keeps on growing.

Genuinely no idea why people keep on using YouTube. There are countless quality alternatives, from Vimeo to PeerTube to torrents.

I don’t understand the argument. Linux already is mainstream since there are millions (number out of my ass, I don’t actually know) of devices people buy and “just” use Linux. Those clients are no tinkerers or developers, “just” gamers including I bet a significant proportion who are not even adults. My bet is when those people are asked “Are you using Linux?” they either don’t know, or don’t care, and yet when they finally realize they are actually using Linux daily they probably think “Wow, it’s not that complicated, it just works” and thus it will change mindsets at scale.

You can buy computers without an operating system installed on it

AFAIR that hasn’t been the case in most places for a while precisely because Microsoft made partnerships with OEMs to avoid that situation.

I believe new laws were added, e.g. in Europe, but I would be curious were this was the case. In fact I remember the opposite, namely that most computers one would buy always came with an OS, Windows for PC and MacOS for Apple computers. Even computers that one would buy in part that would be assembled for them from non OEM would also have the options to have an OS. In fact I’d be curious about example of fully assemble PCs, not just parts nor SBCs, that could be purchased without an OS before the law in the places where its the case now, would prove an OS-free option. Can you please share examples?

Also, assuming you do find such examples (thanks in advance) I’d then be curious what’s the market share, namely is it significant, e.g. 10% or is it basically anecdotal, e.g. 0.01% and thus just enough to say “it’s possible” yet has no actual impact.

Linux will never be the mainstream OS

The SteamDeck prove that wrong, it’s already mainstream.

Learn about a tool that is basically in the middle of some of the most crucial interactions in their lives? From receiving an email to vote, to booking an appointment to get a passport, to working, to dating, to browsing an encyclopedia, to entertainment broadly, to creating music, to …?

I’ll stop there but yes, even though learning is scary I think if the safety net is clear enough (namely you just can’t mess up so badly your brand new computer won’t work) then it’s worth investing in.

… and I’m grateful for that but maybe we can finally decouple from OEM for OSes? Maybe could JUST buy a computer and not be forced an OS on it?

Sure I admit it feels nice to unwrap a new device, turn it on, set up few options and use it. Yet, the alternative it to turn it on, plug a USB drive on it, turn it on, set up few options, wait for 15min tops for installation to proceed and use it.

It’s actually a ~15min difference but it could bring so many good practices.

Ah, so niche but of course there is a great Wikipedia article for this, thank you!

I was listening to the podcase episode 318 “Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein w/ Tim Schwab” of Tech Won’t Save Us thinking that honestly I had such a low esteem for Gates surely it couldn’t get worst. Well, I was clearly very wrong.

Now to read this after listening to the podcast is a great example showcasing how dearly Microsoft KEEPS on fighting for its monopolistic position. It’s not a “oh it just happen” kind of situation. It’s a constant investment of resources in the worst kind of ways, not into making the product better, but rather this. Again, unsurprising but whenever people argue about Gates being a “good” person or how Microsoft “changed” and isn’t what it was in the 2000s they are unfortunately very naive.

Anyway, digging into this, thanks again.

It’s like noticing a car crash and looking back… you know you shouldn’t and yet it’s somehow mesmerizing. So… where can I actually read about this please?

I’ve been using a CMF Nothing with /e/OS installed by Murena for a year now and I can say it’s been a breeze.

To be fair I think that’s a very harsh depiction of the events.

It’s totally lacking the perspective of the shareholder. They were promised money and they have emotions too. Google shareholders deserve better representation!

/$ obviously

Thanks, updating (~20min) accordingly.

FWIW I have a CMF Nothing 1 and I can put a 500Go microSD in it.

Commenting inline :

-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 103G Jul  6  2024 wikipedia_en_all_maxi_2024-01.zim
# encyclopedia Wikipedia English with images and more
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  81G Apr 22  2023 gutenberg_mul_all_2023-04.zim
# Project Gutenberg, book collection in multiple languages
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  75G Jul  7  2024 stackoverflow.com_en_all_2023-11.zim
# StackOverflow, programming questions and answers
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  74G Mar 10  2024 planet-240304.osm.pbf
# OpenStreetMap low resolution for the whole World
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 3.8G Oct 18 06:55 debian-13.1.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso
# Debian base ISO
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 2.6G May  7  2023 ifixit_en_all_2023-04.zim
# iFixit colection of guides to fix appliances
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 1.6G May  7  2023 developer.mozilla.org_en_all_2023-02.zim
# Web development documentation
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 931M May  7  2023 diy.stackexchange.com_en_all_2023-03.zim
# Do It Yourself Q&A
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 808M Jun  5  2023 wikivoyage_en_all_maxi_2023-05.zim
# WikiVoyage, the version of Wikipedia for traveling
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 296M Apr 30  2023 raspberrypi.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
# Raspberry Pi Q&A
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 131M May  7  2023 rapsberry_pi_docs_2023-01.zim
# Rasspberry Pi documentation
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 100M May  7  2023 100r-off-the-grid_en_2022-06.zim
# Off the grid documents
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  61M May  7  2023 quantumcomputing.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
# Quantum computer Q&A
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  45M May  7  2023 computergraphics.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
# Computer graphics Q&A
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  37M May  7  2023 wordnet_en_all_2023-04.zim
# Graph of words in English
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  23M Jul 17  2023 kiwix-tools_linux-armv6-3.5.0-1.tar.gz
# Kiwix to read .zim files
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  16M Oct  6 21:32 be-stib-gtfs.zip
# public transport database in Brussels, Belgium
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 3.8M Oct  6 21:32 be-sncb-gtfs.zip
# train transport database in Belgium
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 2.3M May  7  2023 termux_en_all_maxi_2022-12.zim
# Termux, Linux tooling on Android, documentation in English
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 1.9M May  7  2023 kiwix-firefox_3.8.0.xpi
# Kiwix Web Extension for the Firefox browser

FWIW :

fabien@debian2080ti:/media/fabien/slowdisk$ ls -lhS offline_prep/
total 341G
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 103G Jul  6  2024 wikipedia_en_all_maxi_2024-01.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  81G Apr 22  2023 gutenberg_mul_all_2023-04.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  75G Jul  7  2024 stackoverflow.com_en_all_2023-11.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  74G Mar 10  2024 planet-240304.osm.pbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 3.8G Oct 18 06:55 debian-13.1.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 2.6G May  7  2023 ifixit_en_all_2023-04.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 1.6G May  7  2023 developer.mozilla.org_en_all_2023-02.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 931M May  7  2023 diy.stackexchange.com_en_all_2023-03.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 808M Jun  5  2023 wikivoyage_en_all_maxi_2023-05.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 296M Apr 30  2023 raspberrypi.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 131M May  7  2023 rapsberry_pi_docs_2023-01.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 100M May  7  2023 100r-off-the-grid_en_2022-06.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  61M May  7  2023 quantumcomputing.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  45M May  7  2023 computergraphics.stackexchange.com_en_all_2022-11.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  37M May  7  2023 wordnet_en_all_2023-04.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  23M Jul 17  2023 kiwix-tools_linux-armv6-3.5.0-1.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien  16M Oct  6 21:32 be-stib-gtfs.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 3.8M Oct  6 21:32 be-sncb-gtfs.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 2.3M May  7  2023 termux_en_all_maxi_2022-12.zim
-rw-r--r-- 1 fabien fabien 1.9M May  7  2023 kiwix-firefox_3.8.0.xpi

but if you want the easier version just get Kiwix on whatever device in front of you right now (yes, even mobile phone assuming you have the space) then get whatever content you need.

If need a bit of help I recorded TechSovereignty at home, episode 11 - Offline Wikipedia, Kiwix and checksums with a friend just 3 weeks ago.

I also wrote randomly update https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/Vademecum and coded https://git.benetou.fr/utopiah/offline-octopus but tbh KDE-Connect is much better now.

The point though is having such a repository takes minutes. If you don’t have the space, buy a 512Go microSD for 50EUR then put that on, stuff it in a drawer then move on. If you want to every 3 months or whenever you feel like it, updated it.

TL;DR: takes longer to write such a meme than actually do it.