> 20 years ago it was impossible to buy a PC, especially a laptop, without MS Windows : today there are several suppliers: System76, LaptopWithLinux, TuxedoComputers, to name but a few.
Buying components and assembling them yourself has always been an option for desktops (and IMO the best one). For laptops, I bought a Dell with Linux ~15 years ago - not quite 20 but close enough.
> It is only in the last few years (less than 10) that Linux is perfectly usable on the desktop, so I don't care what decision MS will take for Windows, it is irrelevant if you have other options. For office suites we have: LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, FreeOffice
Linux has been a perfectly usable desktop OS for a long time. I know because I have been using it for well over 10 years and have not missed the sorry excuse for a OS that is Windows.
If anything, there are certain actors trying to lock down Linux to build their own walled garden. Of course being open source makes this harder but they do try and with hardware-backed crypto requirements may eventually succeed - source won't help you if whatever you build with it won't match the whitelisted checksums.
> There are many messaging apps and protocols that are decentralised and resistant to censorship.
Which is an improvement on a single Gaim/Pidgin being able to connect to all networks you can think of? We hardly need more messaging protocols and apps.
Buying components and assembling them yourself has always been an option for desktops (and IMO the best one). For laptops, I bought a Dell with Linux ~15 years ago - not quite 20 but close enough.
> It is only in the last few years (less than 10) that Linux is perfectly usable on the desktop, so I don't care what decision MS will take for Windows, it is irrelevant if you have other options. For office suites we have: LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, FreeOffice
Linux has been a perfectly usable desktop OS for a long time. I know because I have been using it for well over 10 years and have not missed the sorry excuse for a OS that is Windows.
If anything, there are certain actors trying to lock down Linux to build their own walled garden. Of course being open source makes this harder but they do try and with hardware-backed crypto requirements may eventually succeed - source won't help you if whatever you build with it won't match the whitelisted checksums.
> There are many messaging apps and protocols that are decentralised and resistant to censorship.
Which is an improvement on a single Gaim/Pidgin being able to connect to all networks you can think of? We hardly need more messaging protocols and apps.