GNU/Linux will never dominate the desktop market

Loved by many unknown by most the GNU/Linux operating system is held in high regard among a certain subset of tech nerds. The OS has been available to the public since the early 90's. Despite its revolutionary copyleft licenses, tech savvy userbase, questionable board of directors over at the Linux foundation (something that almost every successful company needs) GNU/Linux to this day struggles to have an impact in the desktop market which is dominated by Microsoft and to a lesser extent Apple.

Why is the desktop market important?

One can argue that majority of the people who use computers in this day and age are smartphone users. We can call Android a modified version of GNU/Linux (even though some GNU/Linux purists cringe at that fact), that is still irrelevant. Smartphones, tablets, any sort of computer gadget you can think of was most likely built using a desktop. If you want to write an OS from scratch or make a fancy looking document using LaTeX, you will do it on a desktop, any sort of serious work is done on a desktop.

What did Microsoft and Apple do right?

Unlike GNU/Linux, both Windows and Mac computers have proprietary licenses. Not only that, they are also "smart people" proof which means that you are not able to look at the source code and modify the OS to your liking. For example you can't rip out the kernel from a Windows desktop and replace it with something else. Obscuring the functionality of the system and straight up denying access to more curious users has bode well for both of those companies. Freedom is not profitable.

Will GNU/Linux ever dominate the desktop market?

No, I don't see it happening at all. Unless we go back to the early days of the internet where the majority of desktop users were computer nerds and the hacker culture is seen as "cool" and "underground", it is higly unlikely. The "cool" "new" thing are smartphones and short form content which is increasing computer illiteracy and decreasing people's attention span.

Something to ponder over

Personal computers will drastically decrease in quality over the years to the point where they will become unusable. They will be considered as "lost tech" by future generations, a relic of the past and a testament of how forgetful we are as a species.

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