• Just wait, de-clouding isn't the end of it. (Score:5, Insightful)

  by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) writes:

  One day, managers will realize that if you have to hire IT people, there's no difference between Linux and Windows in terms of 'knowing it' because you hire people who already do.

  One day, managers will realize that a Linux desktop is good enough, and no, you don't really need all those extra things shoved into Windows that Microsoft changes every few years anyway. 99% of what goes on at the desktop level these days is checking email, instant messaging, and maybe very basic MS Office suite. A lot of busine
  • Re: (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward writes:

    The reality is the OS and 365 subscriptions are rounding errors in the cost of managing a fleet of desktops. The cost of training users alone surpasses those costs in any significant change. This doesn't mean Linux desktop isn't viable, but clueless linux zealots that push it as a money saver will get laughed out of the building as they have zero idea of where the real costs of a desktop are.
    • Re: (Score:5, Interesting)

      by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) writes:

      Why windows over Linux in many business environments?

      2 reasons:
      1) most staff already know windows. Yes, this is a chicken and egg problem for corporate desktop Linux. It is what it is.
      2) Microsoft Office. Specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint. People know how to use them and expect them to work as they do. Anything that varies won't be adopted. No one wants to learn a new app to get the functionality they already had.

      1 not reason:
      1) costs. The cost of the OS is already wrapped into the hardware. No o
      • Re: (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) writes:

        Every major Windows version change, I hear people complain about the desktop differences... and it seems to last until the next major change. Remember when the Ribbon became a thing?

        I run default Mint on a couple of computers in my home and my wife, who is almost completely computer illiterate, has no issues switching between it and Windows. We use Bluemail as an email client and sometimes the interface annoys her, but then so do Hotmail and Outlook. I know several companies that somehow manage to use a
        • Re: (Score:0)

          by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) writes:

          1) your wife is not the typical user. The typical user is more like the DMV person who I had to gently point out that "maybe if you hit enter..." to get her data entry app to go to the next screen when she was sitting there for 30 seconds doing nothing
          2) there is still no benefit for retraining everyone to Linux or to a free Office clone. None. Why should any IT Manager do this? It will confuse his users, require rewriting a ton of documentation and yield what positive result for his company? None.
          • Re:Just wait, de-clouding isn't the end of it. (Score:2)

            by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 ) writes: on Monday February 12, 2024 @12:00AM (#64233160)

            Using the DMV example, it makes me wonder why they got rid of the 3270 terminals. For a lot of things, especially forms that needed to be filled out, nothing beat those for being effective, as one winds up having to tab through all the fields anyway. Maybe some better handling of complex, hierarchical menus like finding a product, but overall, from what I've seen, moving to Web based terminals has made things closer than just going through fields.

            OS-wise, going from skeuomorphic UIs to flat-file with buttons and other stuff changing in each version (like the Start menu moving to the center), this adds zero to productivity, and even may require some employee training. What value do Windows upgrades give us (other than being dragged along due to the need for security updates?) Stuff like Credential Guard makes sense, as well as Windows Sandbox and WSL, but those could be added in over time, and are not something that require a major rev of the OS. Stuff like BitLocker has not fundamentally changed since Vista, other than the cryptographic algorithms evolving from a diffuser to AES-XTS.

            Productivity-wise, is there any benefit to a workplace by UI changes? From what I see, they are basically styles forced on us just so that graphic designers have something to do, and provide zero usability benefits. If one looks at MacOS, it has been running for over a decade with the Dock, and even though it went the route of flat icons, still functions almost identically to how it did when OS X came out. Does anyone gripe about macOS usability and demand Apple replace the Dock with a Start Menu? Not really. Similar with Linux, although in the Linux ecosystem, UIs are still evolving, where there are true usability gains in newer versions of some DEs.

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            • Re: (Score:2)

              by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) writes:

              There are essentially no productivity improvements with most windows U/I changes. Absolutely, I agree.

              My point is that there are far more things the same between versions than differences. Thus even if they do some stupid shit like move the start button that's easier for even the dumbest users to figure out than starting them over in a new UI/OS (which itself brings no user benefits).

              As far as DMV lady goes, I dunno man, it was Oakland in California. I assume the systems are the same across the state but
            • Re: (Score:2)

              by arglebargle_xiv ( 2212710 ) writes:

              When I worked at IBM they'd "updated" all their in-house forms and whatnot to use a Java GUI-based implementation. Everyone who could bypassed it and used the 3270 interface, which despite most likely being some COBOL thing from the 1960s just worked, I could submit things like expense forms or run a purchase order in a few minutes while it would take forever on the flaky GUI version, trying to figure out what was hidden where and clicking and scrolling through endless options, all the time hoping it didn'
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