Fortunately, there is no winning or losing. Any additional Linux users is good. And I think it is impossible there will be fewer.

>"Is it though? Wouldn't you rather have something that 90% of people find acceptable over something that only 50% are prepared to use?"

Hmm, that is a good point. But I don't think it is often a matter of people finding it acceptable as it is people being willing to actually make a change (not just the OS, but certain applications) and not give up immediately when things work differently. I mean, if Linux worked exactly like MS-Windows, I would *HATE* it :)

When informing new prospective Linux users, I list all the advantages but also always ask what they do with their computers and what their expectations are, so I can better steer them and give advice/prep... trying to set their expectations to be realistic so their experience will be good. This is especially important regarding the "key" applications they plan on using.

Mine was a black EEE 1000, I think. I still have it somewhere. Typing on that 90% keyboard was a bit odd, although it had a nice feel. Screen resolution was a problem, vertically, even then. But it was bright and had good contrast. The trackpad was so tiny! But that solid state disk was da bomb (even though the CPU was a dog). I never had any problems with WiFi.

Oh it was fun :)

>"In which case Linux should now have a huge market share since we've been through this with the Netbooks before."

"This ain't your Father's Linux", things have changed significantly since those days. (And yes, I know, I have been using it since it started. And yes, I owned the original Netbook as well, the EEE).

>"How could I sell Linux to a non-techie when before you can even install an app you have to choose a flatpak, an appimage or a system package, or a .deb file"

By steering them to a friendly distro like Mint, maybe? It will use native apps for most everything important. Non-techies will usually just browse the software installer and see what is available and install stuff from there. And it will work. And Mint is "store" and "SNAP"-free, so they won't encounter that mess.

>"These newbies will make some minor change to their desktop, and everything will blow up. And they will be counseled to tweak this or that, but it will fail. And they will say WTF?"

When did you last use a Linux desktop? 20 years ago?

>"To be clear I hope to be impressed, but this isn't news, testing the waters alone isn't a success."

Yes and no. It *is* a success if users are actually willing to understand they do have choices and Linux is one of them and then act on it. No doubt, some will not stay. But many will. 10 million trying Linux and only half staying is much better than 100,000 trying and 90% staying :)

I just hope they are trying something like Mint or Zorin or whatnot, and NOT a distro defaulting to Gnome!

I was shocked when my work friend, who has never used ANYTHING at home other than MS-Windows told me he was sick of one of his systems being slow as molasses and now "unsupported" and, on his own, found and downloaded and installed Zorin and likes it. He said it is now much faster than when it was new.

>"However, Linux desktop UI have been going off the deep end for years. I recently loaded Gnome"

Um, Linux doesn't have "a" "desktop UI". And Gnome is probably the worst in many people's opinion. I would never set up a new user with Gnome. It would likely be Mint running Cinnamon or MATE, or KDE. Linux has lots of choices for desktops, and most are quite nice.

Indeed. I have never cared about the "aesthetics" of a freaking smartphone. It is just a rectangle. Who cares? I just want what most people probably want- something fast, reliable, easy to use, and with great battery life at a decent price. "Thinning" a phone to death works against almost all those objectives.

Every phone I get goes into a thin black case, so I don't give a damn what the actual phone looks like, what the case is made of, how shiny the buttons are. I look at the screen. And even that is rare, because I use my ROUND smartwatch most of the time, anyway.

And yes, I still want my headphone jack and SD card back. Pretty soon there will probably be no USB port, no volume buttons, and no power button. We have seen how well having no physical controls works in cars...

I agree. I would only want the government involved if it came to taking action against parents for child abuse. And that might include allowing children unsupervised access to unrestricted internet-connected devices.

Missing the point still. Store age verification doesn't require disclosing WHO YOU ARE, only to check that you are at least 18/21. They don't have the right to record your personal information (if you are allowing them to do so, that is your own fault).

These online law schemes are disclosing WHO YOU ARE, making being anonymous impossible.

Again, those laws do not require they ID people, they require only an age check. They don't have the right to know WHO you are, only that you are at least 18/21. It cannot be used for tracking, unless you are dumb enough to allow them to scan/photo/capture other information, which you should never allow.

These online schemes are disclosing EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE. Your private info is disclosed and you can be tracked. That is the main problem.

>"In theory, an age-only verification without identity disclosure is possible."

In theory, yes. But that isn't what will happen

>"But it requires a trusted third party"

Right. But there is no such thing. And we shouldn't have to be carded at all, anyway.

>"None of our laws require businesses to 'card' people before they can enter bookstores and shopping malls."

This misses the point ENTIRELY.

They aren't "carding" people who go to their site, they are demanding POSITIVE ID of every person. They have no other method to simply confirm "18 or older" without knowing and recording and saving WHO THAT IS. Carding someone is looking ONLY at the birthdate or photo orientation to determine yes/no, without regard of the name, address, ID number, sex, or any other information.

>"Anyone under 18 must obtain parental consent for every app and in-app purchase they try to download -- from ebooks to email to entertainment."

That is EXACTLY what should happen, but not because the platforms do it, and force all adults to ID themselves, but because minors should not have unsupervised access to unrestricted, internet-connected devices. And that job is the parents'.

>"There is nothing more devastating for a family to assist to a loved one descent in Alzheimer hell."

Confirmed. I am going through this with my mom, now. Both her brothers already died horrible, drawn-out, emotionally-devastating deaths from Alzheimer's. I fear that any great discovery might be too late for her. And I suspect my turn is coming, eventually :(