Day-to-Day Linux - Endless Support?

Recently some friends and I discussed the likelihood of Linux being used by "regular" (non-technical) people. It's low, but it could be higher with a small push to entry.

That push would be either:

• More OEMs having Linux preinstalled
• More regular people having an interest in using a non-Microsoft-or-Apple OS to the point of wanting to try installing a Linux distribution (the choice of which is another oversaturated blog post in itself) and then potentially reinstalling Windows or MacOS
• More technical people being willing to help

I think the first two options are highly unlikely, and the third is just unlikely: a lot of technical people like to do things because they can, but don't want to commit to providing free support forever. Valid concern - or is it?

Fedora, with its frequent feature updates, has been my daily driver for more than a year at this point: all issues I have had (not really that many) have been a resut of going well beyond the "normal" use of, I think, the majority of people in 2024. That normal use is mainly web browsing and text editing. Probably not even the latter now.

It is easily conceivable that for a lot of users who would be typically only performing browser-based tasks (checking email and social media, watching YouTube videos) a simple, stable, auto-updating (but not in an annoying way) Linux distribution would be more than sufficient. For the "technical" friend: set (up) and forget.

Not so long ago, my aunt got a new Windows Home machine and had to go through the arduous process of creating a Microsoft account just to set up the computer (a process that still needed assistance), leaving her with yet another account to remember. Letting her set a password without needing to worry if that was also for an email account or might cause some files to (re/dis)appear at some point in the future, and then just getting on with her browsing would have been so much easier*.

There is definitely a bell curve of users: at either end are people who Linux is suitable for. The previously-described browser-only users and the technical "let's see what happens" users sandwich those who do more than just browsing, but don't want to worry about things going wrong at all. That middle section could be getting smaller; squeezed by enshitification, planned obsolescence, and forced updates. Not to mention largely-ignored privacy issues. Maybe all three are one and the same anyway.

Not letting themselves be forgotten are the PC gamers. The cries of "needing" to use Windows are still significant, but have been lessened, largely due, one imagines, to the stides forward made by the Arch-based Steamdeck and the Apple Silicon Asahi Linux distribution. Progress marches forward.

So, the next time I have the opportunity to influence the OS choice of friends and family, I will encourage a Linux distribution. The year of the Linux Desktop will come in my lifetime.

*My aunt is still using Windows due to one damned application that gets frequent use and has done for more than 20 years.