I’m liking the recent posts about switching to Linux. Some of my home machines run Linux, and I ran it on my main laptop for years (currently on Win10, preparing to return to Linux again).

That’s all fine and dandy but at work I am forced to use Windows, Office, Teams, and all that. Not just because of corpo policies but also because of the apps we need to use.

Even if it weren’t for those applications, or those policies, or if Wine was a serious option, I would still need to work with hundreds of other people in a Windows world, live-sharing Excel and so on.

I’m guessing that most people here just accept it. We use what we want at home, and use what the bossman wants at work. Or we’re lucky to work in a shop that allows Linux. Right?

  • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    12 hours ago

    We are an MSP for small business. We have been a strict linux server environment for 10+ years.

    On the desktop side, we have a few clients running Linux mint desktops and laptops now. Mostly for 2nd line personel, or roles where only browsers are required. We run microsoft Edge Browser on those devices for Office 365 usage and because firefox based browsers are so hit and miss with business web apps these days. We have our RMM tool to manage configurations and run our own Rustdesk instance for remote support.

    The main impediment for larger adoption we see is still 3rd party app support. Desktop Excel being the primary one. Online Excel and LibreOffice is still not quite there in terms of some features for intermediate users. Whatsapp desktop app for voice calls with clients are also a major one in our country. Its a windows store app, which I have not been able to find a way to get connected to wine.

    What we need is a proton like project for business applications. Proton has likely already done half the work. Once Office and windows store apps installs work as smoothly as games under steam, adoption can start at a larger scale.

    The question is which company is going to make that investment. Canonical is too close to Microsoft and wont want to upset that relationship. And Red Hat always seems to be stuck in their own world. Other teams with the insight to tackle such a project, are probably too small, or do not have the financial backing or incentive for it.