There isn't a desktop any more, we might as well be trying to make Linux for the mini computer if you're chasing the desktop market.

I was meaning consumer-targeted-computers (which includes laptops).

That's a meme propagated by the news, but I'm pretty sure the desktop is still a thing.

...where?

No joke. I seriously don't see desktops running rich applications around anywhere, except the mini-computer / workstation use case.

Generally people are running a glorified thin terminal with a browser or putty connection to a dosbox app. People who actually do things on their own computers generally run laptops now. The exceptions are people who do demanding work loads, and they run workstations that can handle it--more like the mini-computer than the traditional office desktop.

There are public computer terminals in libraries and such, but the only reasons these are not laptops are theft prevention and the need for a large screen, keyboard and mouse.

Laptops run desktop operating systems, and that's what pcr910303 was talking about.

Plus "putty connection to a dosbox app"? I have never heard of anyone doing that, and don't understand why they would. Or maybe you don't mean "dosbox" [1], but "console"/"terminal"?

[1] https://www.dosbox.com

Laptops aren't computers any more, they are thin clients connected a mainframe somewhere. That we call them laptops and the cloud doesn't change the use case.

I think you are almost completely wrong here. I have hundreds of students, most of whom have a laptop running a desktop OS. Practically all of them run normal desktop apps.

I mean dosbox. Look behind the counter next time you're with a human bank teller or checking in at the airport. You'll find a screen running telnet connected to an instance of dosbox running on some central server.

Bank tellers make up an absolutely tiny proportion of desktop OS users, most of whom run normal desktop apps. I have seen tellers connect to terminal apps running on a server, though, so I know what you mean.

Walk into any random company, there will be many desktops. Sure, some applications are web applications, but they will typically also use Microsoft Office and a smattering of more niche applications. We happen to live across an office tower. People sit and work behind desktops.

Interesting. The offices in the part of the world where I live generally consist of flat surfaces where employees place their company-provided laptops.

The exception is things like receptionists, or other areas where multiple employees share a common terminal. But as mentioned before, those computers are basically used as stationary, large-screen browsers or thin clients for cloud applications. Email? Excel? It's been a decade since I've seen people doing that on desktops in office environments.

Even electrical/mechanical engineering workstations are primarily laptops now. There are some desktops, but the majority are higher-spec laptops.

Obviously laptops count as desktops for the purpose of this discussion, since we are talking about desktop operating systems, which is what laptops run.

This sub thread is about the desktop form factor.

I have not seen a desktop in a corporate environment in over a decade now.