PC user: hey can i nuke windows and install a mainstream elf/linux distro (or your own)? microsoft: ofc, you just need a phd in software to workaround all the efi nasty blockades we did put in place _for you security ofc_, that with the help of hardware manufacturers. Go ahead, but don't fool yourself, we already got your money and since you are not the default install on any mass sold PCs, you'll stay at 0.00001% (scientifically insignificant).

Props to Dell on this front. I just installed Mint on a 2018 Latitude and it was easier than installing Windows. Everything just works including things like shortcut keys for volume and brightness. With what Valve is doing with proton and Linux gaming support, I'm as bullish as ever on the linux desktop.

Please dont recommand dell. They are easily bricked (for an average user). I use many model daily and a new 13' xps pro was bricked by... splitting the main partition in two. "Oh so the efi was borked and could no longer boot because it was choosing the wrong partition?" Nope the bios would NOT allow me to reach the F12 so I could boot to a usb drive or anything to fix this. I had to open the laptop then format the nvme drive (and they are not making it easy). Extremely dumb.

My not very technically apt parents have been using Manjaro with the RedmondXP theme for a few years, with much fewer problems than Windows.

2022 - Year of the Linux Desktop?

my anecdata. i have been running debian derivative on my machine for like years now and and only had to reinstall once because i fucked up a driver install.

last week i installed the same OS on an old machine for a relative, on a "fresh SSD" so no dual boot nonsense and it had problems right out of the box. Like memory leaks and printers wont install because apparently sane-devel cannot be found by HP install utility. Long story short, the printer is still not installed on that machine, it works but i had to install some alternate software like system monitors instead of supplied ones. Dunno, maybe that one was a dud but i definitely feel the pain points as are being described across the spectrum. the problem is, if i cannot set up the machine in say half an hour without any tinkering, that is a win and i expect someone else to follow the on-screen commands but we do have a lot to cover and that is not in a bad way. i am a full time linux user so i am a part of this community but its not prime-time ready yet. I have installed windows 7 thousands of times, it always works. unless there is a hardware issue, out of the box the system works. that is not true on our side.

i have to say it but the last years linus-linux challenge needs to be appreciated and we need to do more tests like these and keep fixing those small and big issues.

2022 was finally the year for me

> microsoft: ofc, you just need a phd in software to workaround all the efi nasty blockades we did put in

That's not a fair assessment. Linux used a whitelisted shim, which only included accepted entries in an easy-to-edit/hack EFI variable. Imagine writing your secret password on a normal VFAT partition that any OS can boot/read/change. This is the equivalent.

The proper way is to enroll the private keys with the bios, and sign the payloads yourself (or let your distribution handle that), which is way more secure and can be automatized if you select the custom secureboot.

> The proper way is to enroll the private keys with the bios

But a method of doing that wasn't included in the UEFI standard for obvious Microsoft reasons, so few vendors support it and those that do usually don't do it correctly, let alone in a standardised way.

Seems fair to me when your alternatives are install a signing key (for your Linux os) yourself to the EFI, disable secure boot, or allow MS to be the gatekeeper of what software can run on your PC, including the distro getting itself OK'd by MS with their separate OS key that might or might not be included by the OEM.

Happy to be corrected if things have changed since the last time I looked at things.

> The proper way is to enroll the private keys with the bios

Not always possible. Depends on firmware support and we all know how shitty proprietary firmware can be.

I have yet to see a firmware that doesn't allow me to enroll private keys. It's a basic UEFI features, and IIRC Microsoft requires that to be possible for intel hardware: if you don't, no Windows.

When you control the keys, SecureBoot is a good thing at least as good as encryption!

There are things that are fair to complain about, but on this, I don't see how Microsoft or anyone could have done any better to be playing nice with Linux while helping customers.

> I have yet to see a firmware that doesn't allow me to enroll private keys.

I have computers that don't have this feature.

> When you control the keys, SecureBoot is a good thing at least as good as encryption!

I agree. It's all about who owns the keys to the machine. If we do, then it's all good.

Except if you count Android and servers, then Linux is the most deployed system in the world.