Windows going full cloud? Thank you Linux!

[xlbooyahlx]

Just read this article about windows moving towards cloud based computing and subscriptions.
I'm so thankful for ALL the people everywhere that help make Linux a viable alternative (including this forum).
Link below, and I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, so if it belongs someplace else feel free to move it.
Microsoft's Cloud ambitions

 

[Terminal Velocity]

If MS goes cloud computing maybe the future computers be designed as clients in the cloud and we will not be able to find hardware to run Linux on

just a bad thought

 

[xlbooyahlx]

If MS goes cloud computing maybe the future computers be designed as clients in the cloud and we will not be able to find hardware to run Linux on

just a bad thought

You know the saying that Linux will run on just about any hardware?
So if/when that scenario happens, I'll be long dead and gone lol

 

[The Duck]

No reason to flipout and panic before it happens unless you're a Windows user and if not a Windows user nothing to worry about.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

No reason to flipout and panic before it happens unless you're a Windows user and if not a Windows user nothing to worry about.

I'm not sure I saw anyone "flipping out'.
However I did see a couple of comments

 

[The Duck]

If MS goes cloud computing maybe the future computers be designed as clients in the cloud and we will not be able to find hardware to run Linux on

just a bad thought

No there would be computers that could be purchased from the Linux computer manufacturers.

System76 - Linux Laptops, Desktops, and Servers

System76 computers empower the world's curious and capable makers of tomorrow

system76.com

TUXEDO Computers

Linux Hardware, Notebooks, Computer und mehr. Individuell in Deutschland gefertigt, vollständig Linux tauglich, Windows natürlich auch

www.tuxedocomputers.com

And others I imagine.

 

[The Duck]

I'm not sure I saw anyone "flipping out'.
However I did see a couple of comments

I have.
I know some Windows user's who ask me what I knew about Windows going to a cloud base subscription.
They seemed overly worried and overly concerned you know "The Sky Is Falling" types.

 

[KGIII]

Everything old is new again.

'Member dumb terminals?

'Member thin clients?

Quite a large segment of the population isn't going to mind this, so long as it's reasonably transparent.

Heck, we've reached the point where a browser is darned near an operating system of its own. This won't work for me (unless some stupid company runs fiber anywhere near me) but it'll work for a giant chunk of the people in the more developed areas.

 

[The Duck]

How many Chrome Books already being used in schools and other learning facilities not to mention the home user base.
Some of the Linux distros I've looked into have "WebApps" capabilities which I believe would be the same as Cloud base.
I can see Linux going Cloud base or at least Ubuntu going Cloud base.

 

[KGIII]

I can see Linux going Cloud base or at least Ubuntu going Cloud base.

I regularly use Linux in the cloud and remotely on my own network - both via the terminal and with a GUI. I have two VPS instances that happily have a desktop environment and will remotely log into those servers and do things via remote. I can do that even on my lousy network.

 

[camtaf]

If MS goes cloud computing maybe the future computers be designed as clients in the cloud and we will not be able to find hardware to run Linux on

just a bad thought

If that is the case, I'm sure someone would set up a Linux alternative for their machines to log into.....

There's nothing wrong with using thin clients with Linux, PXE booting, or having a local installation, I use some as desktop computers, just put the O/S onto them, & use USB drives for storage.

 

[sphen]

Everything old is new again.

'Member dumb terminals?

'Member thin clients?

Quite a large segment of the population isn't going to mind this, so long as it's reasonably transparent.

Heck, we've reached the point where a browser is darned near an operating system of its own. This won't work for me (unless some stupid company runs fiber anywhere near me) but it'll work for a giant chunk of the people in the more developed areas.

I do. We lived through hell because of DecStations all booting from a common VAX server. Yes, a long time ago. When the building lost power, all of the workstations rebooted. They hammered the poor VAX server into thrashing as they all attempted to reboot at the same time.

The IT guys knew to go to every workstation in the building (four floors) and shut them all down one by one, which eventually stopped the thrashing. Then they would go one workstation at a time and start it up, never more than one or two at a time so they would not drive the server into thrashing. The restart took four hours. If the power failure happened in the morning, they told everyone to come back after lunch. If the power failure happened in the afternoon, they sent everyone home. Everyone included 150 developers, systems engineers, test engineers, documentation team, management, various specialized groups, and much more. DEC really let us down on that one. They let us down even more later and eventually we dumped DEC entirely.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

I regularly use Linux in the cloud and remotely on my own network - both via the terminal and with a GUI. I have two VPS instances that happily have a desktop environment and will remotely log into those servers and do things via remote. I can do that even on my lousy network

That's more than a little different than logging into cloud based computing from what is essentially a dummy terminal

 

[KGIII]

DecStations

LOL

For the record, I'm a pretty huge DEC fanboy. I don't really use them for anything, but I have a couple of old bits of DEC hardware in my basement, in what I call my lab. Most folks don't remember DEC so I never get to bring up my DEC-love.

They helped sponsor my research and even provided me with enough kit to get my business going. The latter was scrounged from what they left me when I hit the pavement and the rest was comfortably financed.

So, I'm biased - but they did make some good stuff.

They let us down even more later and eventually we dumped DEC entirely.

I stuck with 'em until Compaq took over the reins and when we replaced hardware after that we bought a lot from Sun Microsystems.

When the building lost power, all of the workstations rebooted.

This is why you have battery and/or generator backup so that you can gracefully shut down the system. I'm not sure that the computers failed you any more than your managers failed you. Power redundancy was a thing even back then. If the power was out for x-amount of time, you executed a graceful shutdown. Then, if the mains power came back on within that window, you'd still wait for the Hz cycles to match the grid frequency.

I gotta imagine that it's easier for today's tech workers in many regards.

Ah well...

I should get a DEC logo tattoo.

They were just a ~45 minute drive from where I went to school at the time. Without them, I'd not be where I am today. Well, I might not be where I am today.

 

[KGIII]

That's more than a little different than logging into cloud based computing from what is essentially a dummy terminal

Oh, by all means, but it's similar enough for this exercise. My computer is more like a dumb terminal at that point - indeed potentially using TTY at times.

I really do think many, many people won't mind. In fact, they might prefer it over maintaining their own computer, securing their own computer, etc... I could also see this being big in the corporate world where things like thin clients still exist.

So long as it's reasonably transparent, I could see folks using it out of choice.

They already do Office 360. They already do Google Cloud stuff like Docs and Sheets.

The masses have spoken, and they are computer illiterate - and willing to cede control for convenience.

And they outnumber us, by a very wide margin.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

And already in place for Business and Enterprise.
Next jump is for home use.

 

[KGIII]

Next jump is for home use.

Yup. Also, I goofed. It's 365, not 360. I don't keep up with MSFT all that much.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

The masses have spoken, and they are computer illiterate - and willing to cede control for convenience.

And they outnumber us, by a very wide margin.

Please do NOT get me going on the masses of todays world as we know it LOL

 

[xlbooyahlx]

At $31.00 a month for the lowest cloud based plan ($372.00 usd annually), that's already over double what they're currently getting for a full Win 11 home license.
It's ALL about the $$.

 

[KGIII]

It's ALL about the $$.

Well, yeah... LOL I'd say welcome to capitalism but I'm sure you already know the deal.

As far as business software goes, and licensing agreements, that's a drop in the bucket - plus accountants love stuff that can be billed monthly. They will knowingly pay more for something monthly than pay less for a yearly or permanent thing. It's all being written off as a business expense anyway.

Hmm...

Corporations often replace their computers fairly regularly. I wonder how these costs stack up against that? I am assuming this means they could keep their existing computers longer. It may come out to be cheaper in the long run, especially if they can go with just a bunch of thin clients.

I am not advocating doing this, I'm just mulling over the logistics.