You highlight the issue: Linux users like it to be fragmented. So unless Valve forces consolidation, it will stay a mess, and it will continue to repel average users. If that’s what we want, cool. Let’s just stop calling every year the year of Linux, because that will never be the case.

Anyone complaining that installing software in Linux is always complicated hasn’t installed software on Linux.

I didn’t complain it’s always complicated. I used a specific example of when it is complicated. Such examples happen to all Linux users from time to time, and I think we should be working to ensure users never ever, for any reason, ever need to bust out the CLI to install basic software. Maybe when SteamOS becomes more widespread devs will fall in line with whatever Valve has chosen as their preferred install method. Fingers crossed it’s flatpaks! Normies don’t want many methods to install software. They want one simple, reliable method, which works the same way every single time. And if we’re being honest, even power users would be happy with that. Just ask my fellow macOS devs :)

Now all we’re missing is the universal enforcement piece, which I think is non-trivial. It might take off organically but as per my example above, I’m not hopeful.

After a long career in software development I’ve learned one important thing: everyone is motivated by incentives. Developers don’t package their software on Linux as frequently because they’re not forced to, and because it’s a huge pain in the ass compared to macOS and Windows. I don’t blame the developers for this. I blame the OS. Torvalds was right: this won’t be fixed until Valve forces everyone to use the same libraries. Then it’s super easy for the Radarr devs to provide a single executable across all compatible distros.

I guess in an ideal world all the developers would voluntarily package their software well, but that’s just not reality and it will never be.

FYI latency is tiny. I can’t tell the difference. It works better with FPS over 50 though, because it obviously can’t improve latency, and it feels weird to have 30FPS latency with 60FPS.

nix-shell -p radarr

I don’t think this works on most distros. Even if it does, isn’t this only installing Radarr to a temporary shell? Either way, CLI should never be required to install software. Not if the intent is consumer software. You do appear to make the argument that it’s not consumer software, which is fair. It’s just different from a lot of other claims about it being consumer software. So you can forgive people for thinking it’s meant for regular people. We should definitely make that clearer.

The way I see it the biggest fragmentation is just users expecting things to work like windows, ie navigating to a website, downloading the software and running it.

Usually Linux users just search their package repo. If you want more bleeding edge software, youre expected to understand Debian/Ubuntu repos probably aren’t the place to go.

Like it or not, most users expect to be able to go to a website, download software, and click it to install. It is objectively more intuitive than using a command line, or having users go somewhere else to install software. I don’t see the sense in fighting against user preferences. Embrace it. Offer it. Give the users what they want. That’s how we grow Linux. There is no reason that “bleeding edge” software needs to be complicated to install and use.

And who’s at fault?

It’s not about blame. From a user’s perspective, it doesn’t matter who is to blame.

Yeah that’s just radarr devs not actually packaging the thing.

It’s not about blame. From a user’s perspective, it doesn’t matter who is to blame. The bottom line is that Linux is harder to use in a lot of scenarios. Torvalds was right: it’s going to take Valve to statically link everything and force developers to use the same libraries. Then it’s trivially easy for devs to maintain a .elf distribution which can be executed across all Valve-compliant Linux distros.

I agree with Linus Torvalds. Linux is too fragmented. This makes consistent software deployment and support expensive and far too varied. Maintaining documentation alone requires an unlimited number of distros. From a user’s perspective, I really think Linux needs a universal install method like .exe. No user should ever need to use the CLI install software, no matter their distribution. Radarr, for example, is a very popular home media server application. It is one-click install on Windows. It is fucked on Linux.

The average person does not mount network drives themselves.

NAS is incredibly common these days. Backing up data is mainstream now. Not 100% of laypeople use NAS, of course, but many.

I haven’t made the switch yet for the gaming PC because of Apex Legends, Fornite, and Valorant. Also, my Fanatec peripherals don’t work with Linux. Also, Nvidia frame gen doesn’t currently appear supported.

Yeah, if history has taught as nothing else, it’s that the guy with the biggest stick usually wins. There are many criticisms of the U.S. military, but no one could accuse it of being weak. That kind of deterrence is invaluable.