THE VIDEO SHELF · linux desktop packaging
Linus Torvalds on why desktop Linux sucks
Excerpts from Linus Torvalds's DebConf 14 talk on why desktop Linux struggles. He covers application distribution, distros breaking backwards compatibility, wasted package management effort and how Windows does app distribution better.
Why HN readers recommended it
Cited constantly in Flatpak, packaging and ABI-compatibility debates as Linus's blunt, insightful take on shipping software for Linux.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- gentooman
- Topic
- linux desktop packaging
- Format
- talk
- Level
- intermediate
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 5
- HN mentions in dataset
- 20
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2021–2026
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
I think Linus really hits the nail on the head here. It's the fact that core libs, like glibc, are CONSTANTLY changing their ABI making it damn near impossible to ship a binary from one version of the platform to the next [VIDEO] . You …
cogman10 on Hacker News · 2021-05
In Rust Is a Wave of the FutureLinus recently said something that left me thinking that Linux on the desktop has much deeper problems that need to be addressed before it's worth even thinking about the fine details of GUI toolkits. [VIDEO]
mumblemumble on Hacker News · 2021-07
In Are we GUI Yet? The state of building user interfaces in RustI remember a Linus Torvalds video on this exact problem. I found it both blunt at insightful: Linus Torvalds on why desktop Linux sucks : [VIDEO]
KiranRao0 on Hacker News · 2021-08
In AMD and Valve Working on New Linux CPU Performance Scaling Design
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.