Finding a Replacement for Desktop Linux

I love Linux.

Linux has been my primary desktop operating system for roughly 15 years. I’ve been reporting on, and editorializing about, Linux for almost that entire time. Heck, I dabbled in Linux-y-ness for a good decade prior to that.

For me — like many of you — Linux has been a reliable (mostly) and fun (mostly) computing companion. For a good, long time.

But what if… we don’t want to use Linux anymore?

What operating system could we move to for our desktops (and laptops)?

This isn’t a purely hypothetical exercise. Now, in 2021, many have grown concerned about the future of the projects, organizations, and companies that make up the Linux world — and, hence, about the future of Linux, itself.

Non-viable Linux Replacements

If we’re leaving Linux behind… that means Android and ChromeOS are getting left behind as well. Those are both sitting on top of Linux, after all.

And let’s assume that both Windows and macOS are also off the table. Because… Windows and macOS.

Plus… let’s only consider modern, currently supported operating systems. I, like so many of you, have a big soft spot for the operating systems of yesteryear. But, realistically, as fun and amazing as some of those systems (many from the 80s and 90s) are… they lack modern software (most notably, modern web browsers) that would make them truly viable Linux replacements. At least for most of us.

Let’s also leave FreeDOS out. As wonderful as it is, it doesn’t exactly have the modern web browsing that most people need.

Likewise, we’ll be leaving FreeBSD off the list. Their leadership outlawed “virtual hugs” and made all sorts of weird statements like that. Just plain odd. While those sorts of things are not directly related to the quality of the software, they don’t instil a great deal of confidence in the leadership and future of their platform.

There are quite a few modern, actively developed systems that do not have a viable, modern web browser. We’ll be ignoring those, for the moment as well.

Luckily there are a few viable contenders! In no particular order, here are the systems that I consider to be the best options for those looking to jump from the Linux ship.

OpenBSD

What if we want to leave Linux… but stick with a system that is, more or less, familiar? Going with an open source BSD based system could make sense!

We could certainly do a lot worse than OpenBSD. We can run many of the same desktop environments we’ve become used to on Linux (XFCE, GNOME, i3, and many others). Web browsers are mostly current — with Firefox, Chromium and many other options available.

It lacks many of the software packages available on Linux, and does not have direct Linux compatibility (having dropped the Linux compatibility layer many years back). Playing Steam games, for example, is straight out of the question.

Luckily there are plany of applications that have been ported over from Linux… just not everything we might have been used to.

Haiku

Haiku, being the open source reimplementation of BeOS, is a pretty different beast than Linux. Looks different. Feels different. Is different.

It, like all the other options we’re looking at, doesn’t give us binary compatibility with Linux software (meaning we can’t simply install a Linux application).

Luckily many major Linux projects have been ported over — including many of the KDE applications along with LibreOffice and tons of others. Likewise ther are a few browsers, in various states of development, that make using modern websites on Haiku pretty doable.

Plus a UNIX-y shell. So the experience will not be entirely foreign to any experienced Linux user. And the amazing speed and excellent design of Haiku certainly won’t make Linux users sad.

OpenIndiana

What about… Solaris? That’s some hardcore UNIX-y-ness right there.

After Solaris was abandoned it was released as open source (OpenSolaris).

Then OpenSolaris was abandoned and illumos was born to continue development.

Then OpenIndiana was created to take illumos and add on top of it.

In a sense, OpenIndiana is the modern, open source incarnation of Solaris. As such it will be quite comfortable to most Linux pro users. Heck, you can even run the MATE (read: GNOME 2) desktop environment, along with most popular Linux software packages and even a few browsers.

There’s certainly something cool about running workstation-class UNIX as your personal desktop…

ArcaOS

IBM’s OS/2 has been dead and burried (at least by IBM) for quite some time. But a small company called Arca Noae secured the rights to sell a version of OS/2 with significant patches, drivers, updates, and new software.

That includes multiple more modern web browsers that are quite capable of using the modern web.

I hesitated adding ArcaOS to this list, as the company behind it does not have full access to the original OS/2 source code from IBM — instead they rely on referse engineering portions and replacing others entirely. So it’s not 100% actively developed… but still supported and expanded upon.

ArcOS is the only option on this list that you need to pay for. Not a deal breaker (I’m not opposed to paying for things that make my life better), but worth noting for any Linux user who is used to getting everything for free (as in beer).

So… which to go with?

Honestly? These are four very different systems with very different software ecosystems aorund them. And they’ll all let you do your web browsing, and your office suite-ing. So, for most people, all of these are viable.

Personally… I’ve decided that I need to spend a little time with each of them. None are entirely new to me, but I haven’t truly evaluated these specific systems as full Linux replacements.

So, starting this week, I’ll be installing OpenBSD and attempting to use it as my primary system. How will it go? Will it be a confident replacement for my Linux desktop? Will it make me smile when I turn my computer on?

Let’s find out.