HOWTO-MAKE-GNU-LINUX-WIN-THE-DESKTOP-OS-WARS.md

HOWTO-MAKE-GNU-LINUX-WIN-THE-DESKTOP-OS-WARS.md

(or at least earn a mass adoption of (& thus regular daily use) a desktop/laptop dual-booting or multi-booting scenario together with MS Windows 7/8.1/10+ and macOS and Google Android and {some other OS}...) :P

by https://github.com/sahwar/Bulogos/

1. Continue making the kernel.org Linux baseline kernel as stable and well-maintained as possible, including as much backwards-compatibility & forwards-compatibility as possible, and support for the 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x branches apart from the current 5.x+ branch. Continue adding support for more hardware/firmware & improving said support; support infrastructure to build Linux kernels as per distro requirements, kernel flags (e.g. RT_PREEMPTIVE, etc.), LFS micro-sized kernels for older hardware and for low-tech & embedded devices; keep speed, performance, and power use to a minimum, ensure mostly-stable Linux kernel, with few major problems which are being continuously being worked around or solved without affecting or creating other further problems... Avoid feature bloat in the Linux kernel except for hardware/firmware drivers support; maintain mostly clean & well-documented code in the Linux kernel. Prepare backup plans for assuming capable/qualified&caring new leadership in case of retirement of the current major contributors to the Linux kernel. Try to rethink long-term & adjust accordingly.
2. Continue to improve & make rock-solid stable all possible X.org/Galeon/Wayland/etc. desktop environments & make them adopt customizations & looks & UX & accessibility-features/assistive-apps-for-disabled similar to that of MS Windows XP/7/8.1/10+ and of macOS, etc.; support the downloading & installation of older ones (older Linux kernels, KDE3, gnome2/MATE, etc.)
3. How to earn money from GNU/Linux & F(L)OSS: a) donations b) paid commercial support via online IMs, by email, by snail-mail, and by visit on the spot (if possible & affordable):

• mainstream selling of laptops, etc. pre-installed with a recent stable [rolling] Linux distro shipped with the best curated killer apps & documentation manuals in multiple languages pre-installed as part of the base package (stable sturdy products similar to ThinkPad X60/X200T/X201T/X220T, X230T, T400, T440, and Microsoft SurfaceBook Pro 2+, Wacom digitizers, etc.)
• general tech support (IT department)
• hardware support & consulations
• software support: Linux/HURD/etc. kernel support (including bug reports, feature requests, kernel build flags, computer-programmers fixing your problem and/or providing paid online support, etc.)
• software support: application software & bug fixes, feature requests, etc.
• paid localization, internationalization, and translation services (apart from the free, volunteer one, that is being done in Weblate/etc. self-hosted software-localization platforms (that MUST provide p2p&HTTP backup mirrors!!!), etc.) - writing/translating tech manuals, edutainment HowTo videos, translating application software & kernel/OS internals & etc
• hardware maintenance & data backup & data recovery services
• firmware updates/installation & paid making of OS&computer-periphery drivers/firmware & bugfixes for drivers/firmware
• selling of CDs/DVDs/USB-flashsticks pre-installed with a live installable 32-bit x86/64-bit x86/ARM/etc. GNU/Linux distro(s), including multiple Linux distros in 1 physical media
• selling GNU/Linux & F(L)OSS & computer science & programming -themed products: t-shirts, hats, hoodies, pants, etc. clothes/apparel, tote bags, travel gear, mountain gear, kitchen utensils (cups, etc.) & print (or PDF / ebook) tech manuals & reference guides & textbooks, etc.
• etc.
• paid writing/programming of custom software per client's project needs...
• paid support for RHEL, CentOS, Debian, etc. commercial web-hosting services in collocation/CDN data centers (the primary current use of Linux apart from being the backbone of the Google Android OS for mobile devices like smartphones, phablets, tablets, retro-gaming consoles, and RaspberryPi-like hobbyist/enthusiast hardware dev-kits for thinkering & hardware experimentation & learning basic programming with the aid of lecturers & books & googling/web-searching & textbooks & niche manuals...)
• produce (via Scribus+GIMP+Krita+paint.net+etc. and/or via Adobe InDesign+Adobe Reader DC (+file-attachment dialog-button hack/trick! ..., or via .md2pdf, or via HTML5+CSSv3+JavaScriptV6+-2-pdf, etc.) tech magazines (and informational leaflets, flyers, posters, etc.) & sell (and/or barter) offline greyscale/color print copies of said Linux/F(L)OSS gonzo magazines... Example: http://dl.fullcirclemagazine.org/issue65_en.pdf ...
• think of something new, or adopt/remix ideas from others...
• ... ??? c) selling of mostly-freed & FSF RYF open hardware devices & hardware spare parts, including the percloud concept with its hardware+software boxes like Debian's FreedomBox, for making an open free decentralized distributed P2P-powered private/personal mini-Internet/LAN/WAN linked to the main Internet & thus resistant to the censorship/automated-Internet-filtering&data-deletion/censorship/editing of the big corporations (Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Baidu, vk.com, etc.) & IANA & ARPANET-US-backbone-of-the-Internet & Russia's Internet2 (RuNet2), and China's censoring (except via paid VPNs..) Great Internet Firewall of China, i.e. resilient to the Balkanization & walled-gardens & proprietarization of the Internet on geographical/country/government+BigCorp basis...). d) paid installation of mass hardware, software, OSs, drivers, firmware, killer apps, and cuatomization/configuration e) web-hosting services f) ISP (Internet access) services & ISP Internet-cabling-network-building& maintenance services g) selling of retro consoles, modern remakes of retro consoles, cables, spare parts, etc. h) selling of computer-maintenance kits & amateur/hobbyist computer boards and small computers & laptop/smartphone/tablet/phablet/UPS batteries/accessories/spare parts, etc. i) bartering (with or without paying some cash in addition) & ??? j) etc. ???

4. Graphics/Visual transitions seem glitchy & have noticeable bad visual lag & 'dropped frames & millisecond-long black bars & frame-drawing & overlay glitches' on Linux under X.org desktop environments - make them crisper, way way way more responsive, ICC color profiles support, improved graphics drivers for all X.org/Wayland/etc. desktop-environments, including multiple monitor/keyboard/mouse/joystick/webcam/graphics-tablet/etc. support!!! This is extremely crucial for Linux to compare well with MS Windows 7/8.1/10's DirectX & Direct3D (for gaming & playback), and with OpenGL 3+, SDL, etc.!!! This also means: near-perfect CPU & GPU support & proper customizable CPU-&GPU-based hardware acceleration (especially for 2D&3D graphics/visuals speedy-responsive drawing/rendering/playback)!!! Improve support for compatibility with MS Windows, macOS, Google Android, SailfishOS, etc.
5. Keep F(L)OSS afloat by daily/weekly/monthly/etc. microdonations - see e.g. how Linux Mint is mostly crowdfunded.
6. Keep popularizing GNU/Linux & F(L)OSS despite flame wars & personal in-fights!
7. CRUCIAL, MOST IMPORTANT: Ship curated lists of the best, most stable killer apps into Linux distros, as well as provide hosted repositories to install the latest bleeding-edge apps, kernel updates, firmware, drivere, desktop customizations, etc. Also allow user repositories like Fedora COPR AppImages, Ubuntu LaunchPad.net PPAs, Arch Linux AUR packages, self-hosted & GitHub/GitLab/Gitea git repos, etc.; Distribute well-tested, stable versions (&older releases, too) of application software (especially killer apps) in a self-contained encapsulated file that works across multiple Linux distros & is easy to install/uninstall & troubleshoot, etc.!!! com & GitLab.org & Gitea & etc. git repos, etc.
8. CRUCIAL: Maintain a lot of kernel & Linux distros software-downloading mirrors, including P2P-based ones, including older versions & tech manuals & HowTo guides! Keep the diversity&versatility of Linux distros alive!!!
9. CRUCIAL: Make F(L)OSS good for app dev (software engineering), gamedev (even for (new) paid commercial AAA titles), webdev, webhosting, etc.
10. Socialize, IRL networking & co-working, crowdfund, make connections & work and profit together with others in the same field and [cooperate] across fields!!!
11. Maintain download mirrors for old, obsolete Linux distros & old-apps.com-like older apps!!! Maintain P2P (.torrent/MHT/magnet-links trackers&web-search-engines-webcrawlers, DC++/ADC hubs, XDCC IRC downloads, LDAPs&WebDAVs& https://github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs , wikis, version-controlled FTP/HTTP(S) Public File Servers, .meta4/.metalinks, Onion hyperlinks, etc. ...) file-sharing mirrors/hubs/repos & gonzo/citizen-journalism-enabling software (see also perclouds & decentralized distributed Internet below)! + perclouds & https://bazil.org/ distributed file-system...
12. Decentralize the Intetnet & make the percloud distributer-network & OwnCloud-like devices ubiquitous, improve P2P tech & utilise it to the max&popularize it ('sharing is caring & is sorta like social credit!'), while staying away from excessive transhumanism, vendor lockdowns, walled gardens, patent trolls, disruptive/emerging tech, and political abuse of high-tech for crowd-control/-manipulation, etc. ... Make regular rsynch&etc. backups of crucial personal data to other devices & ensure systems are kept operational and in good working order, and that data migration of crucial files is executed in a timely basis!!!
13. Keep the new more decentralized Internet free & open for everyone, while encouraging a minimum hygiene of online etiquette...
14. Make sure to kiss the asses of F(O)SS gurus/icons & tech gurus for saving your ass, & donate/help to support their amazing work! And go do home-fitness, you lazy bum ass, you can't pour from an empty cup (=you can't take care of wife&own kids, and of coworkers, unless your health is also very good & you are very fit physically!!!) Also: find new, niche ways to use&utilize&profit from software & hardware to solve and/or alleviate IRL human problems.
15. Have fun while working/living/playing! P.S. Ensure that hardware recycling (&software reuse & idea remixing&adaptation) gets going and that physical resources & industrial 'means of production/processing' are utilized better, while providing minimum social-care social policies to the most disadvantaged without outright putting them in undeserved luxury or 'rainfall of money that they can't [yet] handle with enough care&conscientiousness' situations... Yeah, stuff like that.
16. Have graceful-degradation & last-resort backup plans in case of single-point-of-failure hardware & software infrastructure fails, etc. ... REMEMBER: 'Improvise, adapt, overcome... [and entropy is a bitch while some minimum personal selfishness is unavoidable & bio-instincts are forever!'] —Bear Grylls (17. Create a stable yet lightweight tmux-like virtualization app to simultaneously run several operating systems in a single tiled window (with shared multi-clipboard & I/O streams & extended-monitor-like seamless mouse-cursor & keyboard-typing switching between the tiled subwindows; also work on making a stable&well-supported 32-bit, 64-bit, and ARMv5–v9+ coLinux distro that makes GNU/Linux work on top of MS Windows (the reverse of the MS Windows 10 LSFW (Linux subsystem for Windows). Keep working on making a stable & well-supported Wine-staging/PlayOnLinux/CrossOver and VirtualBox-virtualization & Valve Proton for SteamOS Linux & also Linux-compatible drivers (computer periphery & hardeare firmware hacking) from MS Windows; support a well-maintained & full-featured Linux-libre kernel & also FSF RYF (&similar) freed/open hardware (e.g. http://puri.sm ( https://puri.sm/products/librem-13/ ), http://system76.org ( https://system76.com/laptops/galago ), http://ryf.fsf.org / http://h-node.org, http://starlabs.systems, Linux-powered 2nd-hand ThinkPad's from http://ebay.com & http://ebay-kleinanzeigen.de & http://olx.bg & http://bazar.bg & Facebook shopping groups & https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-t-series/c/thinkpadt , RaspberryPi-like retro-consoles, RaspberryPie, http://pine64.org, http://olimex.bg, ; http://itsfoss.com, etc.; support systemd-free distros like Devuan (Debian fork), and support libreboot & coreboot & running Linux on top of SecureBoot & UEFI/BIOS!!!)
17. ADVERTISE GNU/Linux & F(L)OSS SMART but a lot & but don't do it too harshly obtrusively! (19. Greatly improve & make stable storage filesystems for (GNU/)Linux: XFS, ZFS, ext4, BTFS (+Windows7+ NTFS file-system virtual volumes/partitions as an intermediary for sharing data between Linux and MS Windows7+), etc.; these could borrow some ideas from other filesystems, e.g. NTFS's MFT, USN Journal indexing, etc. as used in the voidtools.net Search Everything app & in its Linux-compatible 'clone' for Linux -- FSearch, etc. This includes data deduplication, metadata, extra kernel/fs/boot flags, app sandboxing, encryption&decryption IT-security features, software-&hardware-based acceleration & hardware/OS virtualization, custom block sizes & built-in binary/hex/ASCII/machine-code viewer-editor (?), ShadowCopy, self-healing capability & data-recovery based on rainbow tables&Markov chains&file-header metadata&checksums, HW/SW datetime synching&timestamping via GUUID integer number given to each file, machine-readable&human-readable Error Codes&numbering, and built-in recovery console & built-in documentation (+pluggable localizations/translations of said documentation), and most importantly - built-in filesystem data recovery&file-restoring tools like fsck (ext4) & sfc.exe and chkdsk (MS Windows NTFS), support for using various compression/decompression algorithms/containers, enabling/disabling data-caching on HDDs/SSDs (there is an obscurely placed settings checkbox for this in MS Windows 7+?), and long-term data integrity, as well as RAID-like&rsync-like&files-searching/files-indexing filesystem features... I really hated having cases of data corruption & data loss due to some obscure I/O errors & other obscure mindboggling problems/errors in older HDDs that used ext4 and NTFS). (20. This is too radical but still worth a mention: improve X11/Wayland/etc. for smoother graphics (especially frame transitions & visual lag/glitches & redrawing visual glitches...) and maybe add a special kernal flag for utilizing a user-titled folder in the standard Linux FHS like it is used for per-app-dirs in https://gobolinux.org/k5.html and is sorta used for sandboxing apps like in AppImages & snapd files, etc.; FUSE is amazing and so are Linux kernel capabilities & app-sandboxing & encapsulation of all dependencies of a given killer app within one compressed master file. (21. Remember the technobabble English-only texts when a Linux distro boots (is loading)? Integrate a tmux-like terminal-multiplexer feature in the kernel that enables horizontally-synched several (e.g. 2) tiled console windows so that you can e.g. read the original English text strings while also viewing an interactive localized version of these strings and also having a 3rd tiled panel with a micro-web-browser/file-browser that is used for online troubleshooting hunts & for reading/submitting bug reports; we are also in a desperate need of git-version-controlled man pages as well as utilizing contemporary CLI tools that greatly expand on the functionality of man and also serve as meta-searchers&regex-like integrative info data-scrapers; i.e. we need man to have version-controlled LC (locale) flag so as to load an original English man page in parallel next to a (fully or partially) localized version of the same in some other language... This also includes meta-packages with localized commands via alias key—value lists, and can even be expanded to provide function-expansion translations on-the-fly (with the English original being also shown e.g. translucent) of the keywords used in source files written in some programming language!!!).
18. If there is an web(-based) version (WebUI) of a proprietary app, use that instead of installing the proprietary app to your local computer.
19. So as to alleviate the burden of Debian Linux's 'nonfree' repositories branch, and to please http://stallman.org's concern over proprietary apps doing all sorts of nasty things or even being spyware or worse malware, it is now time to create a universal GUI/CLI/WebUI app (also accessible via ssh, VNC, RDP, NX, TeamViewer, etc.) for (GNU/)Linux, UNIXes, *NIX, and for mac OS and for MS Windows and Google Android and iOS, whose function is to be an isolating atomic+version-controlled sandboxing jail-box environment for securely loading and running proprietary apps as a stand-alone separate system PID process, which throws GUI-warning-windows and CLI-diagnostics dumps every time that it is detected at trying to call OS system calls or to do networking file(s) upload/download/pinging or to do spyware keylogging&screencasting or every time it tries to interact with peripheral devices, including webcams and connected smart devices or phones, etc. This will be the equivalent of a lightweight mix of QEMU, VirtualBox, Docker, Kubernetes, and http://linuxcontainers.org . It may even be implemented as a FUSE or as a OS-user-password-requiring Linux kernel module.
20. CRUCIAL: Organize events to promote F(L)OSS and open-hardware and to sell copies of these on physical media, and also to sell downloads of these so as to pay webhosting costs for hosting these files on the Internet; make these files available on p2p filesharing platforms and technologies, and even via DWeb / Web3.0 like http://metalinker.org and https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs and even for hardware-copies of crucial files onto storage vaults like the https://archiveprogram.github.com/ .
21. Adopt best practices from proprietary projects, like the KB (knowledge base) idea from Microsoft's MSDN, or the ArchLinux wiki, or the macOS GUI/UI/UX visual themes and general UI design, etc.
22. CRUCIAL: MONETARY, FOOD & DRINKS, AND TRAVEL FUNDING FOR F(L)OSS EVENTS AND F(L)OSS developers and bug-hunters and QAs and PRs/marketers, sponsors, and mirror-webhosting services like ibiblio and http://archive.org / http://archive.is , github.com, gitlab.org, private Gitea git-repos(itories), etc.
23. Create package managers to list ALL repositories on GitHub, GitLab.org, and to include Ubuntu/LinuxMint/etc. PPAs, and AppImage & flatpak webhosting websites.
24. Despite the semi-retirement of 32-bit x86 CPUs, it is a good idea for Linux distros to still offer working 32-bit x86 builds for older PCs or for testing purposes...
25. Microsoft Windows 7+ has WoW64 and WinXP Mode, enabling it to install and run 32-bit x86 apps on 64-bit MS Windows; maybe (GNU/)Linux should have some semi-virtualization app, but not as heavyweight as Oracle VirtualBox or QEMU or VMWare virtualization-app, for us to be able to seamlessly run 32-bit apps on 64-bit (GNU/)Linux OSs.
26. Where possible, petition and urge vendors/companies who make killer-apps to make an encrypted WebUI version of their app, like http://web.skype.com and to also offer the feature to import and export ALL (including group-chats/chatrooms/MUCs and private encrypted chats!) chatlogs to external file(s) (in the case of IM-or-ASM-text-chat/VoIP-videotelephony&videoconferencing/p2p-filesharing/screencasting/webcasting/screensharing apps).
27. Teach working-level computer-programming basics to kids aged 8+y.o. and to adults, etc.
28. Promote real face-to-face live human interaction and live discussions with compromises, and not just smartphones-zombiefication and 'social distancing' bullshit, or Internet addiction, and repetitive strain injury, etc.
29. Expose and de-promote transhumanism/cyborgization, etc.
30. Integrate the use of technologies with the natural environment without making the biosphere a plastic-like geoengineered genetically-engineered horror show...
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NOTE: Sorry if some of the terms used above are used without expert technical understanding of their full meaning&use cases...