How one company is "De-Microsoft-ifying" and pushing Linux on the desktop

[@EZLogikal]

I have never had a lack of want for the products made by 45Drives, just a lack of funding.

[@festro1000]

Same for a lot of us I imagine.

[@resolutepixel]

Me too

[@farmer82827]

Maybe if they didn’t fly KZbinrs all over the world their products wouldn’t be such a ripoff.

[@kyu9649]

@@farmer82827 thats not how this works. just because they allocate money to invite people and pay for their flights, doesn't mean their products get cheaper.

[@marloelefant7500]

@@farmer82827 Maybe if they produced in China or Taiwan, their products wouldn't be such a ripoff. The cost of flying in a few KZbinrs is nothing compared to their total turnover.

[@VastCNC]

60% of Microsoft vendor lock-in is the excel spreadsheet that Deb in HR made in ‘07

[@TechnoTim]

@@VastCNC 100% agree. Excel, the world’s biggest database! 😂

[@ericpowell4350]

This!

[@TheLMFAOZ]

That might be changing soon since MS announced they'll block by default Macros on Excel new versions...

[@realJohnJohn]

time to use Libre Office

[@Arkansya]

and also shady relations with a lot of governments to enforce their products into govt operation and public sector

[@constamentaldrift7016]

7:01 That's me! I quit my R&D job at 45Drives to focus on my company hd3d manufacturing. Thanks for the shoutout, Tim!

[@TechnoTim]

@@constamentaldrift7016 thank you!

[@Girgoo]

When Microsoft is no longer listening to the user base, then it is time to abandon the ship.

[@Flexin010]

I'm a field guy and I'm seeing some companies moving to Linux here in the states. I rearly if ever get calls for software problems.

[@Girgoo]

@@Flexin010 I think only the ones that are tech savy are doing the move.

[@TechnoMinded-qp5in]

Valve just needs to publish SteamOS officially because HoloISO isn't working out and is a dead project I tried gaming on Garuda Linux and is a good SteamOS replacement you can still install HoloISO but it's better to use Manjaro at this point we should all just stop at Windows 10 and start gaming on Steam Deck because you have more gaming support on Steam Deck than using Linux even running proton I loved the experience but I wish Valve would just publish SteamOS and bring back the Steam Machine because SteamOS seems like our final option for killing off Windows and saving Linux.

[@TechnoMinded-qp5in]

@@Girgoo I was gaming on Garuda Cinnamon for a week and it needs some work and game developers just need to move to Linux if Microsoft is going to inject Windows Recall anyway Windows 10 will be the last Windows I ever use especially for Steam gaming and if they don't let you game after end support I'm probably gonna game on Steam Deck as the next gaming PC.

[@jedipadawan7023]

@@Girgoo Could be. But if/when enough techies go to Linux they ca then recommend Linux to Average Joe and help support them. I have done that as the local techie, keeping the rural villagers ten year old laptops running with Linux. The locals whose life savings are all tied up in property and loans and they do not have $1 for an emergency and it's maddening (so my wife and I are paying for the treatment of and looking after a neighbour's kitten who was run over by a motorcycle, just as an example and the critter is coming to chew on my mouse cable right now!) I am learning of the local village ways and now I know how and why the local population is so poor. They prioritise property ownership over EVERYTHING else including medical care or even food! Anyway, we WANT the techie to go first to support the non-techie. having said that, I give out MX Linux KDE, show them how to run apps via the Kickstartmenu, how to install via the package manager or 'Discover and I get ZERO support calls. Seriously. OK, the locals generally just 'Google' but that's what they want and Linux delivers. Er,I use KDE as it's really easy for Windows 7 users (yes, they use Windows 7!!! And pirate at that!) to pick up and if there is a tech issue - I had one - I can just whatsapp the setting in 'System settings.' KDE, I find, is Tech support safe. Non-Techies do not touch it but it's there if they absolutely HAVE TO! Saves editing hidden files!

[@mkonji8522]

Been a Linux-only devops engineer for the past 10 years and man, it's so much easier to develop on the closest platform that you're actually going to be deploying to. Good stuff to hear.

[@TechnoTim]

@@mkonji8522 thank you for blazing a path for us to follow

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

That's a good news for Linux user.

[@JohnnyThund3r]

The amount of hoops one must jump through to effectively install Linux as a VM on Windows to develop whatever product they working on, is absurd... if Microsoft was smart and fair they would just produce their own distro of Linux for the desktop because it's what their customers want... but they are far too greedy to ever make such a smart play.

[@mkonji8522]

@@JohnnyThund3r If it's your development machine most companies I've worked for as a dev offer a Fedora or Ubuntu/Debian laptop most of the time. Only once was I was given an option of BYOD+credit then install company security software situation where I just ran Debian. Make a list or script (something like ansible) to make your dev env repeatable, languages, dependences, editor config, terminal aliases etc. Overall not too different at all if your developing on Mac w/brew or the rare case Windows but I don't see many devs using windows in my field. Maybe more on the Azure side? Regardless though, there is still a heap of things you need for any dev env on whatever OS you're on, just an adjustment. Microsoft has WSL though which is an okay stop gap or means to get one more familiar with *nix navigation, tools etc. I don't think that it's always the right choice though for development as you run into a lot more oddities or the usual "it runs on my system" ordeal and doing real work it would be better to just run in a vm or bare metal. I should add I don't dislike Microsoft but there are sometimes better tools for certain jobs. Also doesn't really help that modern windows is a far cry from what it used to be, with far too much going on with too little focus on the user experience, just data collection.

[@mkonji8522]

@@JohnnyThund3r Sometimes there's just a better tool for the job. WSL gets close for dev work but there's always weirdness as I've received "well it worked on my machine" more times than I can count from jr devs that used WSL. The only real honest option is using something *nix based, either linux or mac. Microsoft while I don't hate it since most of us got our start there, isn't what it once was and while fine for casual users, power users is another story. You shouldn't have to fight your dev tooling more than need be and getting anything set up on windows more than surface level is generally problematic. Compiling non native code has caused more trouble in debugging or diagnosing, only to try the same code on a Linux cloud box, vm, test env, etc~ for it to just run.. It happens monthly if not weekly from those resistant to moving to Mac or Linux in lieu of something more familiar. Once you have your editor config, and, at minimum a list of dependency packages for your codebase (better if automated), your dev env becomes much more portable for whatever *nix system your on. Microsoft caters to development on their ecosystem azure/windows/s-suite and less so for anything cross platform. WSL support is even considered viable in Azure, as they smoke test against daemons, kernel, versioning etc. Those who want to use AWS, GCP, Digital Ocean, or, any tool that's linux native and not MS CICD build tools, then you're on your own. Bit of a rant, I know; you just see the general incompatibilities a lot in my field which overall is a massive time sink to adjust for.

[@wojownikwody1804]

This is what we need in the industry. De-centralization, OpenSourcefication and relying on good specialists. Business people are often very shortsighted, they don't think about long-term consequences of centralization and SaaS platforms. Just because it's cheaper now, it doesn't mean that it will scale the same way, and once you're vendor locked, you're screwed. Data breaches, rising subscription costs and total lost of control over their data is something that some managers are willing to risk just to save some money today and boost their careers.

[@reekinronald6776]

There certainly barriers to adopting new approaches. The old saying, "No one was ever fired for buying IBM", changed to "No one was ever fired for buying Microsoft". I work in the scientific instrumentation business and I can see the huge advantages of linux running our equipment mainly for the manufacture, but also for the customer. The amount of money spent on fixing problems caused by windows updates and trying to maintain hardware/driver compatibility is significant. If instrument manufactures had more control of the OS their equipment ran on, the fewer problems there would be. The main barrier I see is the customer being scared to adopting something new. Making a decisions on buying $250,000 piece of equipment that is radically different is scary and could affect your career. The other barrier would obviously be the IT departments as they generally want only one OS to run on all their computers.

[@AQDuck]

Haven't watched the video yet, but basically the entirety of EU (European Union, not the continent, I hate that abbreviation too) is de-microsoft-ifying. Been seeing a lot of government job postings about moving agencies over to Linux and FOSS-based applications. *Edit:* Actually the continent, since Switzerland is leading the pack (Germany did it first, but only per state)

[@MrZombieSwamp]

Every government should pursue the idea of going open source to bring transparency for the people. May we have it in a not distant future.

[@antoniom.andersen6704]

I'm from Denmark so this might not be the right numbers but I think that ~30k gov. workers are being shifted to linux in '24, in Germany. It's happening in a german state that's bordering on Denmark so I have hope that Denmark will do the same... maybe I won't have to wait for 9 days to get a new drivers lisence due to Windows updates lol

[@markarca6360]

Germany has entered the chat.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Yes, it will avoid blue screen on the machine. ...Lol

[@John7No]

where exawtlyare you getting those numbers from? Germany tried 2 times on different states and went back to windows which costed more than double. Now we are on their 3rd attempt. If EU especially since we are so pro consumer/citizen is still not going full on at least on LibreOffice (or something similar) is a clear indication that there is no such move. That would have been the easiest transition before any OS level or more complicated apps.

[@zipkitty]

Instead of Demicrosoftification, let's call it MegaHardification, because opposite of micro is mega and hard the opposite of soft. I am MegaHardMaxxing

[@TechnoTim]

Seriously had no idea where this was going at first and then got a good laugh out of it. Thank you!

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Lol, funny naming system.

[@rchltmedia]

man this naming is absolutely hard

[@Rohinthas]

Absolutely stealing this... my goal this year: Degooglefy and GigaHardMax everything!

[@fuseteam]

So time to promote linux megaloud Soft music Loud music xd

[@PcaplLite]

The entry barrier ceased to be Active Directory quite a long time ago. The real hurdle is the friction of moving users from Entra, Office, and 365 to something comparable. You only have to look at the crusty list of lackluster mail clients available to desktop linux to realize that de-Microsoft-ification is still a word away from every day business use.... sigh

[@Traumatree]

The other "main" reason is CAD softwares (also gaming) being non-existant natively on Linux or OS/X is the reason many "shops" aren't moving away from M$. I support many clients who are all doing some engineering stuff that just exist on Windows. There is no incentive for PDM or Autodesk, etc to rewrite their software for Linux since there is no demand. That causes a paradox in itself that in the end let only Windows as the choice for CAD stuff.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Perhaps due to habitual inertia, once you get used to it, it's quite good. With so many document processing software available, even editors that use Markdown can produce excellent documents. So, in reality, it still depends on personal preferences. I personally quite like LibreOffice.

[@Zandman26]

​@@TraumatreeThe non-existing gaming on Linux (Linux has access to 80% of the games on Steam). Regarding CAD, professional software that runs on Linux exists, it's just not produced for by the same company that is used on Windows.

[@Kwijibob]

The email client part is just ridiculous though, because you don't actually need a separate email client nowadays and haven't for at least a decade now. That's why no decent ones are being developed. Outlook itself is just a giant security vulnerability with no merit or benefit.

[@TopHatProductions115]

That'll hold the market hostage for a while 😢​@@Traumatree

[@IcyyDicy]

I helped a professor at my university set up an HL-15 for a lab and was really satisfied with the result. Seeing them working on a 4-drive box got me super excited as I really need to upgrade my home server's storage soon

[@45Drives]

When you're ready to upgrade, reach out to chat. We'd love to help out with your home server!

[@SyberPrepper]

I'm helping bring in Linux vs Msoft to our engineering teams. Even our management is tired of the price, and proprietary lock ins of companies like Msoft and VMware. I loved this video! Great ideas and great company. I plan to show the video to some of our decision makers. A lot more companies should try this rapid prototyping, build it yourself approach.

[@edwardmacnab354]

yeah and all those corporate and government and private users that never donate a dime to the open source devs or ever do any coding to help . Wow , free ride is nice isn't it ?

[@SyberPrepper]

@@edwardmacnab354 Good reminder about helping fund open source.

[@RaidOwl]

My guy put out his video about as fast as he ate that ice cream! Awesome recap of the event and it was so cool to meet you in person.

[@TechnoTim]

Get in my belly! Nice to meet you too! Hopefully we get to meet up again soon!

[@TheDickerson87]

@RaidOwl are you still eating yours?

[@RaidOwl]

@@TheDickerson87 Yeah, it's a little melted though...

[@ShinyTechThings]

What's the stackable compute lineup called and is it out yet? I couldn't find it on their website yet.

[@45Drives]

Still in development!

[@ShinyTechThings]

@@45Drives I'd love to demo that on my channel once it's available!

[@USSJeff]

I live in NS and I had no idea 45Drives is based in my province.

[@45Drives]

Hi neighbour!👋

[@USSJeff]

@@45Drives Now I want to visit when I’m next in CB 😂.

[@biggeemac]

I'm actually in a planning phase of my de-microsoft'd MSP. I would have loved to see the PPT slides from that conference. Active directory would be one area that I believe needs a large focus on. I know active directory, but not really up to speed on how this can be done smoothly in the open source world. And support for it? Forget it.

[@TechnoTim]

I totally agree. That was a big topic in my presentation, that Microsoft AD is such a great tool and so ubiquitous in the enterprise it would be very difficult to replace (if even possible) and very difficult to support. Most features are not available in other tools and most policies are not available on Linux machines.

[@TechnoMinded-qp5in]

I'm thinking of switching to Garuda Cinnamon for more of a stable approach I played CyberPunk 2077 pretty good on it with Ray trace enabled support and disabled blur effects and it ran smoothly like Windows older titles from the 2000s need to be revived on Steam if it's our last chance to combat Microsoft if they continue to ignore customer complaints.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Active directory? you may try openldap for instead...

[@3rett115]

Samba4 and sssd are very mature and work surprisingly well.

[@sitraahra1778]

Take a look at Univention then, it's a Linux based domain controller (and some more) based on Samba4/OpenLDAP: AD, LDAP, DNS, DHCP, etc. etc. The windows snap-ins (AD Users & Computers, Group Policy Management, etc.) work too if you want to continue to work from a Windows box. Downside is that the powershell AD module doesnt work (Get-ADUser etc.), since that depends on the ADWS. Upside is, you have a quite convenient webportal + landing page built into the DC. So user management, groups and permissions/access can be easily done with OS tools. GPOs dont work with Linux clients (AFAIK), but work fine on the serverside if you want to keep the employees on a Windows client (so they don't riot) while also havine the infra run on FOSS. ;)

[@aaron57422]

It sounds like it was a fun trip, but I didn't hear much about how they were leading the charge on Linux desktop. I think they do plenty in the server hardware space, especially compared to what I would think are real kings of proprietary which would be Dell, HP, and most other enterprise vendors. But at this point the largest hurdle to Linux desktop adoption seems to be software support, and I don't see them doing much.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

But at least, they have already started trying, haven't they? Give them some time, and things might be different.

[@willi1978]

a company can't do everything. it is easier to focus on a niche and working with partners. getting into a new field necessitates growing fast and brings high risks. it has to be done with careful planning. i am happy that there are more companies now that focus on linux even in desktop space

[@jackyli6716]

@@willi1978 yes, that's right.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

@@willi1978 yes, it needs more people to invole into it. ...

[@aaron57422]

Yeah, I'm not claiming they should get into new Fields, I think they're doing fine where they are, but I also wouldn't claim they're "leading the charge" on desktop Linux, they are calmly contributing on the side.

[@MrCauphy]

As I sit watching the end of the video (Using Linux Mint Cinnamon). There is only ONE glaring issue. I am a Mechanical Designer. The CAD/CAM solutions are greatly lacking, I know at one time almost every 3D solid modeling software out there supported Linux. For example, when I first started working in my field, we used ProEngineering. We even had a machine dedicated to rendering our models. Siliconegraphics machine nick named "Barney". I know that was a proprietary Unix version, called Irix I think. Anyway, it would seem there isn't much support in the Engineering side of things. I think it would be great to have this, but if there isn't a market, there isn't a choice. Sad but, very true. Thank you for the video.

[@Traumatree]

That's because of the lobbying M$ did to "prevent" those companies to continue producing and developing those software.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

what about freeCAD?

[@MrCauphy]

@@52Pi_Maker_Education I have tried that. It requires you to write your own scripts. Mechanical guy. Not coder. it is a cool open source program. Thanks for the reply.

[@jackyli6716]

@@MrCauphy you are welcome, and mechanical is coolest in my option, you can build a lot of fancy stuff....

[@Splarkszter]

One alternative is OnShape as it is Browser based but I personally don't trust it much. The nighly branch of FreeCAD is decent and we need more people to contribute.

[@edwardseth1230]

The good think about linux.. is. there is SO MUCH description.. so much information... and things you can do to make it work.. on ANY PC and any unbranded system... and if a problem comes up.. you have either the work and correct it on your own... or if the problem persists.. ..the OS can keep on working.. and don't give u a BSOD or in my case.. a Blue-Sod (middle finger)

[@LiLBitsDK]

If I ever won the lottery I would spend a large sum of money there... *drewls uncontrollably*

[@acubley]

*drools? (was confused)

[@JohnMatthew1]

Tim, great stuff, thank you. Gonna be tough, the MS desktop and it's embracing of Linux makes switching difficult. Are you going to publish you slides, or is there a place I can find them?

[@45Drives]

The video notes are now in the video description!

[@DazzerDags]

OK, moon mist sounds oddly delicious. Oh, the hardware too.

[@45Drives]

You NEED to try it.... the hardware too 😆

[@DailyBeatings]

I started my "demicrosoftification" 16 years ago when I installed Breezy Badger...🤣

[@StrawberryKitten]

You truly are an Intrepid Ibex.

[@phoenixrising4995]

I'm a Hardy Heron

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

16years ago? wow, that's cool!

[@phoenixrising4995]

@@52Pi_Maker_Education That was my first ubuntu distro. I've been using Linux since Debian Woody

[@fuseteam]

Xenial Xerus let's go~

[@gordslater]

Just as long as noone turns on de-dupe on the beer server, everything is gonna be sweet

[@linuxliaison]

Canadian here, and I had NO idea that they were Canadian. So happy to learn this

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Excellent video amazing being there and participating!

[@BrickTamlandOfficial]

that stackable computer system looks like the coolest thing that will put my pc building business out of business...

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Perhaps you could create something even better by collaborating?

[@BrickTamlandOfficial]

@@52Pi_Maker_Education i dont design stack-able computers. i build custom desktops.

[@3rett115]

Big problem I see, is what happens when the bottom module fails? Or any module in the center? You'd have to completely shutdown & unstack the entire unit. Unless you had at least 6 to 12 of these in a cluster, that design wouldn't be production worthy IMO. Even then it's more of a hassle to change out a node or component.

[@BrickTamlandOfficial]

@@3rett115 imagine havin to take apart a custom water loop when a part fails.

[@BrickTamlandOfficial]

@@52Pi_Maker_Education i build pcs not design custom stackable systems.

[@deckardstp]

Very well earned Tim :) You do a great job enabling people to start their own homelabs, tinkering around and shift their visions to an more open environment.

[@PremierPrep]

I run a video production and content marketing company with several employees now and we use an all Linux pipeline! It's so nice to not have anything on Windows or being stuck with Macs.

[@gil_L]

Was also in video production (vfx) working on Rocky Linux 8.10. It was very stable. I decided to use it as my daily driver and I really like it. Been using it now for 3 months.

[@PremierPrep]

@@gil_L That's awesome! What sort of applications do you use? I use Resolve Studio, Blender, Krita, Inkscape, GIMP, Lightworks, and a handful of other more specific apps. I've also started playing with Autograph! It's great!

[@RicardoPower]

What software do you use to do video production on Linux , alternatives to adobe ? Does docker fix certain issues ?

[@gil_L]

@@PremierPrep Davinci Resolve Studio, for VFX: Nuke and Hiero. RV from Shotgrid for playing back files. GIMP of photo editing.

[@PremierPrep]

@@RicardoPower Never used docker for anything. I use DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Krita, Inkscape, and a few others

[@itsamemarkus]

Wow, what a nice trip. The 45drive products look great. 1:59 - I want to have that :) My 2cents about "De-Microsoft-ifying": As soon as there is an easy migration path from Active Directory/Entra ID to a viable open-source solution, backed by some kind of assurance that it will be maintained for the foreseeable future (forever), Microsoft could start to have problems. Until then, I think there is not the slightest chance that mid-size+ enterprises will switch to Linux on the client side. (unfortunately)

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Why is it necessary to use Active Directory? Linux's management model is different from Windows, isn't it? Tools like Ansible and SaltStack can manage devices in bulk, and there are many similar solutions. As a Linux client host, management is actually simpler, I think. It might be the desktop environment and games that have influenced the popularity of Linux. However, in recent years, Linux has been becoming more and more popular.

[@xfxxgj7086]

​@@52Pi_Maker_Education Can u implement ansible and other linux things into a website ad can ad can be integrated anywhere and every where hence the popularity

[@xellaz]

I already switched to Linux as my daily driver. I'm also having fun playing Android games on Linux via Waydroid! 😎

[@RoloSolis81]

Never used Linux, now i want to give it a shot thanks to you guys.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Once you've opened the door to the world of Linux, you'll fall in love with it.

[@45Drives]

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky - Michael Scott

[@gil_L]

I think once you figure out how to use Linux (command line etc) and you find the programs that work for you, you will love it. Key is to see if it can work for you on the software side. I’m using gnome, now when I go back to windows occasionally it looks so dated to me.

[@damiendye6623]

Bet you have a router or an android phone so you used Linux

[@RoloSolis81]

@@damiendye6623 GliNet router that runs Open wrt, phone is a iPhone.

[@sowmithreddy1301]

You did not talk anything about "How one company is "De-Microsoft-ifying" and pushing Linux on the desktop".

[@DavidM2002]

I hope that you stopped by the Glen Breton whisky distillery for a tour.

[@timfoster5043]

70% of this video has nothing to do with the title. Bummer.

[@KA4UPW]

Agreed Not sure I'm gona make it to the end

[@KA4UPW]

Ok I'm leaving at the beerennator

[@LukePWilkinsVids]

Hello there. Would it be possible to get a copy of the 45Drives slide deck please?

[@TechnoTim]

Thanks for asking! I just added it to the video notes in the description!

[@LukePWilkinsVids]

@@TechnoTim Thank you!

[@jojobobbubble5688]

Any chance you'll release a video of your presentation? I saw the Google Doc but I'd like to know what the content was you actually spoke about. For example you list things like Salt and Puppet but nothing else is said about these options in the slides.

[@donaldwilliams6821]

I never knew Nova Scotia was the "end of the Earth" ;) Cool to think I am only hours away from there. Great video. They do have some very cool products

[@TechnoTim]

@@donaldwilliams6821 hah! Doug said that when we were there so I thought I’d use it. What a beautiful country you have!

[@hovhas]

Im glad 4 u! The creators u R ganging up with are my YT creators. If it havent been 4 u guys, I wold not come this far. Thank U from my Heart!

[@AndrewMorris-wz1vq]

Massive respect to all of you working on this important problem! Its a difficult one, but I think as we get it better solved the enterprise software space will really benefit from it!

[@patrickemerson6464]

It was great meeting you in person. Nice summary.

[@firstandlastname2090]

Heart-warming & inspiring report, on ALL fronts! Thanks for sharing this 'behind the scenes" look into companies doing actual work towards reeling in these "out of control" giant techno-oligarchs!

[@wstrater]

OMG. You think Microsoft is proprietary? How about Apple. It is amazing to hear people talk about how important open platforms are but buy into Apple and iPhones. Can't think of a company that is so locked down. And no, I am not a Microsoft fan-boy, I am typing this on my iMac.

[@willi1978]

locked down apple software is what made me move away from macs. i heard it is better now (don't need itunes anymore for copying files to iphone) but i am not going back. linux is just a completely different world with how open it is.

[@wstrater]

@@willi1978 I am pretty sure I over reacted but Microsoft has tried pivoting. They even contribute to open source. You can install Linux on a Windows machines. They support multiple architectures. They have tried to be backwards compatible. What is miserable about Windows is what the typical corporation does to it their machines just don't blame Microsoft for that. I have not run Windows at home for 20 years so I am not a fan but I do appreciate they are trying to adapt.

[@Neflyte49]

​@@wstraterit's not adaptación it's absorb and nullification of competitors

[@wstrater]

The issue with Linux is not Microsoft or Windows, it is Linux. I have more Linux machines at home than Apple. I spent a lot of time at a Linux terminal over the last 18 years at work and I am an application developer. I prefer to use OS X terminal over Finder for a lot of my file tasks. I even got my iMac because it had Linux like terminal without the Linux desktop issues for my daily driver. I like Linux and wish it to succeed but I struggle with the desktop environment and this is not a Microsoft or Apple issue. Windows and OS X succeed were Linux fails because they have a single unifying driving force with a single vision behind them. Linux prides itself on options and alternatives. Most people want simple. Linux is everything except simple. An example, I am building out a new Debian box with Xfce and wanted to install MQTT Explorer. I had to go to the web site to read through the installation steps being mindful of what package manager I was running. I first tried snap but that meant I went to the terminal and installed snapd. I than tried installing mqtt-explorer multiple times using snap and could never find the executable. Back to the installation directions. Next attempt was downloading the correct package, .deb, and manually installing it. It errored out the first time because I forgot the ./ in front of the package file name despite adding the -f parameter before it. I had seen something similar so I knew enough but that was just luck. I installed Visual Code Studio. That was a lot more command line work installing repositories and dependencies before installing Code. I then went to add it to the bottom pop-up menu but it was not in my list of applications when I went to add items to the menu. Some digging and I located the .desktop and was able to drag it on to the panel. I thought it was easier in the past. Adding Chrome was a lot of command line work too. I like like the command line. In some ways the command line is badge of courage or a rite of passage for many Linux users including myself. The problem is most people don't and Linux will never succeed the way Window and OS X do if people have to use the terminal. Blaming Windows may be fun but is counter productive. Blame Linux for its own problems and maybe we can finally fix the issues that turn off so many people. You can't fix the problem unless you own the problem.

[@wolveric0]

is that a Mini ITX board in the HL4/HL8? i really hope they release a case only option.

[@brunekxxx91]

"Preinstalled Linux OS" what do you mean by that 45Drives? Is it debian? Is it Arch (btw)? What is it?

[@wildedibles]

many of us like to get rid of Microsoft and other proprietary things. this video however felt like 5 minutes of ad and 3 minutes content. It probably could have been trimmed down to just a short without the ad.

[@joeywarcher]

Hey Tim. Love your channel. Would love to see more of what happened here. did you record your talk? A longer form version of this video would be dope!

[@sorenmelchior]

Thanks for sharing info about them. I went to their website and looked at the workstation options, as I have been considering switching out my current window 10 home photo/video editing workstation over to a Linux option. Sadly the component list is pretty small at present, so the option to build an AMD (Threadripper Pro/Radeon Pro w7000 series) Linux solution is not present. Though their NAS options do look interesting, as my Sinology NAS is getting “long of the tooth” at present. I think I will wait and see how they further develop and improve their offerings before deciding. As my workstation upgrade has more priority currently than my NAS.

[@DanWalshTV]

As a Canadian, I had no idea 45Drives was based out of Canada lol, let alone in one of our smallest provinces.

[@captmulch1]

I DMd 21 years ago when I installed Yellow Dog Linux on a Mac G3 laptop and never looked back …

[@A1RM4X]

WOW! This looks awesome! Looking forward to what 45Drives will propose in the near future.

[@45Drives]

Thank you - and stay tuned! 😄

[@innesleroux9439]

Oh wow! Wish I was there. All my favorite creators and tech under one roof. Thanks Tim for sharing.

[@45Drives]

Next year!

[@vladislavkaras491]

Thanks for getting to know such company!

[@jaygreentree4394]

Gaming on Pop OS is pretty amazing. Its my main os these days because it just works.

[@toby9999]

Can someone explain what a "daily driver" is? I've only ever heard the term said by Linux users.

[@TechnoTim]

It’s just a term for the operating system or machine you use on a daily basis

[@CtrlIQ]

Great video, Tim. Such an interesting topic. 45 Drives puts on a great event!

[@45Drives]

Thank you!

[@wasiqmahmood7734]

Great to see all tech guyes are at the same location but some are missing, we'll de-microsoft-ifying is a great project waiting for the future tech with good features

[@Terran.Marine.2]

What about the destillanator?

[@45Drives]

Passing this along to R&D...for scientific purposes...

[@Terran.Marine.2]

@@45Drives well, it's a good fuel

[@needsLITHIUM]

Even when I use Windows, I try to use as much open source software as possible, or else I rely on proprietary software that actively colludes with, funds, and contributes to open source. When I'm not gaming, I'm usually doing pro audio/video recording and editing for music. I use Cockos Reaper, Tracktion Waveform, and Harrison Mixbus. I prefer guitar amp sims that run native on Linux for cross platform compatibility. I use Neural Amp Modeler (MIT Licensed) and Audio Assault. I actually know the guy that makes Neural Amp Modeler in real life, lol. Super cool dude.

[@fotografm]

What an excellent week with great people. I am busy demicrosoftifying my home lab in order to get everything running smoothly before windoze 10 dies next year !

[@PhrozenN]

Really great infomercial! That said, I really like 45drives and I plan to get one their products.

[@gerrycrisostomo6571]

I have been a Linux user for almost 3 years now, and knowing that there is a new company that supports open source systems like the 45 Drives is an awesome news for me. More power to you and your company guys. Keep up the great work!

[@TheKeirsunishi]

Do they use coreboot?

[@jackthatmonkey8994]

A few (productivity) apps, a few peripherals like (some) printers, a few games. Thats really it I think

[@mikegmcg]

Moon Mist is my favourite flavour! So so good!

[@45Drives]

the goat!

[@mikegmcg]

@@45Drives Chapmans has their version - tastes almost the same and good when the icecream shop does not sell Farmers.

[@paladingeorge6098]

The thing that bothers me the most about proprietary software is the fact that you don't own the program. When you purchase a piece of software, you are at the mercy of the company that made it to determine how long that piece of software gets supported, how well it works, and how long you are allowed to use it for (which is more prevalent now than ever when everything is subscription based), and what platforms you can use it on. Its become impossible to own any software without shelling out hundreds of dollars a month.

[@Yamahog]

Sounds good Tim. Now if we could only get the Nvidea drivers to go License free, .... Your Multi bay server could be rocking Blackwell components instead,,,,,

[@MartialBachoffner]

Thanks for the video. My two cents on the project. I believe it's great. I also that the key selling point would be to have an integration like Apple and Cloud. You take a note on your phone, you see it right away on your desktop and tablet. This is missing. I did setup a NextCloud server on an old Macbook Air running LMDE as OS, I'm playing with it but we need something more integrated in the OS.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

Indeed, Linux has tremendous potential and a high degree of freedom, allowing for the customization of many personalized features. I am also a strong advocate for Linux. This is the first time I've heard of 45driver, and it seems very cool! Thanks to Tim's video, it's really interesting.😄

[@notafbihoneypot8487]

Finally, it's the year of Linux (2025)

[@Lord-Kanzler]

Great video. de-microsoft-ication has been my battle cry for the last 5 + years professionally, and going on a decade and a half privately. I have a much much higher appreciation for 45Drives now. Thanks, Tim.

[@45Drives]

We appreciate you as well!

[@jsclayton]

Damn, @CraftComputing is one tall dude!

[@Trenjeska]

I think I saw a Wendel.

[@SB-qm5wg]

2:40 that's some impressive hardware

[@bloodynoobtubename]

I run an msp that mainly partners with law firms. There’s no way I could move them from the Microsoft ecosystem. I do think 45 Drives is doing some cool stuff though

[@45Drives]

Thank you! What barriers are stopping you from moving away from Microsoft? Perhaps we can help with those

[@sherrilltechnology]

Great video Brother, and I look forward to seeing what the Home Lab solutions look like and are capable of

Is this a commercial?

[@Big-Chungus21]

There are many companies pushing Linux on the desktop. Canonical, System76, RedHat, even Google with its ChromeOS.

[@Patrikch100]

I de-Microsofted my life half a year ago. My primary computer is MacBook and my Gaming PC is just rumning Linux.

[@Splarkszter]

I would think of apple way worse than microsoft in some regards but a step forward is a step forward.

[@Patrikch100]

@@Splarkszter Apple is deffunetely better than Microsoft. And you can make local account on macOS. Nobody force you to use Apple ID.

[@nahidahmed9153]

@@Patrikch100 macos is shitter than microsoft no gaming support only few games can be playable

[@Patrikch100]

@@nahidahmed9153 not everybody play games

[@Shirosak1]

A Linux challenge would be great to see. I think you are in the great space with your Mac Studio though. I think after the Linux challenge use whichever works best for you. PS: Maybe try Windows in a VM with GPU Pass through.

[@52Pi_Maker_Education]

What is the Linux Challenge? Is there such a competition? I'm very interested in it :P

[@JPs-q1o]

Interesting company. Thanks for the good video, man!

[@cameronfrye5514]

I like what they're doing, I just hope at some point they realize 'cool' only gets you so far even in enthusiast space. No matter how you slice it, I can't get to $600 for an 8 bay NAS case limited to m-ITX boards. Cool community stuff, I get it.. Made in North America, I get it.. Quality second to none, I get it.. but they're competing in a $200 market. My NAS lives in the basement and does it's work behind the scenes.

[@DavidM2002]

If you take the ferry over to Newfoundland, you can go to Cape Spear - the eastern most point in North America. And, from Newfoundland, you can take a 1 hour boat ride to France. Yes, France. There are a pair of islands - St. Pierre et Miquelon which are part of France and just off the coast of Newfoundland. If you aren't French or Canadian, you will need your passport.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Great stuff! Looks like they have some great products there - I loved the Beerinator! I've used Linux at home for ages and I love it! I've played around with the BSDs a bit too - mostly OpenBSD. That's an excellent OS.

[@antoniom.andersen6704]

Jeff suggesting a beerinator... *Surprised Pikachu face*, Well, not really. I'd love to get my hands on one of those 8 bay NAS solutions from 45 Drives. Seems like a great piece of kit, to have, that you can upgrade down the line when ARM and RISC becomes a thing on desktop parts.

[@charleshines5700]

Storinator sounds like something Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz would have for a plot to get Microsoft as much out of his life as possible!

[@45Drives]

It's kind of the opposite of Doc's blow-itself-up-inator 😆

[@theodoredobrowolski8525]

God I forgot about moonmist ice cream but always love hoveprints icecream

[@henderstech]

I wish I could work for a company like this.

[@45Drives]

What's stopping you?!

[@Sheerwinter]

I don't see a use of Microsoft asides online gaming. Such as bf2042 pubg genshin ( etc )

[@c.m.7037]

Yup, pretty much. I daily Linux now, Windows just for photoshop and games.

[@dennisolsson3119]

I was recently forced to switch to Mac from Linux at work. It has been the 3 worst weeks since many years. I feel nauseous and violated every time I have to do things in a forced manner. Like 4 key-combinations with finger breaking keys on the keyboard and application switching not behaving intuitively.

[@M3MYS3LF1979]

Feel that. You should check out toshy (fork of kinto) to setup mac keybindings. Much more palatable experience

[@yukonflat5468]

My buddy Darren works there and says it’s awesome!!!!

[@45Drives]

Darren is a beauty!

[@tombloemker9434]

I like the concept, I just think it needs a parent organization that takes the place of Microsoft to recommend the best platform for users need. There are too many options out there for me to figure out plus I need to know sustainability for the long haul. If I own a 3D scanning business, I need compute and storage. What software works well here and of these offerings which is committed to function outside of Mac or Windows?

[@rolla2035]

To get Proxmox in the enterprise , they need a 3 node cluster so you can put 1 node in maintenance mode (like vmware) and do software or hardware upgrades. An 'appliance' with 3 1U nodes would be cool. Proxmox also needs to add this feature to the GUI (like vmware).

[@michaelheimbrand5424]

I don't even know if they ship to Sweden. But 45drives just went from being cool stuff on YT to be the only one I want to recommend to customers. All companies that de-microsoft themselves are heroes in my book.

[@demanuDJ]

I'm using only linux desktop since few years (openSuse Thumbleweed) and I'm daily driving it, working on it (I'm DevOps engineer on b2b contract), playing games (for example Horizon: Zero Dawn, all COD Modern Warfare, Satisfactory, Factorio, Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Frost Punk, Space Engineers) and running my business from it. I'm also using machine with Proxmox as hypervisor and another with TrueNAS Core as storage. I don't see any problem with switching to opensource.

[@drewremembers645]

Way to go guys !!

[@ChiefGyk3D]

Most of my career has been the Linux guy and knocking down roadblocks in businesses and home to use Linux. So cool to see a decade in its becoming more mainstream.

[@KuraiBeat]

the word of the year 2024!

[@PushingFriend28]

I prefer decorp(oration)ification

[@DouglasJenkins]

I started using Windows with version 1.03 in lae 1986, and continued until my first laptop with Vista. I used Vista for 3 weeks, then dual-booted with Linux (Ubuntu) after a few other distros, and 3 months, I began 2006 by deleting my Windows and using Linux alone. I have run Linux Mint since 2008, and switch between it and a Chromebook for all my work and play.

[@xdeama]

Let’s de-Microsoft the world!