[LINK] Linux will be unstoppable in 2026

[David]

On Tuesday, 6 January 2026 09:34:43 AEDT Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> It would be useful to hear of predictions for 2026. Perhaps allow voting on a prediction.

For what it's worth, I think the Western world is past the need for more processing power in the domestic / office / mobile PC space.  One straw in the cultural wind is surprisingly positive  global interest in our Federal Government's attempt to give parents control over their children's internet use.

Another is increasingly widespread media concern regarding preservation of personal data, including such basic matters as password integrity and the more nebulous areas of scam protection, hacking, and legal responsibility for loss.  I wonder whether AI capability in breaking passwords will soon overtake personal authentication practice?

See for example the ABC Podcast "The guide to taking back control of your online life" at https://www.abc.net.au/listen/search?query=opt%20out

> PS Circa 1984, I made a boo boo and technically recommended a Northstar PC, running CPM, for Corporate use over MSDOS PC.

I remember those days (:-)...  That was a good technical call IMO, but sadly, marketing, ignorance, and the herd instinct usually wins.  Hands up all those who remember that "nobody was ever sacked for buying IBM"?

> PPS Good luck telling kids there was life before the Internet & Google & Facebook & maybe even TIK TOK.

Too true, but to be fair, most of us probably have difficulty imagining life when our own parents were born.  It's one thing to understand the historical account, but I think quite another to _feel_ what it was like then.  I suppose that's one reason we have novelists.

> So, I would like to refine the prediction that PCs are purchased in 2026 with optional operating system licenses.

Framework Computers have done that for a while - see https://frame.work/au/en/about/  I believe they still offer a bare Intel laptop, one with MS Windows pre-installed, and another with Fedora (I think) pre-installed; I bought the bare DIY version and installed OpenSuSE myself.  The peripheral interfaces come in plug-in interchangeable modules to the internal USB-C bus - I have four I use normally and some extras (Ethernet & HDMI, for example) which can be used if & when required.  Handy, too, if the interface pins are damaged... one doesn't have to throw out the whole device. 

_DavidL_