ian

Yes I have no interest in having a browser in the way. But 2 things. Firstly CATIA in a browser is just the same CATIA running on a remote PC somewhere. It's the same program. And secondly, as longvas the UI looks and works the same, with no delays, then it'll be fine. Sure you can't use it when your wifi or Internet is down or slow, or the provider has power or Internet issues. And your customer is not a military or super secrecy case. But its clearly expecting to find a market.

I use commercial CAD. CATIA for car bodies. There is no FOSS alternative that comes close for my work. But the light at the end of the tunnel is, many CAD systems, including CATIA, are going web based. So users just need a browser on any OS. And the back end can be what it wants.

As a non IT person I find Linux way better for installing software. The sort of apps non IT people use. The Software store has most of what I need. There rest I install the Windows way. From a website. Apps with a Linux version almost always detect and offer a Linux button to click to install. I wouldn't know what to do if that didn't work. Ditch that application I guess. My distros are pretty standard. Not hacked about. My apps are not too weird. I've been doing it this way for 14+ years. Never needed the CLI either.

Its nice to hear about even more ways that Gimp is better than Photoshop.

Constructive criticism is good. I hope you reported bugs. Just saying you hate it, or it sucks, says more about you than the software.

Because Linux had a choice of desktop environments to try out. What a playground.

My first peek was with Wubi. >2008 ish? Then Knoppix had a live boot. Then all the other live boots followed. Very important easy first step.

I'm now on Plasma, tweaked to suit me.

Ha ha. So funny... what's 'compile'?

I use Nextcloud for this. It has a sync app for the phone and PC. So photos, notes, documents, calendar and contacts. All immediately backed up and secure. It's all available everywhere. And can be shared. Such as a gallery. I use a free hosted Nextcloud so no IT needed. And it's cheap to up the storage amount.

Having a deadline for the end of combustion engines is intended to push big car business to put more effort into transitioning. If they drag their feet they will be left behind.

I too am very cautious of getting stuck with Linux. I try to be sure I'm not doing things the hard way. I have found easy distros and easy ways to do most things in Linux despite many people suggesting I do it the IT pro way that they do. Usually because they haven't investigated easy ways for non IT users. They mean well, but don't know about usability or if there us an easy way.

Sadly, big business, techies without imagination and community FOSS without enough capacity are the ones that control what is available. Nothing will suddenly change. Usability is way down the priority list.

That's not necessarily so. There are all sorts of legacy reasons people give for making poor software. From lazy monopolies to programmers with little understanding of usability. To people without the big picture. It will change.