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Screw it, I’m installing Linux
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this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
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Oh man, don't read the comments, sad to see the smartasses saying "report back when you install windows again in two months" while getting utterly fucked by Windows.
I mean, I understand being resistant to change but being a fanatic of Windows or anything for that matter just because that's all you know is really ignorant, it's not a sports team for fucks sake, of course it's not easy switching and you will have problems just dont be afraid to ask and read the error warning.
Rant over
I use Windows for work and I miss Win10, I don't like it but I'm aware that's currently the target of most Consumer SW for good reason but that reason is starting to break (say it with me! BAD BUSINESS DECISIONS!!!).
Happy to see Linux getting mainstream, not all comments are bad but I the trolls got me.
It's like do-gooder derogation. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do-gooder_derogation )
Someone doing something good? Fuck them. They think they're better than us?? Where do they get off??!?
A lot of people are trash and are emotionally invested in both the way things currently are, and that they are a very good person
TIL there's a name for this
There's a name for everything. There's probably a name for there being a name for everything.
What’s the name for that sensation that’s somewhere between a taste and a smell but it’s mainly at the back of my mouth near the throat and good food can have it in bad ways for some reason
Well, if you honestly think about it, Linux has always been tried by many of people that eventually went back to Windows because something wasn't entirely straightforward. Don’t get me wrong, I love Linux, but I don’t blame people for thinking that. Trying Linux is very different than sticking to it. Linux is amazing OS for people who put at least some effort into learning it, but like it or not, it can be absolute pain for those expecting things to just work without any interest on why they experiencing issues. Given how many sets of hardware and peripherals people have, weird quirks, bugs and required workarounds aren’t unheard of. Maybe it’s just something very simple to fix for an advanced user, but normies will just run away.
Which is like 95% of people.
Imagine if cars worked this way. Imagine you needed to be a mechanic to operate your vehicle. To start and drive your car, you first have to do automotive work, and know how to do automotive work.
A lot less people would drive themselves. A lot more Ubers.
Wait what? Hahaha, it is only a problem when things don't work. Same with cars, as in your analogy, if your car is not starting your are taking that Uber...
You don't need to be a mechanic, but you need to know the lights in your panel, know how to check the oil, know how to change a tire, etc... For when things go wrong and maybe you can repair what's needed yourself.
Bringing it back to Linux, you can try Linux directly from a USB without installing anything and most of the time it just works. If gradma is only reading the news or watching youtube she doesn't care what OS it is.
As someone who tried it for a few months then switched back for several years before returning permanently two years ago: Linux has long had the problem that it's completely ready for different people at different times.
In 2017 it was in pretty good shape if you weren't a gamer, didn't mind tinkering a fair bit, were prepared to learn a completely different two ways of installing software, and didn't rely on proprietary apps (I couldn't get Netflix to work). I was only ready for the tinkering. Also I'd used Ubuntu and gnome just added more changes.
Five years later a lot had changed. I wasn't using Netflix (especially not in the app) for one. But Proton had come around and made gaming just work. My wifi drivers just worked unlike before. Years of mobile app stores and a few months of lemmy had prepared me for repos, even though it still took some getting the hang of to switch from just downloading and double clicking an exe file. But also the software options are increasingly available rather than having to learn to use old school wine while in the middle of a massive change. I still think I should switch away from garuda at some point as I dislike some of the choices it made (no flatpak support for one), but I love aspects of it. And all throughout that time that Linux was getting more accessible to someone like me who isn't a coder, but was tech nerd curious, windows was increasingly getting in my way and becoming anti user.
I think adoption will continue to increase as Linux continues to get easier for more people
I don't see them as trolls. I've been on ZorinOS for about a year now. I hate it because I don't know how to do anything, but I'm not smart enough to learn terminal.
Flatpaks are the answer to installation. But any problem I have, I google, and every result starts the same way.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
I have a 100% rate of those solutions not working for me. And the reason is simple. Those solutions assume you know how to use linux. So when you copy and paste their terminal commands, and your terminal responds with error: dependancies not found, YOU know how to fix that error and it works for you. But for most regular people, thats the end of that. Problem not solved. Problem remains a problem FOREVER.
No, seriously. I have a usb recovery stick that allows me to backup/restore my hard drive exactly how it is. Anytime I have to use terminal I ALWAYS make a backup of my hard drive first. Which takes 4 hours. And the reason for that is, when I inevitably fuck something up in terminal, and the whole OS crashes, and refuses to boot, I have a backup. It takes nearly 20 hours to restore the image, but it works. But whatever problem I was trying to solve remains.
Imagine if that were your linux experience. Windows spies on you. They have enshitification out the ass. But it works for the masses without technical knowledge.
The other issue is that businesses use windows. So most people are firmiliar with windows. So all the popular programs are on windows. Linux has a way to emulate windows programs, but its hard to get working, and sometimes just DOESN'T work.
If linux had every single program windows has, 100% as a flatpak, it would do wonders for install rate......for about a year.
Once people install the programs, they'll at some point run into an issue. On windows you solve the problem 99% of the time by restarting. On linux, that hasn't fixed any of my problems once.
These people aren't trolls. They just have a different opinion than you from a different perspective.
Next time you have an issue in linux, any issue, regardless of how small, I want you to turn off your computer for 4 hours. Then turn it back on for 5 minutes. Then off again for 20 hours. Don't solve the issue. I know YOU can solve the issue in 30 seconds, but don't. After the 24 hours no computer use, just live with the problem for the rest of your life.
Yeah, that doesn't sound fun, does it? Sounds like a reason to have a sour experience. Suddenly they don't seem like trolls.
That command terminal thing is so real. When it works, its magic. When it doesn't work, you just messed with forces you didn't understand and are already forced into chancing a repair and maybe make the problem worst or getting back to the original one! (Very discouraging if you are just trying to get work done, especially for non techies)
I think the problem with linux users is that they can't imagine that the appeal for most people who want to use an OS is to make something happen in the "real world" with a top level piece of software, like you want to draw a cute cat on the screen not learn how the compositor draws the pixels to multiple different screen resolutions WHEN the monitor model is a use case supported scenario.
The objective is to use the computer as a tool NOW for a SPECIFIC thing without diving into the inner guts of the machine for some people, and that's honestly fine.
Some of us are old enough to remember when "that command terminal thing" was computing. Now there's something about text on a black screen that seems to make people's eyes glaze over and their brains turn off today. You'd think they were being asked to decipher the Matrix. Too many generations removed I suppose.
The reality is I'm definitely not figuring out how my compositor works, almost never touching system files, infrequently scripting, and almost always using "a tool NOW for a SPECIFIC thing." I'm not a tech luddite. Modern computing is shiny and awesome. You want graphical tools for graphical tasks. But there are so many excellent specific-purpose CLI tools, typically included by default across nearly every distro, that make so much more sense to use over a GUI. Maybe not always but most of the time.
Simple example, damned if I'm gonna open a file browser, navigate to my downloads directory, right click - Cut (or Ctrl X), navigate to another directory, paste, then right click - Rename. Not when I can just open a terminal (realistically, I always have it open) and
mv ~/downloads/kewlwallpapers_abstract_dark_blah_blah.jpg ~/pics/wallpaper/abstract_003.jpgEspecially when tab completion means I just have to type a partial path or filename and slap Tab to fill in the rest. It's just so quick.