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[-] grue@lemmy.world 54 points 11 months ago

You know, if you use Linux you don't have to jump through hoops like this (trivial though they may be). Wouldn't it be nice to not have an adversarial, abusive relationship with your OS?

[-] diffcalculus@lemmy.world 72 points 11 months ago

Some of you sound like the annoying stereotype of vegans pushing their diet lifestyle.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

That's because like vegans, there is a moral imperative that most ignore or don't care about, we have a genuine emotional attachment to foss, and because you are ignorant of the topic, you don't care to listen.

What he said is harmless, true, and there is a moral imperative to say it, and ontop of that it isn't like a diet, it's better software that respects you, doesn't spy on you, and for free and the only downside is a 15 minute install process (and the use of a flash drive). Why do you care enough to fight that?

[-] shrugal@lemm.ee 40 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I'm all for Linux and have been using it for years, but saying a 15min install is the only downside is disingenuous. For many people there are a few programs they rely on that won't work on Linux, and hardware support and general user-friendliness are still not quite where they should be.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

the vast majority of hardware is supported, and as someone who works IT and gives linux to the elderly, I don't agree at all with the user unfriendliness, provided you use mint and kde.

If your software doesn't run that does suck, but the vast majority of usecases work perfectly with the breif explanation of "use the app store for any software you need to install." Do you have any examples of user friendliness issues, or is it just that there are choices to make at all?

[-] shrugal@lemm.ee 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

"The vast majority" is useless if the hardware someone has doesn't work, and you usually don't get official support and warranty from the manufacturer for Linux. There are also some categories like webcams, audio equipment or fingerprint readers where Linux support is still notoriously bad. And even if something mostly works, it's fairly common for some hardware to have missing features, instabilities or minor issues on Linux. E.g. my mouse works on Linux ofc, but the software to set and edit profiles doesn't.

Usability issues are mostly cases where you have to fall back to the terminal. An example from my experience would be that trying to upgrade the system from the app store fails half the time, so I have to use the terminal. Another would be a failed boot or graphics issues due to a broken Nvidia driver installation or messed up SELinux policies. It's all fixable in the terminal, but good luck if you can't use that.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml -4 points 11 months ago

I would not agree that is common at all, these are edge cases and I bet your mouse works with piper.

plus soon immutable distros will fix any chance of system breakages, and it's not like similar things don't regularly happen on windows.

[-] shrugal@lemm.ee 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

How much are you willing to bet? I give a hint, there is an open issue from 2016 on their GitHub about supporting the manufacturer of my mouse. And that's pretty much the point, because on Windows I just get the software with the box and that's it. Of course it's closed source and stuff, but it still provides a better experience than no support at all. And that's just one example, Linux also can't use the highest available resolution of my webcam, and the fingerprint reader on my laptop has been completely unusable on Linux from day one.

Immutable distros fix most boot issues, in the sense that you can undo a failed change, but that's about it.

Ofc Windows has its fair share of issues, but it just doesn't break as much in my experience. Probably because they have orders of magnitude more people working on finding and fixing consumer issues, incl. from 3rd party device and software manufacturers.

I'm sorry, but you're lying to yourself if you think consumer support is on par with Windows. It's getting closer and closer every year, but we are not there yet.

[-] Maalus@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

You can not agree with OP, but that doesn't change reality. Linux is a pain to use for a regular user. Linux doesn't support some programs that people depend on and have learned to use. Those things aren't an issue for Windows, people don't need to look around for fixes.

I get it, you like it. But the reality of it is - it's a niche operating system for home use for a reason.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I don't agree that it's a pain for the regular user, I think it's a pain if you use niche software, or software that's designed to not run on linux intentionally.

Outside of that, it works perfectly fine. The vast VAST majority of users will not miss any software.

[-] Maalus@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

I've dealt with enough regular uses to know that no, it's not good for regular users. But you do you - I know that it isn't ready.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml -1 points 11 months ago

I've done the same, I don't think windows is ready for normal users.

[-] ZenbyBosatsu@lemmy.today 1 points 11 months ago

Honestly true. At the very most you have to make certain switches to some software. For elderly people these switches are pretty minor since often they aren’t needing something like industry software for their work and at most will need to switch to like… LibreOffice, OnlyOffice or something of the sort. Not hard. For people in a job that may need design software like any Adobe product, there are Plenty of alternatives that work pretty well. Main thing is just spending a few days to get used to it and learning the differences. Only big thing I’d say that would be very hard to switch to Linux is if you make Music. Because if you use FL Studio, the closest alternative is LMMS… and it sorta sucks and at times is very uncomfortable to work with. You’d probably have to switch to Ardour or Reaper which would be a pretty massive change… Overall though, those account for a small number of people.

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

edit: I meant to say this to the one you replied to!

I agree with you. Plus, most of us are forced to use Windows 11 at work, where we spend most of our screen time.

Maybe I can bother with Linux at home, but that's a fraction of the use case here.

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

I agree with you. Plus, most of us are forced to use Windows 11 at work, where we spend most of our screen time.

Maybe I can bother with Linux at home, but that's a fraction of the use case here.

[-] Aatube@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago

In fact, installation is one of the easiest parts unless you use vanilla arch

[-] ezchili@iusearchlinux.fyi -5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

the annoying stereotype of vegans pushing their diet

famous picture of the plane getting shot that illustrates survivorship bias

Also, vegans actually do something good for the planet instead of just choosing a different OS for their PC. So, maybe acknowledge that to your neighborly vegan next time, instead of telling them a story about how you once met someone who was really pushy about veganism.

[-] Aatube@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago
[-] ezchili@iusearchlinux.fyi 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

"Why do gay people always act flamboyant?"

"Why do vegans always push their lifestyle?"

Because you don't see the ones that don't

[-] ZenbyBosatsu@lemmy.today 2 points 11 months ago

Tbf yes. They do something good for the planet. But I wouldn’t say choosing a different OS isn’t good for the planet either. First, you aren’t supporting companies that will burn this planet down without a second thought for a few million dollars. Secondly there are a few things on Linux made to use less electricity than Windows AND the fact it can run on older computers just fine means that there is less of a need for constantly upgrading this creating less computer waste. (Which something I and many others advocate for and a very solid reason to use Linux) but also merely for the fact that it is by far more ethical in a multitude of ways…

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this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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