this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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I used to think I was a 5/10, but then I tried to pirate a game on SteamDeck and I felt like I lost a lot of braincells. Spend like 6 hours trying to fix things and I accidentally bugged the internal speakers.

I think I'm at 3/10, linux (SteamOS) is so fucking hard to use.

I might be the most technologically illiterate Lemmy user ever.

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[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 1 minute ago
[–] obsoleteacct@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 minutes ago

I think I'm 6/10. I'd consider myself an advanced user. I'm capable enough to avoid casual problems, and instead create real serious problems.

I am skilled enough to understand that I don't know shit.

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 hour ago

If you blindly run commands without thinking, you're gonna have a bad time in Linux.

SteamOS is also not hard to use, especially if you use it as intended, but if you start going outside the box on things, you can definitely break stuff. Nintendo switch would have the same problems if they let you touch the knobs that valve does with SteamOS

[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Entirely dependent on the field of technology. On average, like a 6 or 7? But i do regularly find myself to be a dumbass who doesn't know shit about fuck.

If my brain worked on command that'd probably bump me up to an 8 or 9 though.

[–] callyral@pawb.social 1 points 2 hours ago

5/10, i customize my linux desktop, i know how to setup a basic linux server, etc.

[–] MoreFPSmorebetter@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 hours ago

I've been working with computers and building them my whole life. I am pretty good with windows. I regularly tell potential employers in interviews that I rate my skills with windows computers at about a 6/10. I can probably fix anything you broke, but I am terrified of editing hex code and other things that the IT wizards do with ease.

I can take apart most electronics and put them back together without breaking them which is not a skill that most people possess apparently. Back when I worked at geeksquad I became known as the "laptop keyboard repair guy" in the area. Other stores would literally send people to see me because apparently nobody else can take apart an hp laptop and remember where all of the 47 screws went or do it without ripping a ribbon cable. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[–] ech@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

So, not sure what details I may be missing, but my experience putting any non-steam game onto a steam deck is just transferring over the game folder and linking the executable in steam. No idea how one could mess up any other part of the system with that.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 3 points 3 hours ago

A solid 4, I think. Sure, I can build a PC and install an OS but both of those have been pretty much plug and play for decades at this point.

Don't ask me about your smartphone, your smart home devices or your Windows 10/11 problems, I don't have a clue about any of that. If you visited my home you'd be forgiven for thinking it was abandoned 20 years ago.

I can usually figure out basic tech I've never used before, but I'd prefer to have the manual, help or hindrance though that may be.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 hours ago

I am an IT technician, I would say that I am about a 7.

Most of my job deals with psychology.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 21 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

What's the scale? I'm proposing:

1 - able to turn on the device (not necessarily turn it off)
9 - can train and run own LLM (from scratch, not from an existing model)
10 - knows how to reliably set up a printer

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 17 points 7 hours ago

10 - knows how to reliably set up a printer

What is this, D&D levels? Let’s keep this fantasy nonsense out of the rating scale!

[–] kbal@fedia.io 5 points 7 hours ago (2 children)
  1. Inert object, no ability to move, perceive, or interact with any tech
  2. Root vegetable, largely unaware of technology
  3. Nematode or worm, unlikely to use tools much
  4. Lizard, capable of accidentally pressing buttons
  5. Blue Jay, might learn to deliberately press a button
  6. Orangutan, could make and use simple tools
  7. Human baby, likes to grab things, can use iphone
  8. American high school student, can use electric toothbrush
  9. Chess club member, probably knows javascript
  10. Go club member, probably knows C++
  11. Kernel hacker
[–] Monster96@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Kernal, that's something to do with popcorn right? I'm definitely a 10

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

As someone who wrote not only one, but two kernels, can I claim an 11?

kernel

kernel

kernel

11s hate this one simple trick !

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Only if you make something like TempleOS.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 41 minutes ago (1 children)

I'm not that crazy. I built a fully working preemptive multitasking OS for my C64 (although it was a heavily modified machine), and another one for a customer that used eight processors communicating over SCSI.

I created a patch for Linux 0.97 (+-, at least somewhere below 1.0), too.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 points 15 minutes ago

Sounds like fun!

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 5 hours ago

I mean im in IT and it really depends. Everythings a learning curve so things you have figured out usually goes well but since every tech has pretty much unlimited use cases you still can hit roadblocks. For things you have never done it takes time to learn how to do the common uses and then you can expand out to things that require more finesse (ideally, if the boss wants Z you make it do Z even if you never got it to do X)

[–] StrixUralensis@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Please give references for the scale

Also Richard Stallman -- the man who wrote the original Emacs and GCC -- has never installed a GNU+Linux distro, and he has no idea/interest in it.

[–] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 16 points 8 hours ago (4 children)

how the fuck do you "bug" the internal speakers while attempting to pirate a game? that's like saying you broke the sink while trying to change a light bulb.

[–] Oka@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 hour ago

They used the sink as a stepstool obviously

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Dependency... magic. Currently I am having to wait for Firefox not loading websites due to a slower DVD drive I am uploading from to cloud in another tab.
Maybe some internal QoS thingy where it thinks the network connection is slow.

And recently I had issues with laptop taking a very long time to resume from sleep or turning screen back on due to iio-sensor-proxy, a program responsible for... at least determining physical screen orientation.

[–] ech@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

First one sounds like a RAM issue, or maybe bandwidth. Uploading directly from a disc sounds incredibly resource hungry.

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 hour ago

Neither. Network-wise everything would work, but other Firefox tabs. Especially when I tried uploading multiple files at once, which caused too much seeking.
I was still able to stream from VLC, while the same stream would time out in Firefox.

Anyway, I just had to reboot due to a certain runaway situation. Something happened with UDF-fs that caused 100% CPU through excessive logging.

[–] Rednax@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

Welcome to linux!

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Idk, its actually a common problem according to SteamDeck users on reddit, so like its not just me. Must've accidentally messed with a setting.

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[–] cloudless@piefed.social 12 points 8 hours ago (4 children)

Whatever score you give to youself, will be a demonstration of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

[–] mienshao@lemmy.world 15 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I think the opposite—seems like many of you on Lemmy don’t realize how bad the general population is with technology and are selling yourselves short. Even knowing what linux is puts you at a 6/10 imo, especially when compared to most folks (half of whom don’t know how gmail works).

Like the fact that we’re on Lemmy—a site that most americans probably couldn’t access if they tried—shows we’re all at least a 5/10 on the technology scale.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

You’re completely right.

XKCD 2501

[–] Rambomst@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

So what you are saying is my estimate of 8/10 is too low, right? Right.....?

[–] cloudless@piefed.social 9 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Rambomst@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

I laughed way too hard at this

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[–] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 10 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

There is not one single technology to be good or bad at. You can be an Android development ace, a Windows gamer and a Linux user all at the same time, and naturally you will struggle if you switch to Windows dev and Linux gamer.

Being tech savy really just means that you know and recognize tons of patterns that pop up everywhere (e.g. drag-n-drop, config files in certain places with overrides in other places etc.)

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 30 minutes ago

I do all of those, but I cannot build a modern website.

Wait, it's all JavaScript?

[–] Libb@piefed.social 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

11 - I avoid it as much as I can ;)

More seriously, I will often be the one people around ask for help but it doesn't change that I also learned to absolutely distrust tech.

All tech, be it corporate-owned as well as free/Libre... I'm using Linux and have no issue (I like it) but I'm also terrified by the many 'social code of conducts' that have been popping out in many communities. Not necessarily because I disagree with their core values, that would not even matter much, but because it's stating a precedent to allow a group to remove any user they don't like/disagree with the right to use a tech... and that power will be used even when not 'the good guys' will be in charge.

Hence me slowly falling back to analog as much as possible...

Edit: typos, clarifications

[–] 0x30507DE@lemmy.today 2 points 5 hours ago

My thing is C++ and Z80/45GS02 assembly, and I love a good terminal, so wherever that puts me I guess

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

My technology skill makes me satisfied that your scale starts at zero, but annoyed it didn't end with nine.

[–] bacon_pdp@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

Between 0.4 and 0.6 but the best humans score between 1.2 and 1.8; we are all pretty shit at technology.

If you don’t believe me, ask technical lithography questions to software programmers and economic questions to plumbers.

We are swimming in a sea of technologies and don’t even know how deep the water around us is.

Fuck the technological complexity in a single screw is massive.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

I used to be really good. In the last 15 years or so the industry has insisted on making the interface would be worse and worse. NowI’m damn near helpless. I google more stuff than you can imagine. It’s fucking stupid. I don’t even enjoy most technology anymore.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 hours ago

Operating stuff with GUI? Maybe 5/10, just ok.

Operating stuff using command? 0/10 i suck.

[–] Rambomst@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

8/10 maybe more, maybe less. Software developer, don't really have issues with tech, but put me in front of a quantum computer and I sure as shit would be lost, but fine with consumer products.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 2 points 5 hours ago

Same just about.

Like I know some truely brilliant people. I'm just happy riding the coattails.

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 hours ago

Learning drive 5. Using once learned 8

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 points 5 hours ago

Like a 7 or 8 maybe?

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

Scale is always a problem with questions like this. If these are percentiles of the general population, then I'm easily 10 and even trying to dig deep enough into Linux to break a Steam Deck puts you near the upper end of the scale.

If on the other hand, 0 is an otherwise intelligent adult who refuses to have anything to do with anything having a screen and 10 is Lovelace, Turing, von Neumann, etc... then I might be a 7 or 8.

[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

Decimal or binary? I'd say a two.

[–] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

I "hacked" my wii to get free games one time does that count? other than that I can operate most devices but I have no idea how to code and don't have time to learn. I'd put myself at a 6/10.

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