this post was submitted on 27 May 2024

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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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It's time to move to Linux - YouTube (youtube.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Lol that last sentence.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 8 months ago (13 children)

God i wish. And most everyone here could install a new operating system in about 20 minutes. But nobody else is going to because the learning curve for a regular user to install an os is basically perpendicular. Even if they had a linux installer already on a flash drive.

Oh just boot into the bios and find the option to boot for a flash drive and then boom installed.

Which requires a user to know, What a bios is

What booting means

What boot options mean

What the model of their flash drive is

What button on their keyboard they need to press to get to the bios

What secure boot is

Where they need to go to turn off secure boot

How and where to back up their important files

What a disk partition is

How to reverse the changes made to the bios so that it doesn't boot to usb by default.

And that's assuming they know why they want a different OS, why they care and that they know about Linux in the first place.

Most people dont and never will. All you can do is install Linux for the ones you like the most and say a prayer to your favorite deity for the rest.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I've said this multiple times in other comments, but what would be amazing is a linux-installer.exe that shows the normal installer wizard with non-techie, beginner, and advanced options that allows installing linux from windows and booting right into it.

The ultimate goal would be for the desktop environment to have a windows theme by default, have all the alternatives installed for previously installed software with desktop icons that look the same, and all files to be where they were previously. That way you could just say "go to https://windowsupgrade.com / https://linux.install and run the installer" to anybody non-technical and have them running linux in under an hour.

It should be so simple and unassuming that people don't even realise they installed linux. If they message back "I ran it, but I'm still on windows", that's a success.

Anti Commercial-AI license

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Who needs to know their flash drive model?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Mostly just so they know which boot device to pick.

Admittedly that's probably not necessary or the least of someone's issues.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

That is why Microsoft spent a total of gazillion dollars to have its OS pre-installed on all PCs. We need more PCs with Linux pre-installed. This should be an antitrust issue but I am not knowledgeable enough to say how.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Yes.

Really the hardest part of desktop linux for a regular, so called "internet user", in the installation.

They don't have no clue how to install an operating system, even windows.

I once installed CentOS workstation for my father on his ThinkPad. Firefox and Libreoffice is all he needs. Automatic updates in the background make sure all the latest security patches are applied. There have been few time when, after the update, the laptop hangs at boot. I've since told him to choose the second-to-last boot option from the "start-up menu" until the fix for the bug has been deployed (usually in within a 24h).

So really using Linux isn't the hard part. Back in 2004 (ish) I went the painful route of installing my first Linux - Gentoo. But boy I learned a lot from it. Yes, I had a helping friend to get me over the hardest parts.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (2 children)

It's worth noting that the same applies when installing Windows.

Most people never do that either because it's already ~~bloated with malware~~ installed on the PC they buy.

Same with macOS, you buy the hardware with preinstalled software.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Agreed. All those things in your list are the hardest part of modern linux, if someone gets past the UEFI, BIOS secureboot hurdle the modern GUI experiemce is superior to Windows

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Most ppl can't be bothered to install an ad blocker. Microsoft knows ppl will just take whatever they offer.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Linux distros have gotten friendlier and with better HW and SW support but PC makers and already established ecosystem have also made customizing more difficult. This means end users are increasingly discouraged to do anything that is not "authorized", further driving away adoption of alternatives.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I spent too much time with corpo brain rot to give linux a chance on desktop and realize it's how I'd always imagined proper computing would be. It changed my outlook on the world when I finally did and it's liberating (much libre. Very wow). Glad to see more and more people catching on to the possibility of a better future.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

it really is crazy how different it feels to use a linux pc after being conditioned to think that windows is just how using a computer is. the way i relate it to my friends is that using windows feels like i'm constantly compromising with the computer, but using linux i own my computer and it works for me - not the other way around.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Changed your outlook on ms world ^^

[+] [email protected] -22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

I appreciate the enthusiasm Linux fanboys have about this. But ain’t nobody but the most tech savvy would even consider it.

Linux is not consumer friendly, it typically involves putting in a shit load of effort to get working with your hardware, the ones that don’t still need a ton of work to make “Windows-like” and compatibility is always going to be an issue.

Yes, there have been a ton of strides toward this dream situation. But without financial incentive, making things user-friendly isn’t going to happen. In fact, much of the Linux community prides themselves on having a “difficult” OS.

Once Linux can, by default, have an easy to use interface, can natively run Android apps and windows applications, and can work with a huge range of hardware, it will never take off. Linux might get a few points of market share due to some business applications finding Linux a better option than updating HW and windows build, but those companies are going to struggle and will be even more dependent on their IT staff for the simplest of things.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

the ones that don’t still need a ton of work to make “Windows-like”

Perhaps that's where you're going wrong?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Hey míster, 1999 called, they want their Linux comment back.

Linux is easier to install than Windows. On windows 11 vs. Ubuntu Linux:

Literally last time I installed both, Linux was a 25 minute task that includes download time. Windows was a week long hell that in total cost me over 7 hours, required me to make bios changes, run VMs to try and burn the damn image and a whole lot more headaches

Out of the box, Linux will detect and support most hardware quite well. Again, can't say the same for windows where a lot of manual labour was involved.

On how it works? Even my mother can sit down and use it out of the box, talking from experience.

Is Linux perfect? By no means it is. Are there spill specialty devices out there that require extra work or may not even be supported? I'm sure there are. Does the same go for Windows? You bet your ass.

Does Linux have a better user experience than Windows? You bet your ass. No ads, no marketing BS, no money begging, no tricks, no clutter, no OS stuffed with sponsored crap, it. Just. Works.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I get it, I walked into the den and poked the bear. But I think a reality check for this kind of “Linux will take over Microsoft” is necessary. 95% of computer users don’t care about their OS and would never imagine re-installing it or installing a different one. Just the idea of thinking about an OS puts that person in the advanced user category. It took Google to mod Linux and sell it to every public school in America to get it to a 4% user base. It is clearly not something for everyone, it isn’t even for most people who use Reddit or Lemmy, and those communities are def more closely representative of people capable of using Linux.

I understand that there have been many advances to make it a usable OS for the casual person. But it isn’t. Sure, your mom might be able to use it “out of the box” but it doesn’t come in a box. The two widely adopted versions of Linux had to be heavily modified by large dev teams of Valve and Google, for very limited numbers of devices. Would Valve make a version for a non-gaming focused device, or computer at large? Would Google make a version that wasn’t in direct support of Googles products? I doubt it.

It isn’t just lack of knowledge of Linux that is holding it back. Its main demographic is nerdy computer people who are willing to, occasionally, run a shell command or hunt down the necessary things to get their webcam to work. That isn’t what Microsoft aims for, they aim for the average computer user who wants to watching videos, play games, browse the web and check their emails without thinking about any part of how or why it works.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago

You’re absolutely spot on. Unfortunately no one here is willing to accept it.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago

Linux was hard when you had to install it from a box of floppies, download your software over a 9600 baud modem and get your documentation from a book. Back then, people that had computers knew a lot more than they do today. Most people today wouldn't be able to get a computer running if it came with a blank hard drive and a windows installer DVD because all they know how to use is a web browser.

Most people would have no issues using a computer with Linux preinstalled, especially if it has KDE, which looks very similar to windows. Hell, some people probably wouldn't know the difference as long as it had a Firefox and chrome shortcut on the desktop.

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