this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

the article does not tell about how to keep the system up to date

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah too bad, they should have hilighted that on GNOME DE with OpenSUSE it prompts you that updates are available and you hit OK or cancel. KDE might have something similar.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

KDE too, but those users who have literally no idea how does the computer work, they won't even remember to check that popup window. an automatic solution is what is needed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

GNOME puts it right in your face as a dialog message...but yeah people will ignore it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I also sometimes (but often enough, including a time this week) hear people discuss to not install updates because of this and that.

but then if I think about it, I have trained myself too to this:

  • I avoid updates to my smart tv, because I know with facts that they'll enshittify it, including patching in admin access (was not obtained by a no-interaction attack), flooding it with ads and even more tracking, and even more preinstalled apps and their own tracking. this applies to any "smart" appliences
  • I am cautious with android updates, because they sometimes break things with no way back, not even a real way to do backups. besides that, major version updates always reset some settings including to not connect automatically to any random ISP's cellular network. versions starting with 8 also introduced many new arbitrary limitations out of the user's control that cannot be reverted
  • I've seen many apps on the play store get enshittified, but sometimes f-droid apps to make changes that I would wish they rather didn't do
  • windows updates breaking expected and unexpected things just as well
  • linux is fragile regarding updates, though at times an immediate reboot solves it (when the issue is caused by incompatibility between the the on-disk and in-memory versions of the programs and program libraries)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

TV I agree, my LG updated and now streaming video is broken.

For android phone GrapheneOS.

I haven't found Linux to be fragile. I think that is distro dependent.

I'm on same OpenSUSE (with version upgrades) since 2017. Every update has been fine, only time it was an issue is when nVidia driver got ahead of the kernel for a few days. But OpenSUSE you just choose the previous snapshot.

My wife's laptops is NixOS for maybe 3 years now, no issues.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

For android phone GrapheneOS.

it does not fix a lot of the bullshit changes

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But you can install older versions , or choose when you update

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

which is not a solution, only a hotfix

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Brave is not a privacy focus browser.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 week ago
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's not ready for everyday users when you disable basic multimedia codecs. I know it's a US patent issue but still, you can't expect newcomers and everyday users to just "install a browser via flatpak instead" or "just get your mesa and ffmpeg from this third party repo"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Installing any OS is not for everyday users. Most people wouldn't have any idea how to install windows either. Whoever is setting up the computer should take care of all of that to begin with. I've set up multiple computers for older family members with SUSE and they are all happy with them, and I get almost no tech support calls. The one exception is printing, but you get that with anything because printing sucks. It's really to my advantage with my step father's computer because he has negative computer knowledge. He was one of those people who had a million add on bars in IE because he'd click the accept button on every shady website he visited.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is not an accurate depiction. All those parts look like they will fit out of the box and all the parts are there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Little do they known that both Clone Hero and YARG are native, the old crummy PC ports run fine on Wine (Even the WTDE mod) and RPCS3 works fantastic for Rock Band

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

what a dogshit boomer humor type lemmy community lmao

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Is there good humor somewhere on Lemmy?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I enjoy them. But I'm a dogshit boomer.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Most of the list is either websites or websites on steroids (Electron), it's more than sufficient for "everyday users", but it doesn't really say anything new about the state of the Linux desktop, it's been like this for a few years in that aspect, but it has progressed a lot as of recent on many other aspects which are worth making a notice about.
On the other hand I think it's important to mention those things we don't have or can't ever (or who knows when) have, because the companies behind those products don't care at all for the platform, or care about in a negative way, several of those are used by "everyday users" and I'm sure it can be a deal breaker for them. I guess it's a decent campaign to cater to those looking at their options with the incoming end of Windows support at least

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I love that Linux exists, but I really don't appreciate the bullshit PR speak about how regular users can switch from Windows with little-to-no friction. The second something doesn't work as expected, even a minor thing, they'll be at a complete loss about how to even investigate the issue, let alone correct it. Windows competency doesn't transfer to Linux for even the most basic under-the-hood stuff. The less honest you are about that, the fewer people will try Linux a second time, and the more people will write off the entire endeavour as being the domain of computer experts/enthusiasts.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The second something doesn’t work as expected, even a minor thing, they’ll be at a complete loss about how to even investigate the issue, let alone correct it.

In the majority of cases, this is no different from Windows users on Windows.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

True, but users will be differently confused in Linux.

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