As a nearly sole Linux user, this is a strength for Linux. The ability to complain about features and push for improvements is exactly what sets it apart from having to submit to profit motivations. Maybe they’re misguided, but I’d rather embrace it and chance at growing the community.
If Linux works well for you I’m genuinely happy for you, but it’s incompatible with what I use a computer for so that’s mighty unfortunate.
I’m stuck with beating windows with a pipe wrench.
What’s your use case? Just curious
Playing video games and streaming video games. Sure plenty of video games are compatible with Linux. But plenty aren’t! Also you know some day to day software.
A lot of people who try to incite me to swap over are like “Yeah bro just abandon all the games you literally own a computer to play to swap to an unfamiliar OS”
There’s something to be said about the fact that I’m not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs and have multiple decades working in windows environments and 0 with Linux. It’s not the world’s smoothest transition.
But plenty aren’t!
Just a pet peeve of myself and probably plenty of other Linux users/fans. This phrasing makes it sound like there’s way more incompatible games than there are.
Out of the top 1000 games on Steam only 21 don’t work on Linux. I personally wouldn’t call that “plenty”. And for most of those games, the devs actively chose to make the game incompatible with Linux and Proton.
I get that the games you want to play aren’t compatible, and that makes you not willing to use Linux. That’s good and valid, and I have nothing against that. It’s just annoying when people (usually accidentally) exaggerate game compatibility issues on Linux.
There’s something to be said about the fact that I’m not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs
I’d like to add that this is somewhat outdated information. While there are some distros where you still need the CLI a lot (mainly server distros), many of the mainstream distros have enough GUI support that 99% of users don’t need to touch the CLI. I switched to Nobara a few weeks ago and I haven’t needed to use the CLI yet.
It’s not the world’s smoothest transition.
Another thing to note is that the transition doesn’t have to be a hard break. Many people dip their toes into Linux by dual booting. That being said, there’s some pitfalls, namely not keeping Windows and Linux on the same drive, since Windows has a habit of deleting the bootloaders of other OS’s during updates.
But, as I said earlier, it’s fine if you want to stay on Windows. I just want to clarify some misunderstandings you seem to have about Linux
Spot on, though I will admit, the gaming working as well as it does is a pretty recent development to be fair, and everyone (especially not people who don’t use linux) may not be up to date on that info.
Also to the CLI, sure you may not need it as much as you used to, it isn’t “doing everything with commands” anymore, but I’ll be honest claims of “never needing it” are often exaggerated on the other end. In reality, most linux users will still need to use it sometimes, varying by usecase and distro. To that end, I will say, before I switched myself this was the largest thing holding me back, but I’d heard it had gotten better, and windows was changing shit on me so often that I figured “if I’m gonna relearn X on windows every month I might as well just bite the bullet and learn linux instead.” I watched a few videos on youtube after searching “bash basics” and “linux terminal basics” and followed along like it was a basic computer class teaching use of Powerpoint, and within a couple hours (maybe three) I was not just “no longer scared” but almost comfortable in the terminal. Doing this has greatly improved my experience over the years of running linux and I recommend it to all newcomers even if you then still avoid it after, if just for a passing familiarity. Basically: “Only use sudo carefully, and always keep a backup of any important files, so if you do break your shit you only lose the time it takes to reinstall. Also you can use timeshift or snapper.” These days I’ll even open up a terminal inside of my GUI file browser sometimes, I love the CLI now.
As to dual booting, I like to recommend either if your laptop has two drives dedicate one to each OS, or if not, linux will run on a potato, if you or anyone you know is going to upgrade PCs because “it runs too slow,” no it doesn’t, that’s just windows’ bloat. Take the old HW for free or cheap and slap an appropriately weighted distro on it, then use it to learn while you still have your main, then when you realize how much better it is just switch your main over too, it’s free!
Every decade people abandon all their games when they buy a new console. Why is that not weird? Game compatibility also drops when new Windows versions are released. Some things just… are.
I wouldn’t let it hold you back too much.
Also, i’m running more commands in powershell to fix things than i’m running commands in bash.
Not to convince you, but to assure you it’s not that daunting.
There’s something to be said about the fact that I’m not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs and have multiple decades working in windows environments and 0 with Linux. It’s not the world’s smoothest transition.
It’s more GUI focused than Windows
“Yeah bro just abandon all the games you literally own a computer to play to swap to an unfamiliar OS”
That’s me, the longer you’re on Windows the more you’ll be on Windows.
Is this a joke?
No sir that’s a mirror
Me using krita: “i hate your liquify tool, why can’t your vector tool behave normally? Why if i change a modifier key for one tool it messes up all tools?”
Krita won’t open: PANIK
Arguably, the other stalls are all paywalled. So no, you can’t just walk away from Linux.
Linux will be eventually
Sure, variations of it will probably be. In the same way a fork of mastodon is used for Trumps truth social platform, despite it being a predominantly left application.
The key thing you’re not considering about open source is the lack of central governance. Ubuntu can decide to impose age checks, arch could decide it requires TPM setup, and fedora could choose to move to a licensing fee model. All would be independent decisions however, and only affect the respective distro and any built from it, yet they’re all called Linux.
Besides, with all open source applications, anything implemented can be reverted by someone else. The code is licensed publicly for this exact reason.
How would that be possible given that the Linux Kernel is entirely open source.
They found a way to sell water to people in tiny little portions and people pay for it. People will pay for convenience that works.
But that’s not an issue with Linux, you would still be able to use it for free just like before.
I think people will stop showing up.
Open source culture of the 70s, 80s and 90s I don’t think exists with the same principals today. It’s driven by different things entirely.
Maybe people don’t remember, but the early days of the internet people were loud about keeping profit motives away. It was all about rejection of data scarcity and therefore open source was this core belief in the early days that the internet was going to end artifical data scarcity. Information should not cost anything if I can take a book or music or game or file and just copy it.
That’s an insane concept now. Artist need to be paid. The triple AAA game developers need to eat. Info wars journalist need to buy cocaine. So now we shifted. We’ve let these dinosaurs of the past die. Richard Stallmans no longer exist. In today’s world you all would demand Aaron Swartz get the death penalty. It’s not the same climate.
Over time open source is going to starve to and die. It’ll shift to a different model. The only reason it still exist and gets worked on today is because we’re still benefiting from the model previous generations built. But that culture no longer exists like it once did. It’s the opposite now.
Stallman is literally the example of this who watched the open sharing of software eventually go corporate and proprietary. That’s why he created GNU in the first place. Whose doing that today?
Unionization of the workforce is another example that’s slowly died out with culture.
It’s only safe right now because of time and that enterprise benefits.
Does this actually happen, or is this an argument someone had in their head?
On Lemmy…it happens more in reverse.
Example:
That’s in the Windows11 community.

Yeah, that’s the smugposting we know and expect.
Seen it happen both ways.
I mean this goes both ways. Someone asks for help diagnosing an issue in windows and inevitably some snarky Linux user feels compelled to say something unhelpful.
I’ve seen variations of a snarky “I never had this problem on Linux” one-liner comment so many times that I have to resist the urge to write “I never had this problem on Windows” every time I see a Linux user asking for help.
I’ll save you the trouble:
“Well linux is maintained by volunteers not a billion dollar multinational corporation that should have the budget to do that”
With a side of:
“That’s because windows got in bed with PC OEMs and contracted to be the ONLY preinstalled OS they can use years ago (when it also sucked less), so it became the standard, and now vendor lock in rears it’s ugly head, so the other multinational corporations cater to windows. Had any other OS done that you’d use that, you don’t like ‘windows’ itself you like vendor lock in.”
I’m using Arch btw
Yeah as a huge linux fan we gotta be honest with ourselves 😅 we’re kinda fuckin insufferable at times
I think a lot of the technical folks who built the space made interpersonal skills kind of a dump stat- and to be fair, I benefit enormously from the technical ability they have in exchange for that lack of social skill. But it does define the culture of Foss spaces in a bunch of ways that aren’t the greatest 😅
Speak for yourself. I’m a huge Linux fan but I find it rather easy to not annoy people. Mostly because IDGAF what OS anyone who isn’t me is using. And the only time I’d ever recommend Linux is if someone technical was asking for advice. If they’re non-technical, I will tell them to not use Linux (no fucking way am I going to be their tech support). If they’re technical, they can decide on their own (unless they ask me directly).
On that subject of social skills not being my dump stat- if I include myself in the group I’m critisizing (WE have this issue, vs YOU GUYS have this issue) it is less confrontational and more people will be able to connect with what I’m saying and think about it. Its more effective verbiage
And ultimately I’m part of this culture too, dysfunction and all, and want it to be healthier :) trying to use my social skills to support that change is a way that I can contribute, even if I can’t contribute technical expertise
I do maybe wanna contribute to UI design work for Foss/floss stuff someday though ☺️
It’s what convinced me to make a switch to Linux, two years ago by now.
I’ve seen it mentioned for years at that point. Did it feel annoying? A bit, especially when I was trying to solve something. But it was one post that pushed me over the edge. I’ve probably seen a lot posts/replies like that before.
I can’t say why, I guess the stars aligned, but I’m glad it happened. I probably wouldn’t do it, if it weren’t for years of constant reminders that Linux is in fact an option.
Yeah, and sometimes the solution really is just “stop using a garbage OS”.
Like maybe there’s a good reason why it’s such a common thing people suggest here
Yeah I think its a balancing act. That’s why with this kind of thing I prefer to just share my excitement with people without expectations that they wanna engage with it the same way I do
I think you can share what makes linux special and expose people to the idea without it needing to be badgering. Which I’m sure works for some folks who are open to the idea, but it also just fuels kinda tribalistic antagonistism and resentment in many cases
It took a long time for one of my friends and I to be able to have conversations about linux cause she got so burned out by the prosthelytizing she’d gotten previously that she was defensive, and I got defensive that I couldnt easily talk about the thing I’m excited about. I’m really excited that these days I can just tell her about the shit I think is cool without her feeling like I’m demanding something of her :) yesterday we had a lovely conversation about social media and the fediverse ☺️
It’s odd to me to be a fan of an OS. It’s the nuts and bolts needed to make a computer do things I actually care about.
It’s the nuts and bolts needed to make a computer do things I actually care about.
So you mean like the OS? It’s literally the most important (software) aspect of the whole thing
I’m a fan of it for the way that it treats me with respect and represents the possibility of technology that isnt extractive and abusive. And as a ui nerd there is an element of the computing foundation that is exciting to me in and of itself :) I love seeing the different ui paradigms of different desktop environments and how they solve problems like making multitasking work well for users
But that just how I relate to it, it’s totally valid for the computer or os to be more of a means to an end for people :)
Inevitably?
My friend, the MAJORITY of the comments will be unhelpful Linux snarks.
This wouldn’t be a problem if you used Linux.
Instead you would have a different problem.
And someone would definitely comment that you wouldn’t have that problem on their distro.
And even if you did… You can fix it yourself. And submit the fix for others.
Ignoring that 99.999% of people have no idea how to even begin to write code and believe the terminal to be “hacker mode”.
Sounds pretty inevitable to me.
It’s because Linux is just objectively better.
Thank you for proving my point.
That didn’t take long.
But but but Linux is not user friendly or something! You can totally generalize like that!!! And nevermind the fact that windows often breaks in ways that require technical knowledge to repair. That doesn’t count for some reason!!!
This is a bit rich coming from the Linux community.
Every post on the fediverse is specifically directed at me, therefore I must respond when someone has the audacity to mention something I don’t like.
Do you like pineapple upside-down cake?
Stall owner proceeds to share their opinion about Windows and Microsoft in general.
Windoew guy starts foaming at the mouth and shouting incoherently.
Unrealistic to believe the guy at the Linux stall would not come at him like John Constantine pulling out a demonic possession.
I feel like this is specifically targeted at the one user posting stuff on the linuxsucks community
If your whole identity, personality, community or social group is based on hating something then you should reevaluate how you spend your time. This is only marginally worse than making your whole personality being a fanboy for a specific brand/product. Things are there to help you do stuff, so get on and do that stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It has to be rage bait. It’s too funny not to be
It’s hilarious and the older ones especially are riddled with references you’d find in the linuxmemes comm
He did try, years ago, to post cynical but inoffensive memes. I’m pretty sure I had to suspend his account at some point. He’s also gotten himself banned from political communities for quoting holocaust deniers, using ableist slurs, and generally being a wanker. He’s also posted some antisemitic remarks on other communities. The modlog his quite colorful.
Does he also think number generators are the words of God and is working to build his own OS from scratch?
Wrong flavour of insane.
Oh shit, madthumbs is back? He’s always been a hilarious, but equally pathetic troll. I thought we’d lost him when he got all pissy and locked the community a year ago.
Wait, so he’s been at it for years now?
I’ve had his posts in my feed somewhat recently and I was kind of in awe of dude’s dedication to do full time posting on topic of Linux users having no life, but had no idea he’s been doing it for so long now. 🌚

















