this post was submitted on 07 Jan 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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There are way way too many testimonials here lately about switching to Linux or installing Arch, etc. These aren't interesting.
I'd be more interested in knowing how many people are sticking with Linux.
What issues besides insert windows program doesn't work.
Places where the average switcher has problems that aren't just user error or misunderstanding some fundamental difference, but good places that the community can investigate and improve on.
Most people will probably give up after a few days. Not because Linux is bad, but because most people don't wan't to spend hours to fix an issue they never heard off and never encountered on Windows/Mac
Windows/Mac are spoon feeding their customers and people tend to forget how important it is to have problem solving skills ! How to search the web, get out of their confort zone and learn new things...
The tiktok, meta, shorts generation will probably never touch any linux distro, except if during their live time they have some sort of "revelation" on how bad it actually is...
And some just don't have time... Job, baby, wife, friends...
Linux is a full time and never ending experience, the rabbit hole you want/will dig deeper in hope to find a white rabbit !
While Linux can certainly be such an experience, it doesn't have to be at all.
If you have a defined use case for your system, and there's Linix software to support that, it often just install something like Linux Mint, install the software you need from the repos, and wahoo, you have a computer to do what you need and you just use it.
Which, for most people, is how they use their computer anyway, a few bits of software they just use to do what they need to do, no need to tinker, problems unlikely to arise.
But these people are the type that don't care, they'll use what comes with the computer they bought, and just be happy, and thus will likely never try Linux.
For those of us who like to stay in the know and on the bleeding edge, and tinkering and understanding, then it's a full time thing. But we're such a small minority.