this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024
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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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The sad truth. Enough said. Linux is still not there, as much as we'd like to pretend it is. And it's especially not there for dumb users.
Dumb user here. I completely disagree with this.
I was using Ubuntu for a few years, now I'm on Fedora. I don't really know how to do anything. For my needs it's just very easy.
Maybe my needs just aren't sophisticated enough for me to encounter all those problems I'm supposed to be having. But I've been using it for years and my experience is that it really just works.
While there's a little bit of getting acclimated to slightly different programs for the same tasks, I kind of imagine sophisticated needs primarily comes down to hardware. A company making some sort of computer hardware doohickey might design and test and provide support for something with Windows/Mac in mind, and maybe for other operating systems they're not cooperative with documenting support, under the mindset that it would reveal trade secrets or decrease shareholder value in some other way. Linux support then comes from other means like reverse engineering. This could mean that it will take time before all the kinks are ironed out, or if the product was short-lived the linux community might not care enough to have someone volunteer to keep up with support. Common, time-tested hardware will have good support. Plugging in some old printer that was discontinued shortly after launch will be more of a crapshoot.
Yeah. I've double checked that my last few laptops worked well with Linux before buying them. But I don't buy very flashy technology, so it was never really any question.
My printer is from Brother, and it's just plug and play. At work it's all web print and has been since I started working for pay, really.
I'm just speculating on reasons behind why people might feel it's still not user-friendly. It was a pretty easy transition for me too, and that was years ago.
Yeah, I think you're right, and I think that's exactly why it's a blind spot for me.
On several occasions I've also lent an old laptop to friends when theirs broke, and all of them ended up using Linux for months no questions asked. They later went back to Windows because of the Word grammar check, but other than that it just worked for them.
But of course, if you can't get your drivers to work it'll be a completely different experience.
Another dumb user here Been using Arch for a year now, things just works without much tinkering...... mostly
If you're ok Arch I guess it at least signals a willingness to learn! I would never dare to go there haha.