#Linux take

[mirqmarq428]

Switching to Linux hot take:

Recovering windows users shouldn't switch to a "windows-like" DE. Give them something totally alien like GNOME or Budgie. Likewise, we should recommend ex Mac users KDE or Cinnamon.

Reason: Linux is not the same as those OSes. Its imitations of their interfaces are incomplete, so it will feel like a knockoff.

A new GUI paradigm sets Linux apart in the mind and encourages learning. Then once the user is proficient in customizing their desktop, they can bring back the features they valued in those systems.

[orthogonal-slut]

*visibly unwell* this is the year of the linux desktop

[monsterqueers]

So ive been using linux for a good while now, and its now officially my daily driver. Windows is now permabenched in a removed hhd in a drawer unless something awful happens. (Good riddance, havent truly enjoyed windows since xp)

And from this I think that people urging others to move to linux are not doing so in the correct way.

Instead of trying to push a friendly distro and insisting it will work for everything and everyone, instead check if the hardware they are using specifically is good for linux and if so what families.

One computer will be a breeze with any distro, another could have a few quirks but be basically fine, however another of the same year and manufacturer could be an uphill battle thats straight up unusable even for someone who knows how to do the kernel edit workarounds for all but specific distros, if that.

My desktop took linux mint like a dream, 100% painless with no fucking about to make it work and even no need for an ethernet cable to get things started. My dinosaur laptop (may it rest in peace after other components died) had a few issues but also worked very well with little effort with mint. My current junk laptop is an uphill battle that will require arch AND edits to the kernel paremeters to work without being filled with screen flashing and full system freezes at random and im still gearing up the gumption to give it another few attempts to actually pull it off.

Each of these computers is a VERY different experience, and if your prospective switcher is using a computer that doesnt play well, its NOT going to work, they will get frustrated, and they will give up. They have to work with what they have.

Instead of going right to telling them to switch and that anything is good, Encourage people to search up their pc+linux compatibility if they are looking to switch to determine if its viable for a newbie who doesnt want to struggle, then offer a distro that has a live usb/dvd version if possible for them to test without install, and a big enough userbase that troubleshooting is as painless as possible.

If its a laptop, archwiki has lists of those by maker (linked in the page given) with notes on what has been tested in that family of linux.

This, I think, above all, is the most important thing when trying to get people to switch:

MAKE SURE THEIR HARDWARE IS GOOD FOR IT

Not just the pc, but the peripherals too; their mouse, their mic, their webcam, their keyboard- these things are not always supported well.

Linux can be fast, easy, and really comfortable and painless with little to no troubleshooting or tedious workarounds to get your stuff to work; but you have to be using the right hardware.

Yes, make sure you have alternative programs lined up that are actually good (stop reccing gimp when krita is a way better P$ alternative for people trying to draw digitally), and maybe consider talking about how to run wine in a newbie friendly way for things they might need for work reasons that dont work on linux normally(and accept that it might not work even with wine), but above all, make sure that its not just being phrased as 'a you problem' when it might be their system that is the issue there.

For prospective switchers that tried but gave up because of glitches or freezes or things otherwise not working: It wasnt you being bad at computers. Sometimes it just doesnt work with that hardware well and there is nothing you can do. People dont warn you about this, but its a very real issue.

If you still want to try linux, when you eventually get a new computer in the future, look for one that seems to be supported by linux well- some pcs even come with linux preinstalled for you even (dell does this with ubuntu and ubuntu has skins that looks windows esque). Asking specifically for linux compatible or linux preinstalled computers signals to developers to make more computers that work with linux, and makes it easier to get linux friendly stuff.

If not, there are windows 11 neutering tools out there in the wild that are very useful and are a plenty fine alternative to switching. You should only switch if you want to switch.

[vexwerewolf]

Running a Linux VM on my Windows machine so I can run a Windows VM on my Linux VM and then install a Linux games emulator so I can run Linux games on my Windows VM on my Linux VM on my Windows machine

[shapezncolourz]

MOSS AND ROY BOTH CANONICALLY AUTISTIC, CONFIRMED IN S1 E1 BY THE L33T SUBTITLES ON THE DVDS??????

[tech-support-tales]

time to figure out Linux ig

[anzuhan]

well, the art for fallin down with the punkish lens may have to wait a bit.. frankly, anzu has had a hard time coming up with an idea of a composition for it.. but besides that, anzu has been having major issues with anzu's laptop. anzu draws on a phone so its not stopping this, however it does stress anzu out a lot

[jswatson]

somehow ive landed in a place where linux is more convenient than windows for work. for some reason most math programs ive come across had more linux support than windows. im incredibly grateful

like sometimes some professor will ask "does anyone here use linux" and i will evilly grin in my overwhelming moral and technological superiority

[fugglecases]

[42e17]

[snapdragoned]

linux buds, what are you using to take screenshots of your game??? as a lifelong greenshot user, i am seriously floundering over here. all i want is a program that i can map to keys that screenshots (1) the entire screen, and (2) opens a window for me to click + drag for a custom resolution screenshot and quietly save them to folder. i am finding this so difficult!

[orthogonal-slut]

linux users

[sudrien]

The best version of windows for development is Windows 10 2016 LTSB

It had licensing that allowed VM cloning and snapshots just fine without legal worries, so long as you kept under a certain number of VMs running at once.

It was not designed to let a salesman try and 1% more profit you to hell.

It didn't have the Linux on Windows subsystem.

It ... No windows search is still horrible.

Modern software runs fine

LTSC is horrible nitpicky licensing in comparison.

...of course you can't get LTSB anymore.

[yiffos-official]

uptime flex it would b higher but i threw a breaker trying 2 charge my juul with a cut up android charge :/

[udurghsigil]

i'm too sleepy to say this properly but i really don't understand why everyone seems to be moving to bluesky from twitter. like obviously i get that musk-run twitter is shit but also twitter at its core is shit. crazy small character limit that you can't get any fully-formed thought out with, like/follow counts, infinite scroll, lack of customization, etc. i get that it's got some better moderation but its the same social media slop as every other platform. why would anyone want a twitter 2. the only new social media i thought had promise was cohost and that thang died before it even got any widespread awareness?

[pirefyrelight]

Its a weird feeling. I'm so close to having a custom pc, and all the research and bookmarking and learning about the fundamentals of this task being done on my ancient, life support necessitating laptop. My two core laptop. My laptop that can't no more hold a charge, nor a wifi connection. The laptop I spent hours at the library deciding on, that I told everyone to give me best buy gift cards for Xmas and birthdays for to buy it. I wasted so much time playing minecraft on this thing. And in her twilight moments she slowly but surely loads the pages I need to see to replace her.

Heres to another ten years wasting time instead of sleeping but this time on a rig with an entire terabyte of memory let's go