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> If you don't know something, you're stupid about that something. No, you're _ignorant_ about that something. Stupidity implies an innate lack of ability to
by tempestn 10y ago
> If you don't know something, you're stupid about that something.
No, you're _ignorant_ about that something. Stupidity implies an innate lack of ability to understand, whereas ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge. I'm not just being pedantic though; these distinctions are important. It's not a matter of being "stupid about computers" vs not. Some people may have a great aptitude but simply be ignorant. Some people may find reasoning about computers difficult even with effort. Most people are probably just uninterested, and would rather spend their time on other things.
If everyone were perfectly capable of using Unix to its fullest, and had the ability, resources, and interest to do so, great. That's not the case though. To use myself as an example, I regularly develop on Linux. I love Linux, and I have a Linux home server and various VMs, as well as running my company's production servers on Linux. But my desktop runs Windows 10.
I use Windows largely because I want it to just work in a seamless fashion without having to do things like spend half a day figuring out how to get my sound card working, or adjust my fan profile, or upgrade a piece of software or whatever. Sometimes I do want to do that, and I love the freedom that Linux offers. It's cool being able to write a quick cron job to regularly check that my sites are up and notify me if they aren't. Or to run a webdav server to grab backups of the pictures I take in full res. (And as an aside, the main reason I use Windows over MacOS is increased flexibility as a user.) Linux is great in many ways.
But honestly, aside from my work, which wouldn't apply to most people, nothing I do with Linux is vital to my life. It's more of a hobby. And even I, as a near prototypical Linux user, often prefer the simplicity of using Windows. So I can certainly understand how most people have no interest in learning Linux at all, and just want something that will run a web browser. And that's fine.
Cars are similar. I like cars. A big part of my business revolves around them, and I'm legitimately interested in them. I own a torque wrench and enjoy that I can change my own tires from summer to winter and back. I don't, however, change my own oil - even though I'm sure I could learn how - because I have other things I'd rather do. And I certainly don't try to diagnose engine problems. I'd rather just use my car as the tool it is, and let a mechanic deal with the more complex stuff. This works fine, and I doubt many people would tell me my car is making me stupid.
It's great that * nix exists. There will always be people that use it out of interest, and/or for the great power and flexibility it offers. And there will always be many more people that want an OS that just does what (little) they need with minimal effort. It's good that both options exist.
- pritambaral 10y ago> nothing I do with Linux is vital to my life. It's more of a hobby > I, as a near prototypical Linux user, These two (consecutive) statements are near paradoxical. Going above, I read age old complaints like "spend half a day figuring out how to get my sound card working, or adjust my fan profile,", which suggests you haven't really used today's Desktop Linux. I'm a prototypical Linux user: My Desktop is Linux, all the applications I use run on Linux, all my devices (phone, routers, servers) are Linux. I have been using Linux for only six years now. Never had a need to figure out how to get my sound card working (but I have certainly tweaked pulseaudio parameters and tried out crazy modules, to my choice; it was never a necessity). I never had to adjust my fan profile, my OS did that for me (until I decided to build my own distro, that is). Ubuntu doesn't require user intervention to update softwares, so your "or upgrade a piece of software or whatever" complaint is also near outdated. That the car I own allows me to change its oil doesn't mean it requires me to change its oil. If a car did that, don't use it! If some hardware you have doesn't run Linux well (looking at you Nvidia, and 2011's Dell Inspirons), don't run Linux on it! But please don't go around saying all Linux requires hacks.
- jplayer01 10y agoThere's always apologists that bring up "but modern Linux is simple and easy to use". And I'd agree to a certain amount that us is easy to use, but even today's Linux is so incredibly error-prone and fraught with obscure corner cases that aren't simple to the average computer user. Things where you are forced to tinker with obscure, oddly documented settings files that only a nerd with lots of time to burn can parse, understand and do anything with. Linux does require hacks, all the time and I wonder if Linux people just outright don't realize it or they willfully ignore it because it doesn't suit the narrative of "Linux is awesome and better than everything else".