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Everyone really should be using Linux. It's not that hard.

al_borland 3y ago
The problem with Linux is everyone who has a new idea starts their own thing, so it’s infinitely fragmented, and everyone wants to work on building new things instead of doing the detailed finishing work to actually making it good to use. Linux could be great, if the community had a way to get organized and focus all the efforts around the things that would actually make it great for the average user. Having developers do whatever they want and hoping it all comes together in the end is never going to get Linux to the point where it’s better for the average user than macOS or Windows. I thought Ubuntu had enough money and focus to make it happen, but that dream died years ago… around the same time as their Kickstarter phone.
VoodooJuJu 3y ago
I wish Linux were in a spot where everyone could use it and it Just Works, but it's still not there. Still doesn't pass the grandmother test.
ActorNightly 3y ago
Im generally with you, but then seeing how a large number of people build software system, Im pretty sure they would end up messing their systems up without all the guardrails that Microsoft and Apple puts into place.
t-3 3y ago
Linux... kind of sucks though. It's way better than being locked into unfree-on-many-level MS products, but there are many other OSes that I would rather use in other contexts. Out of 7 machines I'm currently running at home, only two run linux, and I definitely wouldn't be any happier if the ratio tilted away from *BSD.
Rury 3y ago
Go tell that to my mother who's now in her 70s, who barely knows how to open her email (and thats assuming nothing out of the ordinary happens like her account gets locked). Yeah, linux isn't for everybody... Understanding this, is why Apple grew to become one of the most valuable companies on the planet.
- skydhash 3y ago
  As someone who saws non-technical people learn quickly how to share apk because mobile data was too expensive, I will dare say that people are perfectly capable of running computers if they need to and are capable of learning. The issue is that most software don’t solve their users’ problems. They are more like a shifting sand of features that are poorly documented. And often deceptive. No wonder people don’t like using them. A typewriter don’t switch the placement of the keys while you’re using it. Apple solve the issue by making simple software and locking customization. What I’d advocate for is Stable Software. Something that can go years without breaking the usage contract with the user (vim, emacs, i3,…). Imagine going from Windows 98 to 7 with the start button and landing on Windows 8 start screen. Or stumbling on Office 2007 ribbon? Why should I take my precious time to relearn where everything is and how to do the same stuff again and again? At least the above examples was years in the making. But nowadays, things seems to changes monthly. Software can’t be trusted.
- austin-cheney 3y ago
  A minor correction. Apple grew the majority of its wealth from the iTunes Store with exclusive agreements with rights holders and then repeated that pattern of exclusivity with its App Store on iPhones. Everything else is less than 10% of their valuation.
  - Rury 3y ago
    Only if you completely ignore the fact that Apple wouldn't have continued to exist, let alone the iTunes Store and the iPhone coming to exist, if it weren't for Steve Jobs saving the company in the 90s by prioritizing the customer experience above all else, and help making said products come to fruition in the first place. All of Apple's success stems from that. There would be no iTunes or iPhone customers to charge without, you know... iTunes or the iPhone, or if Apple had gone bankrupt. In other words, Apple would have never have grown to be so successful in the first place, if it never had made a good product in the first place. Steve Jobs himself was vocal about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKsbt5wii0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKsbt5wii0
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
jamil7 3y ago
This is exactly the kind of arrogance that drives people away from the Linux community. Under no circumstances can someone technical decide they have a preference for another OS, so the implication is that Linux is "too hard" for them.

The problem with Linux is everyone who has a new idea starts their own thing, so it’s infinitely fragmented, and everyone wants to work on building new things instead of doing the detailed finishing work to actually making it good to use. Linux could be great, if the community had a way to get organized and focus all the efforts around the things that would actually make it great for the average user. Having developers do whatever they want and hoping it all comes together in the end is never going to get Linux to the point where it’s better for the average user than macOS or Windows. I thought Ubuntu had enough money and focus to make it happen, but that dream died years ago… around the same time as their Kickstarter phone.

VoodooJuJu 3y ago

I wish Linux were in a spot where everyone could use it and it Just Works, but it's still not there. Still doesn't pass the grandmother test.

ActorNightly 3y ago

Im generally with you, but then seeing how a large number of people build software system, Im pretty sure they would end up messing their systems up without all the guardrails that Microsoft and Apple puts into place.

t-3 3y ago

Linux... kind of sucks though. It's way better than being locked into unfree-on-many-level MS products, but there are many other OSes that I would rather use in other contexts. Out of 7 machines I'm currently running at home, only two run linux, and I definitely wouldn't be any happier if the ratio tilted away from *BSD.

Rury 3y ago

Go tell that to my mother who's now in her 70s, who barely knows how to open her email (and thats assuming nothing out of the ordinary happens like her account gets locked). Yeah, linux isn't for everybody... Understanding this, is why Apple grew to become one of the most valuable companies on the planet.

skydhash 3y ago
As someone who saws non-technical people learn quickly how to share apk because mobile data was too expensive, I will dare say that people are perfectly capable of running computers if they need to and are capable of learning. The issue is that most software don’t solve their users’ problems. They are more like a shifting sand of features that are poorly documented. And often deceptive. No wonder people don’t like using them. A typewriter don’t switch the placement of the keys while you’re using it. Apple solve the issue by making simple software and locking customization. What I’d advocate for is Stable Software. Something that can go years without breaking the usage contract with the user (vim, emacs, i3,…). Imagine going from Windows 98 to 7 with the start button and landing on Windows 8 start screen. Or stumbling on Office 2007 ribbon? Why should I take my precious time to relearn where everything is and how to do the same stuff again and again? At least the above examples was years in the making. But nowadays, things seems to changes monthly. Software can’t be trusted.
austin-cheney 3y ago
A minor correction. Apple grew the majority of its wealth from the iTunes Store with exclusive agreements with rights holders and then repeated that pattern of exclusivity with its App Store on iPhones. Everything else is less than 10% of their valuation.
- Rury 3y ago
  Only if you completely ignore the fact that Apple wouldn't have continued to exist, let alone the iTunes Store and the iPhone coming to exist, if it weren't for Steve Jobs saving the company in the 90s by prioritizing the customer experience above all else, and help making said products come to fruition in the first place. All of Apple's success stems from that. There would be no iTunes or iPhone customers to charge without, you know... iTunes or the iPhone, or if Apple had gone bankrupt. In other words, Apple would have never have grown to be so successful in the first place, if it never had made a good product in the first place. Steve Jobs himself was vocal about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKsbt5wii0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKsbt5wii0
red-iron-pine 3y ago

jamil7 3y ago

This is exactly the kind of arrogance that drives people away from the Linux community. Under no circumstances can someone technical decide they have a preference for another OS, so the implication is that Linux is "too hard" for them.