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IMO the biggest barrier to linux is disappearing - the requirement to know how to use the command line. You still have to use it, but you don't have to know how
by jjcm 1y ago
IMO the biggest barrier to linux is disappearing - the requirement to know how to use the command line. You still have to use it, but you don't have to know how to use it anymore with the introduction of LLMs.
I also have switched my primary desktop from Windows to Linux, and now when I have an issue, I just ask an LLM. I play pretty fast and loose with just chucking commands it gives me into the command line. I'm pretty well versed in linux sysadmin things, but LLMs make it so easy I don't even bother trying to solve things myself first.
I have a few people in my friend group who aren't well versed, but they're able to navigate linux just fine by doing this same approach.
There's still friction, don't get me wrong, but it's a different type of friction. On Windows there are far fewer bugs, but there's friction introduced due to it being non-unix based (especially when it comes to code/doing any sort of model training) and due to anti-patterns Windows keeps shipping into the OS. On linux, the friction is just bugs. You can address / fix bugs for the most part, but you can't fix Windows' friction points.
- dralley 1y agoYou don't really have to use it. Not for most of the things that a typical desktop user would need to do. It helps though.
- strix_varius 1y agoWhile you don't have to use it much, if you spend a year daily driving Linux, it's a near certainty that you'll have to use the command line.
- chrneu 1y agodisagree. it depends heavily on what the user is doing. that's like saying if you daily drive windows it's a near certainty you'll have to edit the registry or use powershell/cmd. It's useful if you know what you're doing but it isn't required anymore at all for most people. Most people just use their machines for the browser or office software. No reason to use command line for them, ever.
- strix_varius 1y ago> No reason to use command line for them, ever. That hasn't been my experience. I suspect that most others who also daily drive linux would find it remarkable if someone used Linux every day for a year and never needed to open a terminal to install anything, fix anything, reset anything, update anything, follow any instructions given by any software they found and wanted to use, etc.
- realusername 1y agoMy parents have been using Ubuntu for 15 years continously and never used the command line a single time, I even had to retire the computer first as it was too old.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- kroaton 1y agoArch + Claude Code has been working amazingly well for me. I tried switching from Windows in the past and it never clicked. Now it's been great.
- hombre_fatal 1y agoNixOS has been even better since it sees my whole system config and doesn’t need to derive the state from queries. I started with hello world and iterated into my perfect desktop env over a week.
- echelon 1y agoWindows coasted on decades of entrenched users from two sources: games and Microsoft Office. Google docs demolished one of those.
- antod 1y agoAs someone who had a 20yr break from MS software until a recent new job, I'm not sure it was Google who demolished Office. I reckon it was MS. I can't believe how confusing/confounding/frustrating the modern MS Office and it's cloud integration is. I swear Office 2003 was miles better. And it seems that way with the UX of just about all their stuff now. I would run into little functionality limitations/frustrations with the Google suite, but I wasn't prepared for how far ahead the UX is compared to MS tools.
- bigstrat2003 1y agoIf someone's needs are so basic that the crappy Google docs apps can meet them, then they could've been just as happy with LibreOffice. Google docs is not remotely competitive with MS office.
- Yiin 1y agoyou'd be surprised how many users are covered by basic needs.
- DanielHB 1y agoFor docs yes, but spreadsheets power users are everywhere in every organization in the world. Sure they are not the majority of employees, but they are often very high up in the management chain and you will only pry them out of MS Excel from their cold dead hands. I am not a power user of excel in any way and even I can see that google sheets doesn't match it in features and performance.
- echelon 1y agoI haven't needed Microsoft Office in 15 years. I've built and worked at multiple companies that are entirely in the Google Workspace ecosystem. If there's some "missing feature", I haven't found it or needed it.
- abnercoimbre 1y agoYou’re being practical, but papering over the archaic terminal interface by automating it with LLMs is basically a dystopia. Technologists should fundamentally innovate terminals instead, such that the CLI is friendly even towards newcomers.
- nagonago 1y agoI agree with your first statement, but raise an eyebrow at the second. The desktop already is the "friendly" version of the CLI. I am skeptical there could be any magical technological innovation that would make terminals friendlier. That space has already been thoroughly explored. There are dozens of terminal variants with various quality of life improvements, but the fundamental user experience of a command line interface will always be daunting to a non-technical user, no matter how "innovated".
- abnercoimbre 1y agoWell I am betting on Terminal Click [0] which is my own experiment. I need to do a better job with the landing page, but if you invest three minutes watching the trailer you can let me know your honest reaction. You’re right for now… what I currently have won’t magically put noobs at ease. This is a really tough nut to crack. [0] https://terminal.click https://terminal.click
- SapporoChris 1y agoSure, LLMs may save you time but you will learn less. It seems that you even recognize this problem.
- nektro 1y agotwo sentence horror