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> it's fundamentally inferior to Linux The context here is the average user, so you need to consider if this they share this perspective of fundamentally infer
by nomel 7mo ago
> it's fundamentally inferior to Linux
The context here is the average user, so you need to consider if this they share this perspective of fundamentally inferiority that is so obvious to you.
Here's a litmus test: Put your non-programmer relative in front of each, have them do some common simple tasks, like print an email on their printer, and ask them.
You are *NOT* an average user.
edit: people are focusing on the printer too much. my point was some arbitrary task they would be common to an average user. OMMIT THE PRINTER. After they use their computer as they normally would for a week, what is it exactly that so clearly results in their perception of "obviously inferiority"? My claim is somewhere between nothing and the very first thing to go wrong.
- QuercusMax 7mo agoSetting up printers on Linux is way easier than windows. Usually you don't have to do anything at all special at all as long as it's a fairly well known manufacturer. ChromeOS is just linux after all, and it uses the exact same CUPS infra under the hood, and it works just fine. On Windows you often have to download and install drivers, which is always a headache.
- xp84 7mo agoTbh all OSs handle printers that way. Ones that have drivers “just work.” It’s just that if you buy any printer in the store you can be assured that if it isn’t on that list of drivers that ships with the OS, there will be a driver for Windows and Mac from the manufacturer. You don’t get that assurance automatically with another OS.
- raw_anon_1111 7mo agoFor the most part, to support Macs and iOS devices they just support AirPrint and don’t ship with drivers at all
- nomel 7mo ago> as long as ... Manufacturers selling Linux computers could attach little stickers with ""As long as..." Inside", to commemorate the official motto of "The Year of the Linux Desktop", for the last 30 years. :P
- bombcar 7mo agoSomething like those eMachines "never obsolete" stickers - always current year because this year is The Year of Linux on the Desktop.
- The_SamminAter 7mo ago> as long as *except HP
- p_ing 7mo agoWindows ships with a universal IPP driver that works for any printer which is Mopria certified; similar to AirPrint. There's very little reason to install print drivers anymore on Windows.
- cwillu 7mo agoSit a non-programmer relative in front of each, and have them plug in a printer. One of them will end up with malware and maybe be able to print something, the other will almost certainly not even notice that they didn't have to do anything to make the print item in gmail put words on paper.
- raw_anon_1111 7mo agoIt amazes me in 2026 Windows printers still need drivers. This was a solved problem on iOS in 2010 and shortly after on MacOS with AirPrint
- doubled112 7mo agoBoth of my WIFi printers just magically appear on my Linux machines too, without any messing around.
- ben-schaaf 7mo ago> Put your non-programmer relative in front of each, have them do some common simple tasks, like print an email on their printer, and ask them. My grandma does this all the time from her Linux laptop. My grandpa needed help getting it to work the first time under Windows.
- fyredge 7mo agoThis sounds disingenuous. How does your grandma fare on Windows? Can your grandpa even navigate Linux? For all I know, your grandma could be a HN user and your grandpa a plumber.
- ben-schaaf 7mo agoShe's significantly worse with technology than he is. Neither could tell you what an operating system is. These are exactly the type of average people that supposedly Linux isn't good enough for.