Most people are tech illiterate. Ask them anything but to use a pre installed system or pop in a CD that was given to them (No they can’t burn one themselves) and they’ll fail
With all the UI changes on every version in the last few years that simply isn’t true. Windows is becoming harder and harder to use even if you know what you are doing, much less if you don’t know half the computer related terminology.
Actually, not really. It’s becoming more like what a smart device would look/feel, which is what most people are accustomed to anyway by now. Sure, options and settings get removed left and right, but that is not a concern for your every day Joe. They just need something to do their taxes in or watch a movie or play a few dumb clips on YT, that’s it. Oh and of course it comes preinstalled with the computer, so they can do all that out of the box, great!
You ask any person that uses MS Office whether they like the pre-2007 menu layout (1997-2003) of Office or the new (post-2007) menu layout, you’ll always get the same answer, the post-2007 is better. Why? I really have no idea, but they say it’s better. Maybe it’s the thing with the icon buttons, or just having a ribbon with the most used tools, IDK. My point is, LibreOffice uses the pre-2007 classical layout. For most people, this is confusing. I find it simple and elegant, the way a GUI text/spreadsheet editor should look and feel. But, than again, I’m with computers since I was a kid, so drop down menus are not a new thing for me. People rarely use any menu that’s not a full screen one (or at least one that’s big enough to take away at least half the screen). Why? IDK, but I think smart devices are to blame for that.
Unfortunately, Windows becoming better and better. You can literally run Linux while running Windows (that’s why coders still use Windows) and now you can even remove pre installed bloatware. Can you imagine? They even copy KDE look!
Are you talking about WSL!? WSL is not even close to actual Linux. Additionally, if I need to run Linux while using Windows, I will be using a VM like a seasoned professional, not the Windows equivalent of Wine in 2008.
Can you describe the essentials of what WSL is? Does it map UNIX file structure to Windows’ one? Can I access the Windows FS through it? Does it have POSIX commands?
I heard/seen a lot of people using either WSL or “Ubuntu terminal” and I don’t have any interest because I don’t plan on using anything like this in my life, but I do want to at least understand what benefits it brings and can you replicate the true Linux terminal experience on Windows without creating a VM that have different FS from the host. Basically, I want to know if I still have any strings that I can pull to convert people to Linux, because there amount of such strings decreases every so slightly with every year, it seems.
Put simply, Linux is a kernel; WSL is a partial emulator of that kernel with exceedingly little support for the programs that attract people to it.
As one popular example, there’s no support for anything graphical. I’ve heard a lot about how the feature is coming, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who got it to work.
Under-the-hood, you are still using the bloated Windows kernel, a now 30-year-old file system which was flawed to begin with (NTFS) or something newish that’s closely related to it, and you’re facing the same exhausting privacy violations that MS has been in hot water for; except you get to do it with bash instead.
I tried it on my laptop that had Windows 11 pre-installed, and I cannot imagine how they’re attracting anyone other than middle management and freshmen boot camp engineers with it. Apparently they found out that Ubuntu could be side-loaded in two minutes and panicked or something.
Addendum: WSL2 is apparently less of an emulator and more of a stripped-down VM, but again, how that appeals to me more than a full VM with drag-and-drop support is beyond me. Maybe someone else can give you a use case that’s worked for them.
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve heard about WSL2 (as if the first implementation shouldn’t have also been the last one). But many probably refer to both as WSL without version number.
No, that’s ChromeOS. Windows still assumes some knowledge that you may take for granted, but someone who’s never used a computer before might not know.
I’m a little surprised considering their aggressive as campaigns, the fact they’ve existed for over 10 years and that their market share is higher than the mac’s
It’s called not keeping up with technology in general since a decade ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Seriously when I tell people I’m tech illiterate I mean it. I can’t tell ya what all the different devices mean and I got introduced to Linux because I once had to recover data from my broken Windows computer 5-6 years ago and my pal gave me a disk. That was Ubuntu of all things too!
Believe it or not, not everyone is intersted in tech. Most people just live out their lives oblivious to how stuff works.
Like me for example, I have almost 0 interest in medicine. The human body is not exactly a black box to me, but I don’t usually remember deseases names and stuff like that, even though some people remember all those things without putting too much effort into it.
Medical stuff is not comparable to OS that you use on a daily basis. Everything just boils down that Windows was pre installed on such a huge amount of machines that “you have to be tech savvy” or whatever to use Linux. And the fact that no one wants to install anything that wasn’t installed the first time, makes it that much harder to switch to Linux. But I believe that we all are slowly spreading the word of Linux more and more with each year. We definitely will have a year of Linux for sure (eventually).
Everything just boils down that Windows was pre installed on such a huge amount of machines that “you have to be tech savvy” or whatever to use Linux.
Yes, I would agree that having Windows preinstalled on almost every brand name PC/laptop there is out there is the main reason why things are what they are.
But, I’d also argue that, from your everyday user’s stand point, Windows is a lot easier to get office work done. Everything is pretty much GUI based, there is no terminal in Windows (cmd and PowerShell are not the terminal, you can’t do everything you can in a GUI in the cmd or in PowerShell, and vice versa, so it’s not the same), so from a regular user’s perspective, things are simpler.
And the fact that no one wants to install anything that wasn’t installed the first time, makes it that much harder to switch to Linux.
Why bother changing something that works and gets the job done 🤷… plus, they gotta learn new things if they did that, why make their lives harder.
Not everyone cares about libre software… or even know it exists.
But I believe that we all are slowly spreading the word of Linux more and more with each year. We definitely will have a year of Linux for sure (eventually).
If this does happen, this won’t be within a year, it will be within several years (or a decade).
But, I do agree that there are changes in a positive direction. Most software products (slosed source ones) now have at least a Debian/Ubuntu .deb package (which wasn’t the case 10 years ago, which wasn’t that long ago) and even do customer support for Linux (but only limited to that particular flavor of Linux which they provide the packages for… not an ideal scenario, but it’s not bad either).
So, yeah, I’m optimistic, but not too much. It might eventually happen, but not in the near future IMO.
Windows is a lot easier to get office work done. Everything is pretty much GUI based
No, most popular Linux distros have every GUI app you need to do your office work. What do you need? Office suite, file manager and browser? Check, check, check. Moreover, you don’t have any office preinstalled on Windows and you even have to buy it (and the OS itself), or create a Microsoft account and use online, feature- and Internet-limited version. (With something like Fedora or Ubuntu you can run the live version from RAM from a USB drive, get done with your work, and you don’t even have to install the OS, let alone buy it.)
Why bother changing something that works and gets the job done 🤷… plus, they gotta learn new things if they did that, why make their lives harder.
The point is that it would work the other way around, if Linux was mainstream (I’m already wet) and Windows was in the minority.
Not everyone cares about libre software… or even know it exists.
Yes.
If this does happen, this won’t be within a year, it will be within several years (or a decade).
We can only dream if this will happen within a year. But decades already have passed and look where Linux is at: dominating server market share, all the IoT devices, government related stuff, developers, free-believers, FOSS enjoyers. We have SteamOS, Steamdeck, other handheld devices that are Linux-based, Proton, Lutris, Wine and other stuff. We have a lot of progress already. Desktop market share year by year does show that Linux and alike take a bigger and bigger cut. Withing a decade, everything will probably run on RISC-V architecture (something already does) and Linux will probably only become stronger and its community and market share will only grow.
Most software products […] now have at least a Debian/Ubuntu .deb package
Well, maybe not most, but definitely noticeable, if you search for/use it. I was very surprised to see Cisco Packet Tracer being available in a native .deb package (surprisingly, no one has created a comparable FOSS alternative thus far).
limited to that particular flavor of Linux which they provide the packages for
Side note. You don’t always need the support, and the packages themselves can and do become available on other platforms. AUR and Nix repositories are the largest ones that have community-created packages that only available on Ubuntu or Fedora, etc.
So, yeah, I’m optimistic, but not too much. It might eventually happen, but not in the near future IMO.
I’m sure the year of Linux will happen before I die, or at least the next generation after me will have it. The progress is really huge and kinda becomes faster with every few years.
The point is that this is Linux community and majority understand that there is basically no reason in using Windows. But there are proprietary exceptions like games and stuff. I don’t have Windows on my machine for years and I’m perfectly fine without it.
I’m not talking about “most people”, because they all have been brainwashed by Microsoft and will refuse in adopting anything different than Windows. It comes pre installed basically everywhere.
That’s not enabling, it’s just how people are… most people anyway. They won’t become tech literate of you send them to computer classes or tell them they need to learn stuff. Most people are lazy when it comes to using their brain. It’s just how things are 🤷.
Most people are tech illiterate. Ask them anything but to use a pre installed system or pop in a CD that was given to them (No they can’t burn one themselves) and they’ll fail
With all the UI changes on every version in the last few years that simply isn’t true. Windows is becoming harder and harder to use even if you know what you are doing, much less if you don’t know half the computer related terminology.
Actually, not really. It’s becoming more like what a smart device would look/feel, which is what most people are accustomed to anyway by now. Sure, options and settings get removed left and right, but that is not a concern for your every day Joe. They just need something to do their taxes in or watch a movie or play a few dumb clips on YT, that’s it. Oh and of course it comes preinstalled with the computer, so they can do all that out of the box, great!
You ask any person that uses MS Office whether they like the pre-2007 menu layout (1997-2003) of Office or the new (post-2007) menu layout, you’ll always get the same answer, the post-2007 is better. Why? I really have no idea, but they say it’s better. Maybe it’s the thing with the icon buttons, or just having a ribbon with the most used tools, IDK. My point is, LibreOffice uses the pre-2007 classical layout. For most people, this is confusing. I find it simple and elegant, the way a GUI text/spreadsheet editor should look and feel. But, than again, I’m with computers since I was a kid, so drop down menus are not a new thing for me. People rarely use any menu that’s not a full screen one (or at least one that’s big enough to take away at least half the screen). Why? IDK, but I think smart devices are to blame for that.
Unfortunately, Windows becoming better and better. You can literally run Linux while running Windows (that’s why coders still use Windows) and now you can even remove pre installed bloatware. Can you imagine? They even copy KDE look!
Are you talking about WSL!? WSL is not even close to actual Linux. Additionally, if I need to run Linux while using Windows, I will be using a VM like a seasoned professional, not the Windows equivalent of Wine in 2008.
Can you describe the essentials of what WSL is? Does it map UNIX file structure to Windows’ one? Can I access the Windows FS through it? Does it have POSIX commands?
I heard/seen a lot of people using either WSL or “Ubuntu terminal” and I don’t have any interest because I don’t plan on using anything like this in my life, but I do want to at least understand what benefits it brings and can you replicate the true Linux terminal experience on Windows without creating a VM that have different FS from the host. Basically, I want to know if I still have any strings that I can pull to convert people to Linux, because there amount of such strings decreases every so slightly with every year, it seems.
Put simply, Linux is a kernel; WSL is a partial emulator of that kernel with exceedingly little support for the programs that attract people to it.
As one popular example, there’s no support for anything graphical. I’ve heard a lot about how the feature is coming, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who got it to work.
Under-the-hood, you are still using the bloated Windows kernel, a now 30-year-old file system which was flawed to begin with (NTFS) or something newish that’s closely related to it, and you’re facing the same exhausting privacy violations that MS has been in hot water for; except you get to do it with bash instead.
I tried it on my laptop that had Windows 11 pre-installed, and I cannot imagine how they’re attracting anyone other than middle management and freshmen boot camp engineers with it. Apparently they found out that Ubuntu could be side-loaded in two minutes and panicked or something.
Addendum: WSL2 is apparently less of an emulator and more of a stripped-down VM, but again, how that appeals to me more than a full VM with drag-and-drop support is beyond me. Maybe someone else can give you a use case that’s worked for them.
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve heard about WSL2 (as if the first implementation shouldn’t have also been the last one). But many probably refer to both as WSL without version number.
Sure thing.
Imagine having a CD in 2024 /s
Until I saw the /s I felt extremely old
Yeah, it’s a DVD now, right?
… Right?
No, that’s ChromeOS. Windows still assumes some knowledge that you may take for granted, but someone who’s never used a computer before might not know.
Not gonna lie I have no fucking clue what ChromeOS is
It’s the OS on Chromebooks
Not gonna lie I didn’t know Chromebooks were a thing up until now, let alone ever assume they’d have their own OS.
thank you
I’m a little surprised considering their aggressive as campaigns, the fact they’ve existed for over 10 years and that their market share is higher than the mac’s
It’s called not keeping up with technology in general since a decade ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Seriously when I tell people I’m tech illiterate I mean it. I can’t tell ya what all the different devices mean and I got introduced to Linux because I once had to recover data from my broken Windows computer 5-6 years ago and my pal gave me a disk. That was Ubuntu of all things too!
I’m basically an old grandma lmaoo
Fair enough, I guess you’re the first tech illiterate I meet on such a niche social media as Lemmy
I really only go where my friends drag me to. Same pal who introduced me to Linux, introduced me to Lemmy
I can’t imagine walking around and just assuming everything is a magic black box and not have the slightest curiosity about how something works.
Believe it or not, not everyone is intersted in tech. Most people just live out their lives oblivious to how stuff works.
Like me for example, I have almost 0 interest in medicine. The human body is not exactly a black box to me, but I don’t usually remember deseases names and stuff like that, even though some people remember all those things without putting too much effort into it.
Medical stuff is not comparable to OS that you use on a daily basis. Everything just boils down that Windows was pre installed on such a huge amount of machines that “you have to be tech savvy” or whatever to use Linux. And the fact that no one wants to install anything that wasn’t installed the first time, makes it that much harder to switch to Linux. But I believe that we all are slowly spreading the word of Linux more and more with each year. We definitely will have a year of Linux for sure (eventually).
Yes, I would agree that having Windows preinstalled on almost every brand name PC/laptop there is out there is the main reason why things are what they are.
But, I’d also argue that, from your everyday user’s stand point, Windows is a lot easier to get office work done. Everything is pretty much GUI based, there is no terminal in Windows (cmd and PowerShell are not the terminal, you can’t do everything you can in a GUI in the cmd or in PowerShell, and vice versa, so it’s not the same), so from a regular user’s perspective, things are simpler.
Why bother changing something that works and gets the job done 🤷… plus, they gotta learn new things if they did that, why make their lives harder.
Not everyone cares about libre software… or even know it exists.
If this does happen, this won’t be within a year, it will be within several years (or a decade).
But, I do agree that there are changes in a positive direction. Most software products (slosed source ones) now have at least a Debian/Ubuntu .deb package (which wasn’t the case 10 years ago, which wasn’t that long ago) and even do customer support for Linux (but only limited to that particular flavor of Linux which they provide the packages for… not an ideal scenario, but it’s not bad either).
So, yeah, I’m optimistic, but not too much. It might eventually happen, but not in the near future IMO.
No, most popular Linux distros have every GUI app you need to do your office work. What do you need? Office suite, file manager and browser? Check, check, check. Moreover, you don’t have any office preinstalled on Windows and you even have to buy it (and the OS itself), or create a Microsoft account and use online, feature- and Internet-limited version. (With something like Fedora or Ubuntu you can run the live version from RAM from a USB drive, get done with your work, and you don’t even have to install the OS, let alone buy it.)
The point is that it would work the other way around, if Linux was mainstream (I’m already wet) and Windows was in the minority.
Yes.
We can only dream if this will happen within a year. But decades already have passed and look where Linux is at: dominating server market share, all the IoT devices, government related stuff, developers, free-believers, FOSS enjoyers. We have SteamOS, Steamdeck, other handheld devices that are Linux-based, Proton, Lutris, Wine and other stuff. We have a lot of progress already. Desktop market share year by year does show that Linux and alike take a bigger and bigger cut. Withing a decade, everything will probably run on RISC-V architecture (something already does) and Linux will probably only become stronger and its community and market share will only grow.
Well, maybe not most, but definitely noticeable, if you search for/use it. I was very surprised to see Cisco Packet Tracer being available in a native .deb package (surprisingly, no one has created a comparable FOSS alternative thus far).
Side note. You don’t always need the support, and the packages themselves can and do become available on other platforms. AUR and Nix repositories are the largest ones that have community-created packages that only available on Ubuntu or Fedora, etc.
I’m sure the year of Linux will happen before I die, or at least the next generation after me will have it. The progress is really huge and kinda becomes faster with every few years.
The point is that this is Linux community and majority understand that there is basically no reason in using Windows. But there are proprietary exceptions like games and stuff. I don’t have Windows on my machine for years and I’m perfectly fine without it.
I’m not talking about “most people”, because they all have been brainwashed by Microsoft and will refuse in adopting anything different than Windows. It comes pre installed basically everywhere.
Stop enabling normies, make them become tech literate or send them back to the stone-age (preferable).
That’s not enabling, it’s just how people are… most people anyway. They won’t become tech literate of you send them to computer classes or tell them they need to learn stuff. Most people are lazy when it comes to using their brain. It’s just how things are 🤷.