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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: March 23rd, 2025

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  • I wonder if it really didn’t work. Without all the shitstorm, nobody would have noticed or cared about the movie.

    I’m pretty sure a lot of the people who watched it did so to see what all the fuss was about.

    It was still a major fail, but imagine how much of a fail it would have been without these viewers.













  • The main issue I see is that a ton of people (influencers but also users) tend to massively downplay the difficulties you might encounter when using Linux.

    Every thread where someone asks whether they should try Linux is full of people claiming that it’s super easy, super seamless, much less issues than using Windows, you’ll never need to touch CLI and so on.

    But mostly these are users that are already quite good with Linux (or users who just about managed to install Linux a week ago and haven’t seen anything yet). These good users have difficulty understanding how difficult easy things are to regular users.


    I encountered this when making an open source physiotherapy game console for kids with cystic fibrosis.

    A big issue with CF therapy is that pretty much every therapist is doing something slightly differently, so the therapy needs to be configurable. For that I made a very simple .ini file to configure the therapy. Every single person I showed that to went into instant panic mode.

    I then made a simple WebUI where people can configure the same thing, but instead of a text file there are now separate text fields for each value. And suddenly everyone gets it instantly and has no difficulty at all using it, even though all that changed was going from a text file with key=value to a Web UI with [label for key] [text field for value].


    Linux is easy if it comes pre-installed, pre-configured and with first-party hardware support both by the laptop manufacturer and each and every component in there. And first-party OS support by the device manufacturer. Like ChromeOS and Steam Deck.

    If that’s not the case it will be difficult for normie users. Same as installing Windows on hardware not primarily intended to run Windows or making a Hackintosh. Both of these experiences suck just as much.


  • Most people use an OS to do things, not to do an OS.

    It’s like with cars: There are some car nerds who tune their own engine control parameters and replace broken transmissions and engines themselves.

    But for most people a car is used to get to work (or other places) not to play with them.

    And while there’s nothing wrong with using an OS as a hobby because you love debugging things, it would be strange to expect that everyone wants to play with an OS instead of using an OS to accomplish something.


  • I hate that the Linux community is so quick to fall into blame mode.

    That user has an issue using Linux. It’s an issue that’s not uncommon and it does stop that user from using Linux.

    As an user, does it matter who’s at fault that his Linux install isn’t working as expected?


    Say you buy a brand new Fiat, and 5 kilometers out of the dealership the transmission just dies.

    Are you going to say “Using this car sucks” or are you going to say “The subcontractor that made the clutch mechanism in that transmission sucks”?

    If your car dies, you are not getting to work today. This sucks. You don’t care who is at fault, using an unreliable car sucks.


    To get back to Linux: If some beginner goes through the trouble and fails, it’s very little help to call them out for being a beginner or to aim the blame.

    OOP’s assessment is correct: Linux is nice, but there are pitfals for people who aren’t versed in all the things that can go when using Linux. And yes, this one was caused by Windows, but that really doesn’t help a novice user who’s Linux won’t boot anymore.


  • Well, the answer to your curiosity is there. No need for further wondering, same as you don’t need to wonder wheter the sun will rise tomorrow. We know.

    But you insist on wondering even though the knowledge is already there.

    So why are you still claiming that it’s a “casual statement of curiosity about the future”, when the result is already there?

    The terminology you use and the insistence of ignoring factual knowledge that we have claiming “you are just wondering” or “just curious” or “just asking questions” is identical to the tactics used by conspiracy theorists and antivaxxers.

    If you are persistently acting like a conspiracy theorist and antivaxxer, why are you surprised you are treated like one?