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How can we help FSF with their "Upgrade From Windows" campaign? (upgradefromwindows.com)

submitted 3 days ago by onlinepersona to c/opensource

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Right now their page https://upgradefromwindows.com just redirects to https://www.fsf.org/windows which has a wall of text and an infographic. Even I, who doesn't have windows and will never reinstall it unless forced, clicked away from the page within 5 seconds. The FSF desperately needs help with marketing and design, plus it would be great to have tooling for brain-dead linux installation (no, find distribution, backup, put linux on a USB-stick, reboot, hit some button to get into the BIOS, select "USB stick", reboot, click through installation, find alternative software, is not brain-dead).

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One of the major barriers for me to switching to Linux as my primary OS was a simple hardware limitation. I use a Logitech MX Ergo, and I spend much of my time in Discord voice chats. The open source driver for my mouse, Solaar, wasn't able to be configured to properly hold down the mouse buttons that I use for push to talk. That, to me, is a complete deal-breaker.

I also haven't yet spent the time to figure out JACK audio as an alternative to Voicemeeter Potato, which is another big hurdle, but if my push to talk doesn't even work there's little incentive to do that.

I'll have to see if Solaar has been updated to get this functionality working yet. If it has, maybe I'll give it another shot. I honestly would love to switch to Linux. I prefer it in a lot of ways, but short of learning to make a driver myself or code something to fill the gap, it's a barrier I haven't really seen a way around. There seems to be a fair bit of that with Linux in niche use-case scenarios, which is I think one of the major obstacles to more wide-spread adaptation.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

But that's true for any switch to any os. If you switched to macos you would have run into the same/similar issues. I've been using Linux for so long that simple things that are missing from Windows are annoying, like keeping a Window on top, or using the quick GNOME overview by throwing the mouse in the corner.

I think it's a matter of letting go when you're ready and create new habits, and not try to shoehorn in old habits. That's general advice. Sometimes people just want Windows but without Microsoft's privacy disaster, but Linux just is different. I'm talking in general, not specifically to your grievances @[email protected] 🙂