this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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So, Linux is written by system programmers for system programmers.
The rest of us get to outsource that work by using a premade distribution, where system programmers mostly volunteer their time and efforts to package togther the system they want to use and they distribute it for free. Of course, there is no consensus of what anyone wants to use so there are lots of different distributions.
This isn't a problem and there will never be consensus.
If you need a "clear choice", you can always subscribe to one from Microsoft.
This must be one of the most uninformed comment in a long time. Already 2001, there was quite a lot of UI work being done by the company Eazel, founded by Andy Hertzfeld who from Apple and with a bunch of former Apple people. Around the same time, Ximian (I think) was pushing project Utopia with the idea to form project teams of people from kernel devs up to UX, to ensure common tasks worked out of the box. One result of this is that printer configuration on Linux is a much easier than on any other OS. This all happened 20+ years ago, there have been quite a lot of UX people involved after that. And my experience is that people with little prior knowledge have an easier time with a modern Gnome desktop, than with Windows. The problem here is that most people know Windows to some extent, and are used to the weird quirks there, but any slight inconvenience on a new OS make them quit.
Maybe that's true for gnome, but gnome isn't linux just like CUPS isn't an operating system and systemd isn't an operating system (which is based on launchd).
It all has to be packaged together and distributed and unless you're doing all your own packaging (and LfS is an experience, but not really an OS!), you're relying on a distro maintainer to do that for you.
I thought the whole point here was to suggest people not use Windows... That seems to be what all the people saying "switch to Linux" are saying...
Your money, spend it how you want. Me, I'll eschew the bloated system designed to separate customers from their money in favor of the free and open source alternatives.
I guess I feel like "spend your money however you want" does a disservice to people who are not tech savvy who will now be pushed into a subscription model because they don't know any better. And they don't deserve to be kicked to the curb just because they don't have the computer knowledge to understand that Microsoft is fleecing them.
Offering them an alternative is great. Offering them 10 alternatives is just confusing. At best it will push them over to a Mac or a Chromebook because at least they know what those are.
The move to a subscription model is the disservice and requires no particular savvy to differentiate from free.
Macs and Chromebooks are fine for some people and won't require as much hand holding as a direct Linux install regardless of the distro.
People are going to rely on what others recommend when they don't know themselves. It's up to those people to cull the list from ten to two.
Is the person a budding tech that wants to hack on their system? Send them to Arch.
Are they a creative looking to craft? Throw them into Ubuntu Studios.
Maybe they're grandparents who barely understand tech. Ok, Mint or Elementary are good options... Just maintain SSH access with keys.
The options are a strength.
That's community software!
If you want to stick your fingers in your ears and go "LALALA" we don't care. We're not selling you anything, do what you think is best for you.
If you want to be treated as a consumer (aka milked for money), then go right ahead, we are not here to convince you otherwise.
Whenever you want something better, you know where to look. Some of us will be here to help you along.