this post was submitted on 12 May 2025

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Installing Linux Doesn't Need to Change. The Experience Does. (peertube.wtf)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago

My concern is we are solving a wrong problem from the beginning.

GNU/Linux is an OS designed by hackers for hackers(at least in my age). The target users should be admin, not end users like grandma. That's why Linux desktop is never mainstream despite our community put so much effort on the user experience (but the effort has not wasted)

Before you yell at me, on the other hand, android (shipped with Linux kernel) has a great success because it's dummy proof design. Even a 2 years old can mess around tablets by his/her own. We can invent million theories, argue and hate each other all days. But there is only one fact. The fact is that mainstream users enjoy the fruit of open source is brought by Android from tablets. Unfortunately, tablets' gui toolkit is dominated by big corps.

When do we start to put focus on gui toolkit for tablets? We did try, but far away than enough. When do we able to admit new generation use tablets way more than desktop? Seeing the open source communities keep heading the wrong direction make me sad.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago

Which Linux? The installation process for most distributions these days is pretty simple.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

The fact that Linux still sucks for regular users after all this time is infuriating. What the hell have people even been working on all this time??

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 hours ago

It doesn't though. It's just different and takes time to learn. Like if a PlayStation only user switched to Xbox or a Mac user switching to windows. It's different. In my experience Mac isn't "user friendly" because it does shit different. I took some time to learn it. Now it is

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeaaahh, but does it though?

I've put loads of regular users on Linux and on average they have less issues than they had with windows

That is ignoring the installation. Linux install is download iso, burn it on USB, boot computer with said USB, run the install program, go through the 5-6 pages which takes about 15 minutes, reboot and the machine is done.

Windows 11 install is downloading ISO, burn it on USB, boot computer with said USB and then the boot up immet fails with this vague error. Spend a good hour on Internet searches to find that it's some bios setting which is fine for Linux, but whatever. Make setting, reboot USB! Setup now crashes again on other gauge error. Spend another 4 hours on sraxhes only to find out that windows iso burning requires a special windows only burning program that will "fix" it and is totally not done on purpose to sabotage Linux users, but fine, were only 5 hours in and still have to start so boot up a VM in Linux, find that usb burner somewhere, download and install that, then download the iso again, burn it, dump it again in the machine and presto, er have an installer, yay!

Go through the pages, and more pages and more crap and install this sponsored content and watch ads and now you need an account at Microsoft and more pages and do you love me? Please let me know that you love me, more feedback because I'm Microsoft and I need feedback and now do you want these games that you hate, and you must install office you will love it even though you'd rather commit sepuku, and a fucking hour of clicking a thousand times later, windows is finally installed ..?

Seriously, if I say that installing Linux was ten times easier than windows, it would be the understatement of the year.

In it's general use, nobody will run into weird shit like they do on windows and to top it off, you got no issues with viruses, no ads nor spyware in the operating system itself, and shit just works.

Yeah, Linux has bugs, just like windows, but the experience is ten times better, I'll die happily and proud on that hill

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

"shit just works" I'm sorry but you're fucking high if you think shit just works on linux. Every problem is a rabbit hole of 3 new problems with 3 more new problems.

I am by no means saying windows is any good, or any better necessarily. But this "Linux works great and is easy to use" is a load of shit and I'm sick of hearing it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

In my experience a stable distribution is a “set and forget”, unless you start tinkering with it.

I have countless of users where I’ve installed something like Linux Mint and it’s been literally running for years without any issues. These users have no idea how to use a computer, except for logging in and opening the browser.

Obviously the more complex a setup, the more shit can go wrong.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 day ago (17 children)

Oh look. Yet another post demanding things from a volunteer-based community without actually volunteering their own time to work on solving the problem they're insisting needs solving.

I'm sure these demands will totally make a difference in ways that putting their time into actually writing code wouldn't.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I think it should be encouraged for non technical users to share their insights regarding UI/UX. People who are skilled in building applications often don’t have great skills in that area anyway. Actual UI/UX specialists are even harder to come by it seems.

The issue with this video is that it doesn’t bring in a ton of new insight. Issues regarding the variety of package management solutions are well know for example, and some distros are already solving this by having system packages and flatpaks managed by the same installer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Correct. There are actual efforts going on to resolve those issues. Which begs the question, why post vague exhortations for people to "do something" about this, rather than focusing the efforts in places where it will make a difference?

This isn't a post saying "hey, come to this project and pitch in." This post is just bitching into the ether and then some folks getting butthurt when the pointless performative nonsense is called out for what it is.

Posts like this one happen on a near-daily basis all across FOSS mailing lists. It's trivial to find numerous, often young, often inexperienced people who think their idea is the one that "fixes everything". These people reason that everyone should fall over one another to put effort into their magical idea once they see the obviousness and correctness of the idea. Clearly, it's simply incorrect to find fault in an obviously perfect idea such as this one.

It's just so weird that literally none of the people with these amazing ideas are the ones doing a "git init" and getting started on the work of actually implementing their amazing ideas. Bizarre how so many spectacular, world-changing ideas need to be worked on by literally anyone BUT their champion. What a horrible world we must live in filled with nasty, evil people who simply won't volunteer their personal time when we should feel so blessed with this holy relic of an idea.

This narrative is so childish that the only response it deserves is the one echoed by nearly the entire FOSS community, "Patches welcome!"

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 day ago (11 children)

The vast majority of people have no experience installing an OS and likely never will.

The typical user uses whatever is preinstalled when the get the hardware.

My father-in-law wrecked his windows pc with malware over and over so I bought him a Wow PC https://www.mywowcomputer.com/ and he loves it. I don't think he has any idea its running linux.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago

formerly firstSTREET® - for Boomers and Beyond®, Inc

Lmao

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[–] [email protected] 78 points 2 days ago (21 children)

Didn't watch the video... but the premise "The biggest barrier for the new Linux user isn't the installer" is exactly why Microsoft is, sadly, dominating the end-user (not servers) market.

What Microsoft managed to do with OEMs is NOT to have an installer at all! People buy (or get, via their work) a computer and... use it. There is not installation step for the vast majority of people.

I'm not saying that's good, only that strategy wise, if the single metric is adoption rate, no installer is a winning strategy.

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