This is not true. I’ve helped lots of people install Linux on their old laptops, they used them until the hardware stopped working and I rarely if ever got any questions or requests for help.
Because it just worked.
Comment on Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change massively, gets enormous backlash - Neowin
Demdaru@lemmy.world 3 days ago> Ask
And then ask again each and every single time something doesn’t work. Or you need to install something. Something is badly configured.
You need at least medium level tech literacy to deal with Linux. Maaaaybe entry level with Mint and the like, but still, if you get skittish due to console, at which 70% of worlds population at minimum does, Linux ain’t for you.
Windows is successful because it’s easy to understand and holds your hand as much as possible. People who are complaining are quite often folk who are simply forced to use it, most people don’t really see anything wrong, even those using tech more…
mirshafie@europe.pub 3 days ago
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
This honestly isn’t my experience.
A couple years ago now, I went to install Windows 10 on a PC. It got partway through the install process, and then failed with an “Error 0x76A421B3E7291A” or something. Completely opaque, like the damn thing spat out a memory pointer as the only clue. Installing Linux Mint on the same machine threw an error, “Unable to complete installation due to BIOS TBS error. Check TBS BIOS settings and try again. For more information, see this wiki page” and it gave a clickable link, because this is running in a live environment and has a functioning copy of Firefox installed, and it gave a QR code so the page could be easily pulled up on a mobile device.
Windows is not inherently more user friendly.
jjlinux@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
Wao, you’re so full of it. Windows is the one OS that keeps people wondering why shit doesn’t work. You’ve either never installed and used Linux in the last 10 years, or are butthurt that you’ve defended windows for years and now you’re at the end of your rope, as are they.
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
I think he has a really good point. I consider myself acceptably tech literate, I’m not afraid of the command line even if I don’t really understand how to use it, I’ve built my own computers for years, and I have a pretty custom configuration of Windows.
One thing a windows user can typically be sure of is that if it’s meant to work, it probably will. There is a pretty black and white environment of what’s possible and what isn’t. Linux is very much more “give it a shot” style computing for beginners. It breaks much more easily, it can be very confusing to configure, and it’s just different.
I think if it similarly to cars. Some people, like myself, love driving, enjoy tinkering with the car, maybe drive a standard for they joy of it. But most people just want a car to take them to work and the store. Most people just want a computer to work, either for their job or their hobby, but the hobby isn’t tinkering with software. The fact that even the very packaged and polished distros can require more than basic tech literacy to configure is likely what turns a lot of people away, whether or not that’s actually the case.
And getting snippy saying somebody is butthurt (which is fucking homophobic btw) is absolutely going to keep pushing people away if they think the community is full of holier than thou Linux nerds that don’t understand how to communicate with normal people.
I’m currently experimenting with different distros right now and am having a similar experience to the person you are replying to.
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Heh, I’m literally in the same boat as you - testing distros and such. And I studied programming for some time so I have above average tech literacy and yet still I had to spend some time learning how to get old wi-fi on a laptop to work (thankfully well documented), and I still have to tinker with which distro will be best for my hardware as it’s not only kinda old, but also I have nvidia card and some wierd wifi so I am ready for things to be weird.
And I hope I didn’t come off as saying that Linux is some insurmountable wall for everyday folk in original comment but as you pointed out - everyday folk ain’t willing to deal with any problems in the first place.
XKCD comic about specialists expectations towards everyday folk come to mind xD
insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Yeah there’s also the issue of how much time someone has available to spend on their system. In a lot of cases, it simply isn’t a big part of someone’s life and the spend the least amount of time on it. All of a sudden they’re going to spend the time to learn about this new and huge thing and then do it themselves?
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
Right. That’s why I gave grandma Linux Mint, rather than asking her to learn Windows.
ragas@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
There are linux distributions doing all this for you too.
Your grandma does not need the console to open a browser window.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I even mentioned Mint and that it drops problems to lower level, so? My grandma barely grasped the concept of a browser and had problems understanding how to use google.
And sure as hell when she got some custom-software disc from hospital with embedded images from her x-ray or whatever it’s called, I wouldn’t want her to need to also deal with Linux possibly not being able to run it.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
That’s a reasonable fear, but unmerited. Those discs open perfectly on modern Linux.