Once people get over the initial Windows indoctrination, Linux is simple to use and doesn’t require tons of complex troubleshooting like people think. Before the COVID lockdown I tried for the Nth time to get my dad to use Linux. I had it installed and told him to stick with it for a few weeks (he only browses the web and plays solitaire). If he still didn’t like it, I’d reenable Windows. Well that few weeks turned into 6 months. Now both he and my mom have been happy Linux users for about 2 years.
Comment on The Windows 11 problem
sweetchildintime@lemmy.world 1 year agoLinux is fine for people like you and me who are comfortable installing our own operating system, and trouble-shooting any problems. Most ‘normal’ people though will continue to walk into a store, buy a laptop, and use whatever came installed.
Of course, the year of Linux on the desktop actually happened some time ago without anyone noticing. It’s called ChromeOS, and that’s a whole different can of worms.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
itsraining@lemmy.world 1 year ago
If I may ask, how do you deal with updates? Have you enabled unattended upgrades or do you update the machines yourself?
Zeth0s@lemmy.world 1 year ago
His dad just need to put a password when asked. It’s a 6-years-old kid task updating on most Linux distro. One needs to be able to write, that’s it
itsraining@lemmy.world 1 year ago
That would be true if:
- A GUI software center is used (or if the said dad is comfortable with an interactive console application)
- The said dad actually realizes the importance behind updates. From my experience, many people don’t.
So, unless both of above are true, the dad will never (want to) update his system because “it works as is”, sticking to old versions of software, never receiving bugfixes and neglecting security.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
His own password which makes it even simpler.
ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’m not the guy you asked, and I hope he responds because I’d like to hear his answer too, but a lot of that depends on the Linux distro you select. On rolling releases you get continuous updates automatically, not major upgrades like forced Windows Updates.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’m OP, he runs Manjaro and I handle the updates whenever I see him, every month or so (I live out of state). I could do it over SSH but if something happens to break, it’s a pain to fix. I showed him how to do it in the GUI but he doesn’t care to do it.
itsraining@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What do you mean, automatically? Arch is a rolling release and I have to explicity run pacman with the correct flags to update. At the same time Debian, which is not a rollimg release, has the unattended upgrades feature which installs updates automatically.
But indeed, many things depend on the distro. For example, user-centric distros such as Elementary and others provide an easy to use GUI for updatomg the system.
And yes, Windows Updates was (is still? not a Win user) a nightmare.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I do it for them whenever I come over every month or two (I live out of state). I could also just SSH in and do it remotely if I really wanted to. I showed my dad how to do it with the GUI package manager, but he’s the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” type. Linux will run perfectly fine without updates for years.
qwertyqwertyqwerty@lemmy.world 1 year ago
To add to that, Android is likely the overwhelming market share of Linux-based operating systems in use today. For that matter, an absolute ton of Intel CPUs have Minux installed on them too, but I wouldn’t call this “on the desktop”, just interesting.
Cold_Brew_Enema@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Imagine sounding this elitist because of an operating system you use
SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
While true, how much troubleshooting does windows require? Because as I sometimes use windows, it’s not that much less work to get it to do what you want it to do, or solve issues, than linux.
Especially since it feels like windows tries to fight you every step of the way.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Most distributions require little to no troubleshooting, and if they do, someone has probably already posted the solution online. It’s pretty rare these days that you run into a problem that someone else hasn’t and you’re stuck figuring it out yourself.
The only pain point is trying to find the Linux equivalent of the Windows apps that you commonly use. Web browsers are the exact same, but that’s about it. A fair amount of apps to offer Linux counterparts though.
echo64@lemmy.world 1 year ago
When windows needs fixing, people take it to the best buy genius bar or whatever
AProfessional@lemmy.world 1 year ago
echo64@lemmy.world 1 year ago
you don’t, normal people take their shit to the best buy when it’s broken
CeeBee@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A surprising amount
canis_majoris@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Linux is easily fixed but the problem is that the issues that crop up needing to be fixed are generally not pain points on Windows. The first Arch install I did this year was busted and I thought I had broken my networking setup because it wouldn’t connect, but the issue was that the system clock was wrong. Something like that may pop up in Windows but you can quickly press the sync time and date button in the settings and it’ll sort itself out, while Arch requires a lot more work than just that, especially if it has no connectivity.
SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
…I’ve certainly had that issue on windows as well. I had to manually set the time. Windows sync at least didn’t use to always work.
pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’ve been using Linux for like 15 years and Arch for about a decade. I’ve never had an issue where the system time prevents the network connection from working. That’s odd.
canis_majoris@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
It makes sense because all of our cryptography is based around time limits. If the system time can’t verify the cryptographic signatures it’s not going to validate any certs since the time doesn’t line up properly.
AProfessional@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Every district has ntp setup by default. New users shouldn’t use Arch…
canis_majoris@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Yeah and old users shouldn’t be fucking snobs, yet here we are.