In my opinion, this is the most common answer you’ll get as to why someone would use Windows if they have to go through all the trouble of disabling telemetry, using a VPN (which everyone should do regardless), etc. etc.
So it begs the question: Should Linux (In General) Be More Convenient For Everyone?
→ If so, what do you think is the best route to making it happen?
Included a poll just so people don’t have to type if they don’t want to or don’t have the time to.
Yes! Absolutely! It’s for the better of Linux anyway.
No! We don’t need people who will not help the development of Linux.
What Linux lacks is broad commercial software support. Open source enthusiasts might point to this as a good thing but in my opinion it the primary blocker for most people’s adoption. Generally speaking, people want to run the software they are used to run and not be forced to find new applications.
Of course, the lack of a large enough user base is why Linux lacks this support in the first place so it is a chicken and egg problem.
On the one hand, it’s now “traditional” to use a Windows computer, and breaking traditions is difficult and usually very uncomfortable.
On the other hand, the current user base possibly doesn’t do enough of a good job in showing the general population what Linux and the open-source world can do. So switching doesn’t look like a better alternative anyway.
Voted no but not for the ‘help development’ reason you gave.
No because you don’t learn crap in Windows or at least in the way you do linux.
You learn a LOT in Linux and if it took two years or more before you were totally comfortable then I won’t believe a single person who tells me fortitude, determination, and a basic linux education are bad things.
If you made it identical in ease to WIN then congrats, you have a great market share now I guess. At the end of the day $$$ always beats principle so the tipping point will happen someday.
2 cents.
Well, the argument some give of saying “Linux is difficult” was always total BS anyway. They had to learn how to use Windows at one point, whether they wanted to or not.
So, yeah, putting Linux in schools, if that’s what you meant, would be a great idea.
More users would mean more bug reports, fixes, improvements, features, etc., which, because it is being used in schools, would mean more funding by schools and governments (and some private organisations).
And to a large extent, it already goes a long way in achieving this, through distros targeting different types of people and interests.
Where it falls short I think, is in what @dalto has already noted.
Now while this is entirely true, I will say that I believe its impact is often over inflated. Truly, I think Linux is able to provide a great alternative to most commercial options, many of which even Windows and OSX users could be familiar with, and I’m sure we’re all familiar with those options.
Where it falls over in my experience at least, is with a true contender to the Adobe Suite, with DaVinci Resolve Studio (commercial) being the exception, as a cross-platform Adobe Premiere alternative.
Sure, we have Gimp, and Krita, and Inkscape, RawTherapee, Audacity and LibreOffice Draw. All of these are alternatives to different aspects of the Adobe Suite, but none of these are as full featured, or easy to use.
It’s not Linux so much, as the applications it runs needing to “be more convenient for everyone”. That’s not an easy problem to solve though, and perhaps never will be, unless broad commercial application support comes to Linux.
People think Windows is easy because they already grew up with it - just try to reset your borked ‘Exel’ preferences in the way you would reset ‘libreoffice’ for starters.
I went through a similar argument with Ubuntu - because it’s a good distro for banging up a server, but I really dislike the way it bamboozles newer users and slides snapd in the backdoor… which makes it inconvenient to use if you want to have choices.
When you return home with some DVD that you picked up from your hospital - if you want it to work, you are obviously going to need Windows for it to ‘just work’ because the #1 bug with Linux since the year dot is that Windows is the default - and such habits die very slowly indeed.
I disagree. Only speaking for myself of course, mouse usage in winblows, or any other gui interface was/is much simpler to learn. Click an icon. Accomplish a task versus. The association was/is straight forward, and simple. I still do most of my usage this way. Why do you think Many Linux distro s have gone this route? I ve watched, probably like most others, Linux change drastically over the years to accommodate gui/mouse users. No doubt a new Linux user today finds it much simpler to begin learning and useing Linux than, say 20 years ago.
I agree with most of what you said. But, as far as Adobe is concerned, there are defectors — a good amount at that. Meaning, people who use other software over Adobe, whether it be their business model or having better/specific features.
These people are, like you mentioned, Davinci Resolve users, and Blender, Clip Studio, Affinity, Krita, etc. users. I actually know people who prefer these products to the other commercial products, and they aren’t all using them because Adobe’s business model sucks.
But their numbers are, of course, miniscule in comparison to those who use the commercial offerings.
So, in essence, yeah, some specific commercial products coming to Linux would help a lot more than just Linux itself being more convenient.
I would add to this that maybe if the products, commercial and open-source, that are already here were to get proper funding, then getting the others to switch won’t be necessary. Blender is a great example of this, and Krita is slowly following in its footsteps.
The Blender community is still growing since its growth spurt a few years back.
We both have our opinions. I never had DVD-viewing problems in Linux; I am not understanding this. But I certainly remember growing up with windows–a very very problematic OS—and we all really had to roll with that bugginess.
That I’ll concede–the glossing over of that adaptation.
I have an unplugged WIN just for emergencies. Since 2017 I only plugged it in once: the AUR and flatpak versions of Webex crapped the bed and this was a business call slated for 30 minutes away. I’m glad I believe in time cushions…
All that said I am a 10X better person for abandoning WIN and roughing it thru the learning curve of linux and I would wish that learning on everyone. the minute we start dumbing stuff down we circle the drain, imo. [meaning there are options one can try if something taxes them too much–I have no problem confessing BSD is over my head and will be OK without giving it a 3rd try)…
*****maybe the BSD peeps are having this converstation and subsituting “windows” with linux who knows!
I’m one such person. I was trained on the Macromedia and Adobe Suites (later merged). I taught and used them in industry above all other options over 20 years. Now it’s entirely gone from my systems.
DaVinci Resolve was a no brainer, it’s fantastic in its own right. I also went down the Affinity path (Affinity Photo), but when I migrated to Linux fully, I then discovered Affinity was absent there.
Now I was able to do that in recent times, because the nature of my work changed so that I no longer needed to collaborate with graphic designers, providing assets for development projects and such. And this comes down to another aspect of this, as far as broader Linux / Linux application support is concerned.
If someone is collaborating with other creatives, chances are, they, and the companies they’re employed by, are using the mainstream solutions (Adobe Suite). If that sort of need comes my way again, I’ll likely be spinning up a Windows VM, grabbing a short term Adobe license and working with those supplied assets, there’s no avoiding it. It’s difficult to convince others of Linux, when that’s the reality.
Yep, trained and taught and executed in an environment where Quark was king, and InDesign was still the slop it is but had to be used, adobe pitstop was mandatory, and went from a postscript to pdf workflow. A Mac world by design.
When I switched to Linux, Scribus and Gimp are nice echoes of the past but nowhere near the real thing.
like you, around my linux switch the necessary collaborations had transitioned to something else so no panic. edit/spell
And I guess this is where The Document Foundation and the creators of the .ORA and .SVG file formats would come in. There are some for 3D apps as well, one for 3D colour, and a new .USD file format, I think?
The idea with these formats is that if you make the file formats themselves open-source, it matters not which software you’re using. So, if the software supports it, the developers get funding, and eventually it would create a competition where all that matters to end users are the UI/UX and the customer service they receive.
Gone would be the days of, “Does this work on Linux/mobile devices?”
I can actually see this being one of the things that makes a big difference because it’s already happening in the hardware space where Apple have been forced to stop using that stupid proprietary cable (at least, in Europe). I think Framework laptops also use USB-C for charging rather than some randomly shaped connector.
Well, what exactly is “more convenient”? More convenient than Window/Mac? I suppose that is subjective. For the average person that uses Windows sporadically for bill paying, YouTube, social media, and so forth; most likely nothing would be more convenient. I know many Windows users that have enough troubles dealing with Windows updates and upgrades. These people may never use another OS.
More tech savvy individuals that are Windows/Mac users are probably aware of the benefits of Linux in general. Maybe even read up on Linux or watched videos on various distros.
I remember many years ago, just getting codecs to properly play mp3’s and lossless song files on Linux was a chore. Let alone video. Not to mention documents and presentations created back then was rough because Windows compatibility was a must, and that wasn’t always achievable… or at least a heavy lift. Drivers for things like wireless and Ethernet and sound were pains at times. All this is now backed into nearly all distros.
So I say most of the Linux world is already “more convenient”. Especially comparing Linux of today to the Linux of 20 or 30 years ago.
Because I don’t need to ask what is “convenient” in this context, as it has been defined on the screenshot.
I mean, it is the only true problem for any software ecosystem: Availability.
For example: Libre Office will never replaces Microsoft Office place.
If you’re not working on Corporate level business (i.e. Hobbyist) then of course, it doesn’t matter whether you use Libre Office, Open Office or whatever Office. Yes, some people can replaces Microsoft Office with lesser office software but most do not.
And here is the kicker for most of you: Most people out there, outside this bubble, do not care about Privacy.
Most people do not care whether the Government can track them with their bluetooth signal or Psychic power. Most people do not care whether corporation “stealing” their data.
If you are serious about privacy, here are the ultimate solutions: Stop using the Internet. Stop using Mobile Phone. Stop Posting on Social Media.
This is true. It’s a statement that could also be said about Windows/Mac too.
I mean, I do get what you’re saying. It was very difficult for the non-tech savvy, and even for the tinkerer even 5 years ago, so there have been many improvements.
Like others have redirected, maybe we should focus on software rather than Linux itself because that is where the real barrier is.
I don’t know, honestly. I feel like Linux is already pretty convenient, but only because what I do on my system is:
Play games (all of them work on Linux)
Watch YouTube videos
Do my programming work for university/personal projects
Go on different forums for a bit
Watch anime occasionally
I don’t edit photos/videos/audio for a living. I don’t need to take tests/exams with a special browser, at least for the moment. I don’t want to play games that require a kernel level anti-cheat. I don’t need or want to do things that don’t have some Linux friendly alternative. So I don’t think I’m really qualified to say what is convenient and what isn’t. I do wish that Linux was less frown upon, but it’s not like it honestly matters anymore. I used to care a lot about this, but I am starting to realize that it isn’t worth my mental health to worry what people think of me. I’m just the weird one odd and that’s fine.
People are always going to have their feelings on things. It’s why memes like this often ring with some truth, and we can laugh at them, even at our own expense.
2 things can make Linux more convenient in my eyes.
More commercial software.
More hardware that comes with Linux.
When the average consumer gets new hardware, their first instinct isn’t to install Linux. They just want to get a working system right out of the box. And that comes with the price of dealing with Microsoft. I really hope more hardware comes preinstalled with Linux in the coming years from big companies like Dell or Lenovo, just like they adopted chromeOS.
who knows!
