From a non hardcore Foss pov (I use linux on an old machine to tinker, but I don’t enjoy it. It takes too much energy to get random shit working. My old random Bluetooth usb dongle I had laying around was not compatible with linux? Took me a fucking week to figure that out… ): w11 is as good as windows has ever been.
It does exactly what you want and lets your os mainly stay out of your way of doing other stuff.
All the people complaining about ads and shit: I use Vivaldi and turned off notifications in the side panel. I basically never notice I use windows, except that stuff just works. No fucking around with drivers, random old usb devices just work. All apps I download just work. Never need any serious OS troubleshooting for daily use.
Maybe windows spies on certain things I do? That sucks balls. But I also enjoy watching tiktok on the loo and I still use Facebook to connect with relatives all over the world. It sucks, but I’ve taken my peace with that fact that true privacy online is gone for average Joe.
In the end it’s just metadata. Who cares that instagram knows I like to look at ladies underwear…
“this mentality” meaning they want to spend their free time using their computer instead of troubleshooting problems?? Computers are a hobby, you can’t fault people for not wanting to go through the pain of learning a brand new operating system just to play some games
I guess my mentality is exactly what my mechanic wants because I’m not interested enough in cars to learn how to change my own brakes
I think the above comment is mostly referring to the consumers complacency about their privacy being completely eroded and not caring that they are being taken advantage of.
It’s a balance of privacy and convenience. I will use Windows because the convenience trumps the privacy concerns but I won’t use Facebook because it doesn’t. Everyone has their own balance
I agreed with the guy you answered, then I read your comment and I must admit that you’re right.
I need to use windows at work and hate it every couple minutes, but it’s simply true that I have to tinker around a lot with my Linux machines. I have to tinker more with my windows machine, but that’s because I really dislike the windows way and want to do things like I do on my Linux systems.
I am still committed to the idea that Gnu/Linux is a vastly superior system compared to windows, especially so for devs, but it isn’t always easy.
The viewpoint of just “using” a PC is something I’ve mostly lost as it seems.
Is windows really “easier” for non technical people? Or are they just used to it and switching would be too much effort?
Is windows really “easier” for non technical people? Or are they just used to it and switching would be too much effort?
Yes but it’s not the OS itself, it’s the software that runs on it. If you’re just browsing the internet then it doesn’t matter but if you’re not techy and you want to play a game with some friends, the chance that you’ll have to troubleshoot is slim compared to Linux.
We browsing is a bad example. We browsing just works on every OS. Games have gotten better of course, but it’s still not at the real it just works level.
How? If you just install windows software and follow the installer, it just works no? I’ve never ran into issues using software written for windows. There might be issues with the software itself, but I’ve never had issues with the installation procedure.
It’s about what software you install. Big commercial projects are ok, and anything that offers an MSI installer works too. But it gets really weird once you want to install something that does not offer a dedicated installer.
Instead of every program needing their own installer, there should be a central installer that can install most software.
On my Linux machines, installing things is a matter of a single command. The program downloads, installs, integrates the software of my choosing without me having to search the web for some installer (that could also be malware). If the thing I want only offers an executable, that works too, as I just put it in /use/local/bin.
Another thing is usage in the terminal. On windows, pretty much every program has its own folder. That sucks, because the terminal gets a list of executables depending on the PATH variable. That means I end up manually adding A LOT of folders to the PATH.
From a non hardcore Foss pov (I use linux on an old machine to tinker, but I don’t enjoy it. It takes too much energy to get random shit working. My old random Bluetooth usb dongle I had laying around was not compatible with linux? Took me a fucking week to figure that out… ): w11 is as good as windows has ever been.
It does exactly what you want and lets your os mainly stay out of your way of doing other stuff.
All the people complaining about ads and shit: I use Vivaldi and turned off notifications in the side panel. I basically never notice I use windows, except that stuff just works. No fucking around with drivers, random old usb devices just work. All apps I download just work. Never need any serious OS troubleshooting for daily use.
Maybe windows spies on certain things I do? That sucks balls. But I also enjoy watching tiktok on the loo and I still use Facebook to connect with relatives all over the world. It sucks, but I’ve taken my peace with that fact that true privacy online is gone for average Joe. In the end it’s just metadata. Who cares that instagram knows I like to look at ladies underwear…
This mentality is exactly what these corporations want. You’re the perfect consumer.
“this mentality” meaning they want to spend their free time using their computer instead of troubleshooting problems?? Computers are a hobby, you can’t fault people for not wanting to go through the pain of learning a brand new operating system just to play some games
I guess my mentality is exactly what my mechanic wants because I’m not interested enough in cars to learn how to change my own brakes
I think the above comment is mostly referring to the consumers complacency about their privacy being completely eroded and not caring that they are being taken advantage of.
It’s a balance of privacy and convenience. I will use Windows because the convenience trumps the privacy concerns but I won’t use Facebook because it doesn’t. Everyone has their own balance
I agreed with the guy you answered, then I read your comment and I must admit that you’re right.
I need to use windows at work and hate it every couple minutes, but it’s simply true that I have to tinker around a lot with my Linux machines. I have to tinker more with my windows machine, but that’s because I really dislike the windows way and want to do things like I do on my Linux systems.
I am still committed to the idea that Gnu/Linux is a vastly superior system compared to windows, especially so for devs, but it isn’t always easy.
The viewpoint of just “using” a PC is something I’ve mostly lost as it seems.
Is windows really “easier” for non technical people? Or are they just used to it and switching would be too much effort?
Yes but it’s not the OS itself, it’s the software that runs on it. If you’re just browsing the internet then it doesn’t matter but if you’re not techy and you want to play a game with some friends, the chance that you’ll have to troubleshoot is slim compared to Linux.
We browsing is a bad example. We browsing just works on every OS. Games have gotten better of course, but it’s still not at the real it just works level.
Windows just works tbh. If you don’t want to do anything out of the ordinary, it does exactly what it says on the box.
For me, the windows shenanigans start at installing new things.
How? If you just install windows software and follow the installer, it just works no? I’ve never ran into issues using software written for windows. There might be issues with the software itself, but I’ve never had issues with the installation procedure.
It’s about what software you install. Big commercial projects are ok, and anything that offers an MSI installer works too. But it gets really weird once you want to install something that does not offer a dedicated installer.
Instead of every program needing their own installer, there should be a central installer that can install most software.
On my Linux machines, installing things is a matter of a single command. The program downloads, installs, integrates the software of my choosing without me having to search the web for some installer (that could also be malware). If the thing I want only offers an executable, that works too, as I just put it in
/use/local/bin.Another thing is usage in the terminal. On windows, pretty much every program has its own folder. That sucks, because the terminal gets a list of executables depending on the
PATHvariable. That means I end up manually adding A LOT of folders to the PATH.“I don’t want my free time to be a second unpaid tech support job for myself”, what a horrid unthinkable mentality to have
Good