this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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no matter how difficult you think linux is to use, can it really be that difficult compared to windows? At least with linux any problems can be solved one way or another and with varying levels of effort. With windows, you just have to deal with the ever increasing levels of bullshit. And if you dont need to do anything complicated and use pc just for browsing, email and other simple stuff, why would you put yourself through using windows to do it? People should really consider if the mental models they have in their heads about different operating systems are actually based on reality.
With Windows you simply have much less problems to solve. Normal people don't care about jumping through hoops to create local accounts, they'll just register.
Windows interfaces are designed for easy learning and are backed by real telemetry data from millions of systems, like Ribbon menus. On Linux power users run the show so even blatant violations of basic principles tend to stick since the development version is the shipped version and is what they are used to.
Though when you do encounter problems in windows, they will likely be something that just cant be solved or its unnecessarily big hassle. Or bad stuff will happen that was mostly out of your hands in the first place, like what happened with the article.
But yeah, there should be a distro that is specificially aimed for tech illiterate people that is nice and easy to use and also safe. But then again, if majority started using linux it might also draw more attention from malicious parties like criminals and corporations. Its just that for me, once you have linux set up and automated, you dont need to do anything complicated with it if you dont want to. At least i havent had to on mint. I understand that basic users can't do that on their own, but I bet there are tons of people who have skills to do so and could do it for a reasonable pay or even as a favor to friend. People are willing to pay more for less, so why not.
I use Linux and Mac and windows and Linux is definitely the “hardest” to use for most people day to day. I think most people on this site are in tech so they underestimate just how tech illiterate the average person is.
These people's reality is: they are familiar with Windows, and anything else is scary and perceived as even more difficult to learn to use. 20 years ago a colleague asked me about changing to Linux, I told him he could do all the same things he was doing, just use Open Office instead of MS Word and Excel, GIMP instead of Photoshop - he didn't even dive as deep as the differences between GIMP and Photoshop usage, his response was: "You mean I'll have to learn all new icons and names for my software?" "Well, yeah, that's part of moving." "In that case I don't think Linux is for me." "I have to agree with you there."
oh.. if the bar is there then I dont even know what to say..
For me, such way of thinking is really alien.
It "can" be ... it's just what people are more familiar with sometimes and new terms that seem native like: "control panel" "command prompt" "regedit" can be strange to people that haven't. It's not that they can't learn it, it's just a bit of an uphill battle.
Hell, Bazzite confused me for a bit because I didn't know wtf an immutable distro was.
yeah, bazzite is still somewhat confusing to me because its so different from other distros i have used. But whenever i dont know or understand something i just search for guides and explanations or if nothing else works or i feel lazy i might even cave in to ask llm for info. Idea of not looking up information when needed is just something that doesnt even occur to me, its like refusing to be autonomous.