this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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It's only like a couple of commands and some copy pasting....
Tell that to the average computer user, and they’ll crap their pants. I’m all for the command line being there for power users and people who actually have to manage complex systems, but if you want Linux to go to the moon, you have to consider the average Joe
Not sure why you think I want Linux to go to the moon.
It's easy enough to just make an icon on your desktop that runs the commands for you and you just double click. I'm assuming that anyone who's managed to Install Linux should know a very basic computer skill.
Let them.
every time you need to open a terminal for some basic system operation is a defeat for the system
(i get that this is not a very common operation, but still)
There are plenty of times I want to actually just use the console regardless of OS. Linux, Mac, Windows. It's easy enough to just make an icon on your desktop that runs the commands for you and you just double click.
what is it with linux nerds not understanding that you can have configurability without it being mandatory? i'm not saying the terminal shouldn't exist, just that i shouldn't have to use it
It has nothing to do with being a Linux nerd. More of all engineer thing. Using the best tool for the task.
Also literally creating a script or batch file on your desktop is basic baby level computer shit. Double clicking is hard for some I guess.
Yes you should. It's part of what makes Linux Linux.
it's just an os, you're not better just bc you memorized a bunch of terminal commands and willingly subjected yourself to a poorer user experience
if you don't give a fuck about user freedom and just want to use a unix os, then fuck off to any bsd out there and stfu
And if you want to whine about needing to type and use a CLI then you can fuck right off back to IOS.
I mean - IOS exists for you friend. It's not a superiority thing, it's that you're trying to use the wrong OS. Back to the walled garden. It's safe there.
It's it's a command that is regularly used it should be baked into the gui somehow.
It's baked into several distors I've seen. Pop, Ubuntu....
Linux users used to be a heartier breed...
yes and that sucked. i'm glad we're not like that anymore
We have valid reasons to bitch now cause we want non techies to be able to swap away from windows also.
Do we? I didn't give a solid shit if people switch from Windows.
We? Apparently no. Me and most other users that want society to have real useable options? Yes.
I've heard this complaint since the '90s. Linux has continued to grow and thrive as a "real usable option" in that time.
If you want stupid-user friendly Linux experience get a tablet with Android on it.
You are stuck in the echo chamber of your own mind. This isn't for me. Or for you. I want these changes for the idiots friend.
I don't want an OS designed for idiots - that's what IOS is and it's a shitty walled-garden because it has to be.
Good, the cool thing is that distros for newbies or power users exist. They just want utilities making these actions more accessible. Being elitist serves no one in the long run.
Problem with all this is we get shit like flatpak which is unsuitable for use from the cli. GUI first bs for people who can't be arsed to learn the very basics of the console.
Call me elitist is it makes you feel better, but not all Linux users are morons and can handle a little console use.
Lol, the cool thing is you don't have to use flatpak. If there's only a flatpak you could package it yourself. Flatpak has way more benefits than just being boiled down to GUI first...
I'm happy to call names if what I see literally falls under the definition of elitist.
Removing an appendix is just a couple incisions and suturing.
This is what you and I sound like to the average computer user. Most kids don't know what a file is.
Oh sorry I forgot that copy and pasting something on a computer in 2024 is akin to surgery. Got it. Thanks for that insight.
Especially in a terminal, it absolutely sounds like it to them.
A lot of users associate the terminal with "hacking" due to movies.
You haven't worked directly with users in an IT setting and it shows. You greatly overestimate the average user's technical abilities and ability to care.
I walked in on a user holding a power bar in one hand and the USB end of a mouse in the other while responding to a "mouse not working" ticket.
I've witnessed a user waving a wired desk phone around in the air to get better signal because they were complaining of poor call quality.
I visited a user who was panicking that their outlook messages were all getting deleted before their own eyes, not noticing that their monitor mounted on arms had fallen on their laptop's delete key, holding it down.
I've seen how deep the rabbit hole of user inability goes. It's not pretty.
Also don't forget that most terminals paste on Ctrl + Shift + V by default, which is an extra hurdle they have to get over if they're used to the standard paste shortcut. They won't think to right-click to paste, and they'll get frustrated and think the terminal is broken.
Give them an iPhone, be done.
If using a terminal scares you then don't use Linux. Back to the walled garden.
Don't be a gatekeeper, open computing is for everyone.
It's not though. I'm not saying they can't try to use it, but they're looking for "free Windows" not "Linux".
In the same way that not everyone cares about how their car works and wants to tinker with it and modify it, but they use it every day - there are people who feel that way about computers, and Linux being viable for those people is a good thing, and we don't need to "dumb down" the whole ecosystem to do it, since Linux is all about options.
What you just said is like "I forgot that changing your tire/oil in 2024 is akin to surgery". Yeah, it's not that hard, but do you know how to do it? How many Linux users who drive a car do you know that could do it themselves correctly? Everything's easy when you already have a breadth of knowledge on it.
That's still a really dumb comparison.
Opening up a text editor to copy and paste 2 lines and then saving the file on your desktop so you can double click is still not even remotely the same as changing your oil. It's closer to putting air in your tires for your bicycle.
We're already in the context of someone has installed Linux as their OS on their computer, I'm assuming they have the knowledge to create a shortcut on a desktop and copy 2 lines into it..... Like you don't even need to go into the CLI to do this.
Well, they'd need to add a shebang, they'd need to set the executable bit, and if it works, it works, but if it doesn't open a terminal (some DEs do, some don't), you don't even know if it worked, it's not really that straightforward.