this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Stumbled across this quick post recently and thought it was a really good tale and worth sharing.


A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet asking: "If Linux is so good, why aren't more people using it?" And it's a fair question! It intuitively rings true until you give it a moment's consideration. Linux is even free, so what's stopping mass adoption, if it's actually better? My response:

  • If exercising is so healthy, why don't more people do it?
  • If reading is so educational, why don't more people do it?
  • If junk food is so bad for you, why do so many people eat it?

The world is full of free invitations to self-improvement that are ignored by most people most of the time. Putting it crudely, it's easier to be fat and ignorant in a world of cheap, empty calories than it is to be fit and informed. It's hard to resist the temptation of minimal effort.

And Linux isn't minimal effort. It's an operating system that demands more of you than does the commercial offerings from Microsoft and Apple. Thus, it serves as a dojo for understanding computers better. With a sensei who keeps demanding you figure problems out on your own in order to learn and level up.

Now I totally understand why most computer users aren't interested in an intellectual workout when all they want to do is browse the web or use an app. They're not looking to become a black belt in computing fundamentals.

But programmers are different. Or ought to be different. They're like firefighters. Fitness isn't the purpose of firefighting, but a prerequisite. You're a better firefighter when you have the stamina and strength to carry people out of a burning building on your shoulders than if you do not. So most firefighters work to be fit in order to serve that mission.

That's why I'd love to see more developers take another look at Linux. Such that they may develop better proficiency in the basic katas of the internet. Such that they aren't scared to connect a computer to the internet without the cover of a cloud.

Besides, if you're able to figure out how to setup a modern build pipeline for JavaScript or even correctly configure IAM for AWS, you already have all the stamina you need for the Linux journey. Think about giving it another try. Not because it is easy, but because it is worth it.

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[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 108 points 2 months ago (4 children)

The reason is that Linux usually doesn't come preinstalled. I'm pretty sure at least 50% of the users wouldn't even notice they have Mint Cinnamon instead of Windows on their Laptops.

[–] thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world 40 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'd crank that up to like 80% Linux users somehow always seem to overestimate how tech savvy most people are.

I'd say 50% of users can't tell you what an operating system is. maybe more. and ya'll expect those people to be able to CHOOSE a Linux distro and actually install it. no way. that's way way too much to ask of the average end user.

[–] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 12 points 2 months ago

Jorge Castro of Universal Blue (Bazzite, Bluefin, Aurora) likes to say that normal people don't install operating systems. And he's totally right.

[–] monogram@feddit.nl 32 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I’m 💯 sure at least 99% of steamdecks run the ootb steam Linux

[–] vaionko@sopuli.xyz 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I know a guy running windows on a steam deck. Absolutely mad

[–] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 months ago

What a pervert.

That's like buying a Ferrari and dropping in a Lada engine.

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[–] Drewmeister@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

I don't use Linux. I'm here from /all. I last attempted Linux probably around 2006 or so. The biggest thing I remember was driver support being awful. I guess it's a lot better now?

My biggest hurdle to making the switch is that it takes effort. It's not because I'm lazy; it's because I don't see any need to put in effort. Because I already have an OS, and it works fine. I know that to some, particularly in this community, there are a lot of things about Windows to complain about, but the vast majority of users can't come up with a list of things that bothers them about their daily OS. If my computer already had Linux on it, I'd probably feel exactly the same way.

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I just made this same basic point in response to another comment, but this is exactly right. It takes effort to learn anything new, and that effort isn’t always worth it to people. But that alone doesn’t make using Linux “hard.”

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Exactly, my wife struugles with tech. She hated windows and how it did unexpected things that made no sense. I put Linux on her computer, she doesn't bug me with complaints now since it operates the same every day.

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And that’s all most people want from a computer, yet Windows always throws a curve ball at some point.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago (5 children)

My home computers and servers are all Linux since 2017, even my work Laptop was because the CAD/CAM software had a Linux version. I have been running W11 for work lately and it is such a terrible user experience. I will be mid productivity mode and the Office Ai.exe kicks and and reduces my brand new machine down to a crawl speed. It happened way too many times and it does nothing to improve what I'm working on. I tried deleting the ai.exe and aimgr.exe, but those get reinstalled after an update, so now I have made two empty text files and renamed them to match the two files, this (so far ) has tricked MS into not reinstalling those files.

But there are so many other janky bullshit things that W11 does that I can't believe a company the size of MS can release this stuff

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[–] chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 months ago

I was a Windows user for around 30 years and loved it. But I got so frustrated with Windows that I switched. My computer didn't feel like I was the one in control of it anymore, and I hated that.

I'm very happy on Linux, now.

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[–] peterg75@discuss.online 6 points 2 months ago

totally this!!! Most users just need a browser and an email client at best. They couldn't care less about the OS that's sitting on top of. If they could go to a store and see a $1000 laptop with Windows and $800 laptop with Linux being sold side by side, majority would pick the cheaper one if they could still get online with it.

[–] Ledivin@lemmy.world 60 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

And Linux isn't minimal effort. It's an operating system that demands more of you than does the commercial offerings from Microsoft and Apple. Thus, it serves as a dojo for understanding computers better. With a sensei who keeps demanding you figure problems out on your own in order to learn and level up.

Counterpoint: most people don't use Linux because the people that evangelize Linux talk about it like this.

I don't want to "level up," I want to accomplish my tasks. I'm trying to get shit done, not train for a fucking tournament.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 38 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think people that talk like this overstate the difficulty of Linux. There are easy distros that won't trouble the average user.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I'm the laziest man on earth and I use Mint, way less hassle than windows for example. So if you have never used either, you can safely go with Mint IMO.

If you gave spent 20 years on windows, then it's another story.

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[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Things have also gotten easier since I started 15 years ago

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Waaaay easier on a longer timeline too! I first used Linux in the late 90s when the things the author of this piece talks about were true. You really did need to understand more than an average computer user just to get Linux installed.

That hasn’t been the case in a long, long time now, at least not with the easier distros.

What articles like this often fail to discuss is that Windows took effort for everyone to learn at some point too. Same with macOS. Same with your smart phone.

Learning anything requires effort, and not everyone wants to invest that effort - which is totally okay if they already get what they need from whatever they’re already using. But I wish that people would stop exaggerating how hard Linux is to learn simply because it will require effort.

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[–] tiramichu@lemm.ee 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

Exactly this.

I'm a software dev and also a Linux user, but that doesn't mean I want to spend my precious time messing around with the OS trying to solve problems.

I see the operating system as a tool I use to accomplish the things I actually want to do, which is writing my code for my projects, just the same as I see a car as a tool to get me from point A to point B.

If Linux was complicated to set up, or always broken, or requiring constant work then I wouldn't use it, no more than I'd tolerate a car which is broken down and in the shop every other week. But fortunately, Linux is none of those things.

Modern Linux mostly "just works", and it's really counterproductive to talk about Linux like it's hard or you need to be a deeply invested techie to use it.

[–] BoulevardBlvd@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

See, you have people like you all over saying "Linux just works" and then you have other users here saying "I have to spend an hour fixing my computer running one of the most user friendly distros every single time the power goes out". I don't know who to believe but both cannot be true simultaneously so which is it?

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 6 points 2 months ago

Different people have different experiences for lots of reasons. Like I used to have constant problems with Windows that took days to fix, and some people never had any problems. It depends on your hardware, software, settings, what you're doing with it...with every OS.

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[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 23 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

I started using Linux as a liberal arts major in the late '90s. Both my grandparents (RIP) and my parents (partial RIP) kept having issues with Windows on their computers. I was constantly being called to help them with crap. 20+ years ago I asked if I could try something and they didn't care, as long as it worked. Debian and XFCE. Configured their email, hooked up the printer. Suddenly the service issues went from several times a month to once every 5+ years. And 90% of those issues just was clearing out the printer queue. I have never once understood the LiNuX iS OnlY FoR suPer TeCH NeRDS bullshit.

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[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

because most people use what comes installed and apple and microsoft dominate that.

then again, considering apple is based on unix you could argue that anyone with apple does use a version of it

[–] andMoonsValue@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

This is the obvious right answer. If computers shipped with Linux mint most consumers wouldn't notice the difference.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (14 children)

The UIs and UXes in Linux are still shit and look like they are from 1998. Engineers are not great designers. I design UI and UX for windows and Android for a living. I'm not professionally educated in design, but I know how to make a GUI look like it wasn't a collab by Mattel and M.C Esher for use on a museum computer. That goes for apps and system features. The Bluetooth device GUI in Linux Mint is fuckawful:

Being able to consistently install things by downloading an exe from a website and just double click it is lacking.

The names of Linux software are also regularly dumb. Trying to be punny, clever, or cool. If it resized images, just call it Image Resized For Mint or something, not "Nautilus" or Nemo", they are forgettable and tell me nothing about the app "Uhh, it was something ocean themed, I think". (This is true of Windows apps as well, Audacity, Figma Director, and Irfanview, I'm looking at you)

Apps "forgetting" the last-used settings, inc last used save file path, or user config, is a common issue too. Out of the box, apps should remember last-used settings without having to be told.

Window focus interfering with key capture is an issue too. Use Flameshot (a screen capture app) to take a region screenshot of a right-click context menu in another app - you can't. Greenshots on windows does it fine.

I still persist with Mint, but the process is further from 'Seamless' than even windows 11, the shitshow it is.

Maybe I just hate all operating systems.

[–] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Being able to consistently install things by downloading an exe from a website and just double click it is lacking.

This is something I still have issues with. I've been running Mint on an old Mac mini for six or seven months now, and still have to think to remember what flavour of Linux it's based on when trying to install software.

Then there's the way it has software installed via the store, Flatpak, and the terminal, meaning I have multiple places that need software updates. And that doesn't necessarily cover OS updates.

Don't get me wrong, I like Mint, and I do enjoy the tinkering, but I kinda go by the "Could I put this on my mum's laptop without her having trouble?" rule, and the answer is no. It's close, but no.

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[–] commander@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

Path of least resistance is at the electronics store and general support from marketed software. So lack of Linux hardware in stores and lack of well marketed software

20 years ago Apple at least had store presence and had their own software as major draws, Final Cut Pro, GarageBand people loved, and really as a brand MacBook's are/were fashionable

Linux is widespread in software development and data science. It's mainstream draw is still developing. Could be games. It could maybe someday be seen as the choice for content creators if the selection of media creation/editing continues to improve and have their Blender/Krita rise. Talking like Kdenlive, Ardour, GIMP, etc

[–] Radium@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)
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[–] DimFisher@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago (3 children)

What issues are you all talking about? I m a Linux user for eleven years now, the only issues you may have with them are only in the beginning when everything is not installed or sometimes not everything is perfectly installed and set up, once you finish with that you may get bored by how extremely stable they are, you just do your work and that's it, and they stay like that forever, the only reason people are using windows is because they are pre installed, that's the only truth.

[–] chilicheeselies@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (9 children)

To be fair, i installed linux on an old laptop and i just cannoy get the wifi to be reliable. I found myself reading about the minutia of intel wifi drivers and how wifi works in detail just to try tonsolve this issue.

I outright gave up on getting a printer to work.

This is an unrealistic experience for most people who just need a tool that works. Life is too short.

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[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

And Linux isn’t minimal effort. It’s an operating system that demands more of you than does the commercial offerings from Microsoft and Apple. Thus, it serves as a dojo for understanding computers better. With a sensei who keeps demanding you figure problems out on your own in order to learn and level up.

I don't think this is true unless you're digging in. For the average person doing everyday things, using a Linux Mint installation isn't going to be any more complicated than using Windows. Just different, with some new patterns to learn. I don't know about MacOS since I've never felt moved to pay the entry fee to use it.

[–] djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 months ago

The average person has never installed an operating system in their entire life.

Just the simple act of installing Mint is a lot more effort than the average user has ever put into computing.

[–] thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

it took most users years to reach the minimum understanding that they have of windows patterns. change how one thing that they got down works and they'll panic.

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[–] Puzzlehead@reddthat.com 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well android uses Linux I found out.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago

Yes, I think the biggest hurdle for Linux is the tech crowd giving it a reputation for being difficult

[–] BigTrout75@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Let them eat ads

[–] highball@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Worst take ever. Outside of Desktop, Windows gets dominated by Linux. Even on Azure, Linux is the number one OS over MS's Windows Server. Windows is free on IoT and still Linux dominates. So what makes Desktop different? 30 years of Microsoft's vendor lock-in strategy. All the OEMs have to invest into Windows because they have to take the volume licensing deal from Microsoft or be priced out. This ensures Windows engineering efforts for drivers, software, and testing. Because the machines were Windows, 3rd party hardware and software had to invest into Windows as well. When there is no vendor lock-in, Linux receives the money for engineering efforts and dominates Windows. Nobody complains about having Linux on their Smart TV. Right, because the money for engineering efforts are not forced to be put toward Windows. How many people are switching their Steam Deck to Windows 80%? 50%? 10%? 1%,? more like ~0.1% switch. The money is there to make a great experience and so there is almost no reason to switch. It's only the tech nerds that are installing OSes. Average people don't even know what Windows or Linux is. When Microsoft loses it's lock-in strategy, Linux will take over. Nobody is choosing Windows for Desktop. It's just what comes on the machine at the store.

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 6 points 2 months ago

You hit the nail right on the head. Chromebooks got decent enough uptake and many folks just use an ios or android smartphone and don't really use a computer. In some ways its nice things are like this. At least for me. I used to eat fast food way to often but that bout of inflation hit fastfood hard and now I rarely if ever eat it. Even my once in awhile is a non chain burger, hot dog, beef, gyro, burrito type place and not taco bell or mcdonalds since the mom and pop places are like a buck or two more for higher quality. Still pretty rare though.

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Why don't people use Linux? Fair question. It's because people who don't use Linux are stupid and lazy.

Wow, galaxy brain stuff.

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