this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
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What are the best reasons people have given you for not wanting to try Linux? (distrowatch.com)
submitted 2 days ago by cm0002@toast.ooo to c/linux@programming.dev
27 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Heyho, recently asked for the silliest reasons, but as someone who has suggested linux to many people, I often encounter people having valid reasons for staying with Windows or switching back.

The most boring but valid one is "I have to use Windows for work. It is a requirement (of some software I have to use)". But there are also other answers that fit. My sister for example tried Linux, but while installing software constantly encountered issues that I helped her solve and eventually switched back because she felt like she had less control than over windows. While I am aware that this is fundamentally wrong, it is valid that some amateur users do not want to invest enough time to get over the initial hurdles of relearning how to install software.

What are the best reasons people have given you for not wanting to try Linux?

OQB @VoxAliorum@lemmy.ml

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[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I have a MSI laptop with a nvida 970m card...

--back story

I actually tried twice in the last couple months.

First attempt bazzite (after two failed tries with other distos that afternoon) was semi successful got it installed, installed WoW. Thought I was doing good till the default directory it installed in was wouldn't let me install my add-ons. Reinstalled and got add-ons working. Then started refusing to boot a few days later.

A month later I tried again, forget the distro. Got to the drivers, 4 completely random non descriptive lines for Nvida... So I chose the one that said (recommended). Oops it only works on 10 series forward. (Forgot to mention the hour wasted trying delete old Linux part) Gave up again for a while.

[–] m4xie@lemmy.ca 6 points 16 hours ago

They prefer freeBSD

[–] Tinks@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

My personal answer is because my audio/sound setup is obnoxiously complicated and I've tried to get a variation of it working on my steam deck but never managed it. I'm sure there are ways to do it, but on windows I know how it works and how to fix it if some update breaks it. If I switched it would require a lot more fussing around and special software that may or may not continue being supported and I just don't want to deal with it.

[–] RalfWausE@blackneon.net 41 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Honestly, the very best i got from a client of mine, a veterinarian who is about 80, he runs his whole Praxis on a Commodore PET (i mean, its a natural choice for a veterinarian), which he bought somewhere around the time i was born. His reason: "I don't need no Windows, i need no Linux or anything other than the computer i am accustomed to. It does what i need and it will do so till the day i die".

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And the Vet won't get any AI Slop. Good for them. But the PET? Please update to the C64 or at least the VIC-20.

[–] who@feddit.org 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Why? The PET does what they need and has a crisp, clear, built-in display and a reliable power supply.

[–] RalfWausE@blackneon.net 14 points 1 day ago

This is the point. About twenty years ago when I first met this guy I thought I HAD to convince him to upgrade to something more modern because, well, "new is better" I guess. Luckily he declined my offers and stayed with this system.

Now, this man is for me what would call a living legend. He bought this system when the PET was brand new, state of the art tech and was perhaps the first veterinarian in a radius of 100 km with a computer. From this point on he wrote himself tons of software for his personal use, modified this software for changing circumstances (and still does so!) and kept this system running.

THAT is permacomputing!

[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Based.

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

mostly from my field of work but generally it's either very niche software or adobe. I have no idea about anything CAD related but apparently there are a few very important CAD tools that don't work on Linux. Again I dont' know specifics but that's just what I've been told.

And finally Adobe stuff which speaks for itself. This mainly boils down to graphic designers and what have you.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 1 points 7 hours ago

few very important CAD tools

Every important CAD tool*

FOSS options are great compared to the lack of FOSS options (I myself useFreeCAD for simple models) but they don’t compare to professional software

[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago

There seems to be very few CAD options on linux sadly. And despite the decades of marvelous work on GIMP, it's still not on par with photoshop.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

"I don't have time to learn it."

Although it's weird now, because we usually have this conversation while they wait for Windows to crash, restart, search up a patch, apply it, and reboot.

It's awkward. But I still kind of get it. Who has time to try something new when the current thing barely works.

[–] plateee@piefed.social 20 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I need Microsoft Word for freelancing and I don't want to pay $100/year for M365.

It's really the only thing keeping a few of my friends and family members from switching.

Yeah, I could spin them up a VM and do some RDP trickery, but these aren't super technical people - the friction would mean emergency tech support calls that I'm not ready to answer.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 13 points 1 day ago

Yup. Friction is the number one answer. Things just aren't quite exactly as they expect or there's just this one weird niche app they have to have. For my mother it was a cobbled together from parts of visual basic java and a few other things. That wine CAN run. But between the different tools and toolkits. The menubar renders incorrectly.

The solution however was not to drop Linux. Fortunately, there was an Android version, which I couldn't get running properly with waydroid because of poor integrated Intel graphics support, at least for non-XE cores. But a $200 tablet solved that problem. Nice big screen et cetera for her.

[–] Macallan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My excuse is that I don't even own a PC.

My work provides me a laptop that I use for what I need to do.

I don't really have a use for a PC other than maybe gaming, but I don't even have a lot of time to do that. I barely play my PS5. I did buy a Steam Deck and play it more than the PS5.

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 2 points 16 hours ago

Fair enough

My work provides me a laptop that I use for what I need to do.

I hope nothing personal (from a opsec pov)

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 6 points 1 day ago

Adobe apps

[–] not_me@piefed.social 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not enough games for linux 🤣

[–] JaddedFauceet@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Many games on Steam should be playable on linux. Except for games requiring kernel level anti-cheat.

if the game is not on Steam, you can find launcher (Lutris / Heroic) that launch the game for you, or proton wrapper (umu).

What game do you play? You can find its compatibility here https://www.protondb.com/

[–] Paddle0681@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It's getting better; Proton has really advanced this.

What's hurt this movement, is the lack of support of AntiCheat games, whether that being due to kernel level anticheat or games not supporting server side anticheat.

[–] thatonecoder@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

Quite frankly, the potential of server-side anti-cheats is nearly entirely untapped. In Minecraft (Java Edition), some anti-cheats have made cheating much less overpowered, going as far as to patch 99% of movement cheats, and many combat cheats are ML-based, at this point.

[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 days ago

Not only that, theres also an increasing number of anticheat's that supports linux, however they have it intentionally disabled so when you run the game it either blocks you or in worse case bans your account as a whole

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm waiting for when the current official SteamOS is available to be installed on any PC to give it a whirl again. I know there is Bazzite, but I'd like to see exactly what a Deck user experiences, but on my desktop. They said it's coming, but with the recent announcement I'm wondering if they just meant this new Steam Machine and not like the old SteamOS which was kinda dookie but can be installed on any machine.

[–] who@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I’d like to see exactly what a Deck user experiences, but on my desktop.

Don't they see Steam's Big Picture mode? I think you could just run that and Gamescope on whatever distro you like. No need to wait for SteamOS 3.

[–] TootSweet@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

"My graphics programs." Printmaster in particular. That was a long time ago and now she's more open to Linux. We'll see what happens next time Windows does some bullshit.

[–] notreallyhere@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

too hard

[–] lefaucet@slrpnk.net -1 points 1 day ago

They allowed Microsoft to control their means of production

...suckers