Great take on "Why don't more people use Linux?"
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.
Ledivin
in reply to Sips' • • •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.
tiramichu
in reply to Ledivin • • •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.
floofloof
in reply to Ledivin • • •Fluffy Kitty Cat
in reply to floofloof • • •PlasticExistence
in reply to Fluffy Kitty Cat • • •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.
DaddleDew
in reply to Sips' • • •When I told my father, who has been using computers since the MS-DOS days and is by no mean technology-illiterate, that I switched to Linux, his response was "What's Linux?".
I knew it was a lost cause to explain him about privacy, or control and ownership of his own device. He uses Windows 11 and as long as it does what he needs it to do he will never care enough about switching over.
gigachad
in reply to Sips' • • •Drewmeister
in reply to gigachad • • •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.
monogram
in reply to gigachad • • •vaionko
in reply to monogram • • •archonet
in reply to vaionko • • •that is
ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTANG
floofloof
in reply to Sips' • • •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.
thedirtyknapkin
in reply to floofloof • • •Ghoelian
in reply to thedirtyknapkin • • •Like when they moved some settings out of control panel? Or when they changed the menu? Or when they changed what is shown in context menus?
(Talking about windows here btw)
Agent641
in reply to Sips' • • •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.
Alborlin
in reply to Agent641 • • •Don't forget the common use issues, where to put file for startup in different distros, attaching external drive being able to access in all and every Software without touching terminal, not too have to use terminal at all for ANYTHING IN 2025
IMPOSSIBLE!
But shhhhhhh , we are on Lemmy if you say Linux sucks you will be negatively marked , cause Linux is the best /s , gained 4% market share and what not
Linux for consumers SUCKS! NO matter the distro
Agent641
in reply to Alborlin • • •I'm perfectly happy using terminal, both in Linux and windows. But not for basic things like installing a simple program. Sure I've done this in windows using wget or whatever, but maybe like 5 times ever? Like 2% of the time requires terminal with a 90% success rate on first try, and 95% success when trying for half a day. With Mint, require using terminal it's like, 80% of the time, with a 30% success rate, and maybe 40% success rate after dickimg about with the errors for half a day.
Look, I don't take preference with sides. Windows, Linux, android, Mac, I'll happily call them all out on their various bullshit.
acargitz
in reply to Agent641 • • •Agent641
in reply to acargitz • • •blue_canuck
in reply to Agent641 • • •Agent641
in reply to blue_canuck • • •I don't know how to submit design or get involved, but if be willing to do that. Do I need to join a group somewhere, or what?
I'd be happy to spend my spare time trying to improve the UX if I'm not wasting my time. I can even show a portfolio of my currently in-production work, which only totals about 15 seperate software apps across windows, Webapp, and android, but it's something
My day-job is 50% technical writing, mostly writing software specs, and 50% UI/UX design for custom software used by aggressivly non-technical people, like warehouse staff, truck drivers, mechanics and mining exploration drillers. So I have to treat the users gently by giving them a clean, simple and intuitive design with just the right amount of guardrails, but tons of customisable functionality just under the surface.
Never trained in either tech writing or design, and I'm not a design guru, but I understand enough to build consistent in design principles, easy to understand and use, and have rich functionality behind them.
hightrix
in reply to Sips' • • •I’ll give an alternative opinion.
Im a software engineer and have been doing it for many years. I’m comfortable with various Linux distros. I build software for and deploy software to various Linux instances. I maintain Linux systems and overall like using Linux for these purposes.
When I come home, I turn on my windows PC and it just works. I don’t want to maintain a Linux system at home because it feels like work and I don’t want to work at home. Yes, most days I’d not need to do anything, but some days I would. And those days I’d prefer not to.
It is less about not wanting intellectual exercise and more about already having worked out today, so I’d rather relax with junk food and watch Netflix.
doomcanoe
in reply to hightrix • • •I get the sentiment of your point, and it's a fair one. But I have found it to not really hold up to scrutiny anymore. Once I became familiar with Linux at a very base level, I found it ''just works'' more often than Windows. Especially for the ''just relax, eat junk food and watch netflix'' style of using a computer.
Like, in that sense, I feel like I have to ''maintain'' Windows more often, in the sense that I am constantly having to get it out of my way (i.e. turn off adds, deal with automatic updates, etc). My daily use Linux install works the same every day I turn it on.
Don't get me wrong, I get that learning a new system is harder than dealing with the problems of the one you already know. But if you can use Windows and Linux, and don't require some proprietary software on Windows, Linux seems to be way ahead in the ''it just works, and works predictably and easy'' category imho.
ALoafOfBread
in reply to doomcanoe • • •I agree about windows maintenance. Mint has been easier and more stable than windows for me. The biggest hurdles were getting it set up - partitioning, mounting drives, etc. In windows that just /happens/.
But, actual day-to-day operation? Much easier in Mint.
pedz
in reply to hightrix • • •I do first level tech support for a living and help people with Windows and Microsoft products.
When I come home, I turn on my Linux PC and it just works. I don’t want to maintain a Windows system at home because it feels like work and I don’t want to work at home.
cortex7979
in reply to Sips' • • •tableflip5
in reply to cortex7979 • • •compatibility layers work with 99% of softwares
or try a qemu windows instance if performace is not critical
dev_null
in reply to tableflip5 • • •tableflip5
in reply to dev_null • • •the setup is straightfoward
people are just allergic to the terminal
you aunt can get a windows instance setup by someone competent and use that instance forever
dev_null
in reply to tableflip5 • • •Roopappy
in reply to cortex7979 • • •1) You may not actually need that app. There are many alternatives to Windows-only apps. 95% of the time, I use those. Web apps or Linux native apps.
or 2) you switch back to Windows when you really need that one app. Odds are, over time, you realize it's actually #1.
r.EndTimes
in reply to cortex7979 • • •r.EndTimes
in reply to r.EndTimes • • •BeardedGingerWonder
in reply to r.EndTimes • • •r.EndTimes
in reply to BeardedGingerWonder • • •sin_free_for_00_days
in reply to cortex7979 • • •sin_free_for_00_days
in reply to Sips' • • •Dimi Fisher
in reply to Sips' • • •tauren
in reply to Dimi Fisher • • •I guess that'd be a major blocker for most people.