If you recognized yourself in a few of these points, that doesn’t mean Linux isn’t for you. In fact, you can count it as an invitation. It just means you’ve spent a long time in an ecosystem that treats you more like a product than a participant.
  1. You love giving your data away
  2. You enjoy being tracked by your operating system
  3. You’re happy when your computer tells you “no”
  4. You prefer someone else deciding what you can run
  5. You feel uncomfortable if you get to have options
  6. You’d rather battle corporate tech support
  7. You’d rather rent your software than own it
  8. You think ads belong on your desktop
  9. You love being lied to about what’s “industry standard”
  10. You like rebooting for every little update
  11. You’re uncomfortable when software is transparent
  12. You think community-made tools can’t be “professional”
  13. You want intrusive AI everywhere, whether it helps or not
  14. You think the command line is only for hackers
  15. You never really wanted your computer to be yours anyway
  • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml
    122·
    28 days ago

    “Well if you don’t buy this car you are a moron who can’t see how much better this car is. So keep driving that piece of shit car you dumbass. So, have I sold you on this car?”

  • Victor@lemmy.world
    721·
    29 days ago

    Oh, it’s just a list of pro Linux items but in reverse psychology… Kay.

    I’m already a Linux user, I was kinda curious about a listing of actual reasons Linux might not be for someone.

    • ozymandias@sh.itjust.works
      181·
      29 days ago

      actual reasons:

      1. want to use some specific program or game only available for another os
      2. lazy, dumb or afraid of computer stuff.
      3. can’t decide from 10,000 different distributions
      • vandsjov@feddit.dk
        7·
        28 days ago

        You forgot the real actual reason: I don’t care about computer stuff. My current computer does what I want and I don’t care to switch.

        It is okay not to have the interest in computers. I could probably change the oil on my car but I don’t care and don’t want to do the work, so I don’t do it (the mechanic does).

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      486·
      29 days ago

      Not just reverse psychology, I can’t imagine anyone agreeing with most of these. It’s definitely got a holier-than-thou attitude. Like who is this even written for other than people who already use Linux and just want to feel smugly superior?

    • Omgpwnies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      29 days ago

      I’ve been running Fedora for a few weeks and if I update it every time there’s updates available, I’d be rebooting nearly daily, because it insists on rebooting for “system packages”, where debian and even Arch based distros did not require restarts for most things… I’m not even using an immutable version of Fedora

    • steeznson@lemmy.world
      121·
      28 days ago

      Shh we’re trying to circlejerk here! Keep your voice of reason down and grab some lotion

  • FoundFootFootage78@lemmy.mlEnglish
    9·
    29 days ago
    1. You can’t be trusted with keeping your desktop secure (because Linux sure as hell won’t do that for you).
    2. You need software that can’t run on Linux even via compatibility tools (Multiplayer AAA games don’t count).
    3. You have access to extended security updates for Windows 10.
  • onlooker@lemmy.ml
    353·
    28 days ago

    And here I was, thinking this was a well thought out article with actual, legitimate reasons why someone wouldn’t want to use Linux. Instead, it’s this smug, autofellating, condescending bullshit. Roland Taylor has some issues.

    • faythofdragons@slrpnk.netEnglish
      3·
      27 days ago

      I mean, #6 is accurate for me. I don’t have a humiliation fetish, so I’d rather pay people to tell me what I’m doing wrong instead of braving the barrage of belittlement that comes from asking for crowdsourced support.

      • onlooker@lemmy.ml
        2·
        27 days ago

        And that’s completely valid and fair. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. But I do have to stress that I’m not so much criticising the bullet points as I am the general tone of the article. #6 should read like your reply, but instead it feels like the reader should feel bad for not wanting support from humans as opposed to an automated system.

        • faythofdragons@slrpnk.netEnglish
          3·
          27 days ago

          Oh, I understand. I was trying to snarkily imply that the smug, autofellating, condescending attitude you mentioned was unfortunately endemic, to the point where it’s starting to feel like some people are secretly jorking it while telling newbs they suck. I think it’s a huge reason why people feel like FOSS isn’t for them.

      • onlooker@lemmy.ml
        1·
        26 days ago

        I’ll have to take your word for it. Truth be told, I don’t read much of their articles. And it looks like it’s going to stay that way.

  • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    28 days ago

    #3 is what does it for me. There are few things more enraging than something I own refusing to do what I’m instructing it to do.

  • MasterBlaster@lemmy.world
    13·
    28 days ago

    I enjoy the snark, but also agree it’s condescending. Folks, take it as cynical humor, and don’t be so harsh.

    Anyway I commented to say that #10 is creeping into at least some distributions.

    My Ubuntu sends security updates that frequently impact system libraries and thus demands (politely) a reboot.

    Gnome software does it all the time, but a regular “check for updates” will often install without demanding reboot. I suspect the update won’t be in effect until reboot, though.

  • ScientifficDoggo@lemmy.zipEnglish
    182·
    29 days ago
    1. You start making weird passive aggressive lists to shame people into your preferred…whatever…
  • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
    1317·
    29 days ago

    Here’s a few more.

    1. You want to use multiple monitors without messing around.

    2. You don’t want to run an emulator for your games.

    3. You like being able to share software with people.

    4. You need corporate software for work or your own business.

    5. You’re looking for a computer that ‘just works’.

      • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
        11·
        29 days ago

        The first one is because at least on Mint, on the machine I have, multiple monitors just don’t work, and I’ve been told it’s not just me, it’s X11. The second is the need for Wine or Bottles (or whatever Valve has done).

        • Melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          7·
          29 days ago

          Wine literally stands for “WINE Is Not an Emulator”.

          That said, Proton is pretty transparent, you can just install any game off Steam right now and it’ll work 9 times out of 10 without you noticing that you’re using wine. I often can’t tell if I’m using proton or not and get surprised when I go into the game files for one reason or another expecting proton and am surprised to find a native Linux build. There has even been at least one time I’ve switched from a native Linux build to Proton because it ran better, and it was just one toggle.

          Why the resistance to wine? Did you have an issue while using it, or is it the principle of using a compatibility layer?

    • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.caEnglish
      11·
      28 days ago

      16: I’ve had more headaches getting multiple monitors to work in Windows than I ever have in Linux. Try connecting 2 monitors of wildly different resolutions in Windows and witness the abject failure of windows to handle that elegantly. Your mouse can slip off into a “void” where no monitor exists, and yet your content can just disappear to, dragging the mouse between monitors slips the cursor way off and to the right, screenshots are a mess, etc. etc.

      17: I only play games in Linux and I never use emulators… unless it’s for things like SNES.

      18: I don’t know what you’re getting at with this one. Software is way more shareable in Linux. You just say “it’s in your package manager” or “install this Flatpak”. Windows and Mac on the other hand have half-assed app stores and a culture of "just go to ${URL} and click “download, ok, ok, ok” which inevitably leads to stuff breaking and no discernible way to determine what failed 'cause your machine is full of rando installations.

      19: This is fair, though most high-profile stuff like CrowdStrike works for Linux now.

      20: I cannot begin to tell you how much Windows and Mac don’t work. Like, at all. Just today I spent an hour on a call with another developer stuck in Windows trying to get a JDBC driver to work. The constant ambiguous error messages, useless documentation directing you to "just go to ${RANDOM_SITE} and install some-cryptically-named-executable.msi that craps out with error messages about missing runtimes… the whole operating system is hot garbage and that’s before you factor in the missing keyboard shortcuts, flaky monitor support, creeping AI, and ads shooting into your eyeballs. The only way Windows “Just Works™” is if you redefine “works” entirely.

      • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
        21·
        28 days ago

        For #18, here’s how my sneakernet software sharing goes: Windows: I copy the installer exe, or a zipped version of the software as installed to a flash drive. The person can then run the software from the drive, or copy it to their own PC. No Internet required, no outside connection called for.

        Linux: after determining that they have the right distro type for the software, I have to walk them through either getting it from a GUI repository client, apt, pacman, flatpak, snap, or whatever other cockamamie thing it’s on. They have to install it from the central authority - which is not sharing the software. It’s suggesting that someone else connect to the Internet and download a thing.

        If it requires the Internet to for a typical user to share software on media, your operating system is hostile to freedom.

        • Melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          21·
          28 days ago

          If you want to share software like that, just use AppImage. It’s perfect for sneakernet software sharing: no internet access required, and it requires less technical knowledge from end users than telling them to use a package manager. Just copy the file and run it.

    • Goretantath@lemmy.world
      51·
      29 days ago

      A computer that “just works” nowadays is an android phone, windows has so much broken due to them replacing devs with AI that you can’t justify that as a reason nowadays.

    • candyman337@lemmy.world
      5·
      29 days ago

      The monitor thing is very dependent on distro, I didn’t really have any issues at all with Linux mint or nobara

      As others have said wine/proton is not an emulator and some games run even better on Linux, that being said a lot of AAA games have DRM that prevent you from running them on Linux, that would be your real argument there

      Don’t like being able to share software? A ton of software on Linux is FOSS and available on windows, not all of it of course, but you could say the same about Mac

      Depending on the corporation and software, you can use Linux, but yes, most places are windows shops, so that is difficult

      But yeah,a computer that just “works” I concede most distros will not get you there. Nobara is definitely a bit unstable but I can deal with it because I was in IT for 6 years. Although immutable distros are close, but they definitely still take some knowhow to use, and have their limitations

      Edit: misread part of the comment

      • altkey (he\him)@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        28 days ago

        A ton of software on Linux is FOSS and available on windows, not all of it of course, but you could say the same about Mac

        Wine question 2.0: Does WSL count as Windows?

        • candyman337@lemmy.world
          2·
          28 days ago

          There are several apps that are compiled for both Linux and windows natively, that’s what I was referring to