ZedRM
Posts: 2,915 +1,948
Why is that?
Microsoft will use the Windows 10 Settings app to nag users into creating an online account
- Thread starter midian182
- Start date
Ben Myers
Posts: 389 +148
I am not a Linux naysayer. I am osimply being practical.
Learning Linux is the tip of the iceberg. Yes, Libre Office, Firefox and Thunderbird offer sort-of compatibility with Microsoft apps. What about all the other apps people use like AutoCAD, the Adobe suite, QuickBooks and many more? So what do I run on Linux to replace them, and how can I convert my data to be useful for the replacement app I need to find?
Anybody written a Windows to Linux (Ubuntu maybe) migration guide? I don't see the birds all migrating to Linux.
Keep in mind that any mass migration to Linux is inhibited by the sparse knowledge of Windows 95% of the world has, whether at home or in the office. So the world also needs "Linux for the Windows Dummies", and people motivated to read it.
That's probably one of the kindest "migration guides" I've ever seen, so thank you for taking g the time you write it.
I would like to rebutt, so give what I have to say some kindness
Most of what people have to do with native software can be figured out in several seconds. I learned Adobe's software in college, I paid tens of thousands of dollars to get certified in it and I don't even use it. I think I might have had to use this stuff twice in my career. I'd much rather have had the money than the knowledge I had to look up anyway.
My problem with software really starts with "well I paid X dollars to learn this I'm college so I can't adapt in the future." Mea while, it cost me absorbidant amounts of debt to learn something I used twice that could have easily been done for free in Linux.
Now I have to deal with spying, Advertising and job opportunities because I don't want to participate in this rat race.
What makes this even more egregious is that they now own our information due to EULAs to train AI models to do what they're hiring us to do now.
The whole system is a game and the only way to win is to not play.
Ben Myers
Posts: 389 +148
Sounds good from where you sit and I sit, because we are largely in a silo of very technical people with deep knowledge. Have you ever dealt with the run-of-the-mill home or small office user who has a Windows computer and uses it to do only what he/she needs to do to accomplish whatever? Most of them are scared out of their wits to even venture into the Windows settings, which have become more jumbled to use compared to the old-time Control Panel, which these folks did not understand and use either. They know nothing about wifi, how to troubleshoot it, or anything else. Well, a large part of my job is to fill in the gaps for these people, the IT department for people in my town and surrounding towns. It sometimes tries my patience, but I get paid decently to do it, and I am 1000% better than Geek Squad at what I am able to do.
In other words, it will take a major paradigm shift to get these people away from Windows and onto a Linux machine or another computing environment. Anything else, and their inertia and both lack of time and unwillingness to learn win the day. And these people account for at least 80% of Windows users in the world. Same deal in the corporate-enterprise space. The expense and time to move everyone to Linux is prohibitive.
In the meantime, Microsoft knows all this too, and they continue to have people in the desktop world by the short hairs. Like Eric Cartman, Microsoft does what it wants.
The whole idea that people will "figure things out in seconds" has zero basis in reality. Yeah, you and I can do that, the vast majority simply can't.
The reason I don't believe that is that there are a million different versions of android and people figure those out just fine every few years when they get a new phone.
So the majority already does this ever year or so when they get a new phone
Except that they don't. When you move to another phone you generally don't change everything about it and most stuff are backed-up online. And when there are big differences they just ask somebody who knows (like us... god I'm tired of such things)
I don't remember having to relearn anything after changing my last 2-3 phones. It was the same thing with maybe a few colors different. Not like I went from Android from iOS to have to relearn the UI. It was the same as moving from windows 10 to 11, maybe even less jarring
The problem is not that Linux is hard to learn for somebody smart, it's that it can be a very frustrating experience for somebody who has to deal with the more technical aspects of the OS. I'm sure my 70yo mother can learn to use it after a year of trial and error, but she will still call me every single day to help her with something.
And this is a mentality that is holding Linux back because it simply isn't true. They have an app store and the settings menu has become easier to use and more friendly than windows. There is more GUI continuity between Linux distros than between Windows 10 builds.Except that they don't. When you move to another phone you generally don't change everything about it and most stuff are backed-up online. And when there are big differences they just ask somebody who knows (like us... god I'm tired of such things)
I don't remember having to relearn anything after changing my last 2-3 phones. It was the same thing with maybe a few colors different. Not like I went from Android from iOS to have to relearn the UI. It was the same as moving from windows 10 to 11, maybe even less jarring
The problem is not that Linux is hard to learn for somebody smart, it's that it can be a very frustrating experience for somebody who has to deal with the more technical aspects of the OS. I'm sure my 70yo mother can learn to use it after a year of trial and error, but she will still call me every single day to help her with something.
People are so scared of stuff they hear about Linux that they don't even try it. While many complaints I hear from people are things that used to be true, they haven't been true for several years now
It's getting better, but it's still very far off from being a simple replacement.
People are and should be scared about what they hear about Linux because it's mostly true. Making them learn a new OS is a task that's just too much.
I can 100% give Linux to someone I know he knows a bit of English and knows how to install drivers and apps on his own. But I cannot give it to anybody who calls me to ask me to install freaking Acrobat Reader or something simple like that. This is how the majority are, they call when an app on their phone shows the "updated privacy policy" button, scared of wtf it is.
You most likely live surrounded by people who know good English.
Similar threads
- Locked
