Comment by xerox13ster
1 day ago
*GASP* OH NO THEY MIGHT LEARN A SKILL!!!!
Snark aside, I really really don’t understand the aversion, even within the tech community, to learning new skills especially as it pertains to Linux.
Would having new knowledge be such a burden? Why is it something to avoid? Why is it not a good thing if normal people learn more about computing?
Do we want a population of iPad baby Linux users? Normal people can use it now, don’t gate keep.
We have people going “I don’t have to read, I could just have the AI do it for me” and pretty soon they’re not gonna be able to think. People don’t want to think or learn because we have such a cultural aversion to being a nerd. Nerd is not a bad thing.
Partly, the issue isn't "they would have to learn about Linux, and that's bad", it's "they would have to learn about Linux, and they wouldn't want do that, and so they would get frustrated and quite likely give up on it, and my recommendation would have been a waste of their time".
The other part is that they're not necessarily wrong not to want to learn about Linux! Learning is great, when it's something interesting or valuable. But if I'm not interested in the thing, and my time and mental resources are limited, and I have a good enough alternative, I think it's absolutely fine to avoid it.
Most of us choose to drive a car that just works, and take it to a mechanic when it doesn't, rather than buying one that requires and rewards tinkering. Maybe you're into cars, I don't know, but I bet you take this attitude to at least some of the useful objects in your life.
> Most of us choose to drive a car that just works, and take it to a mechanic when it doesn't, rather than buying one that requires and rewards tinkering.
You can also bring your Linux machine to the mechanic. The only difference is that we linux users are also the mechanics.
My mother only wants a browser and a mail client, maybe a word processor from time to time. I installed Fedora, and the thing is still working after 5 years or so. I ssh into the thing once a month to do a "dnf update", she doesn't even notice. After initial setup, no more tinkering ever needed.
Because you maintain it for her.
Because although sometimes annoying, people already have a good alternative making the hours required to invest in something they're not interested in a very high price.
It's the same reason why as a software developer I use Visual Studio Code and don't plan to learn (neo)vim.
I (like many who'd have to learn Linux) have better things to do.
You simply dismissed or forgot the learning you did to use Visual Studio Code.
Regardless of how much learning you did you still had to learn how to use it.
Just trying to short-circuit that logic and show you that it cuts both ways and that we should be willing to learn new tools.
That is true, but you can't deny the fact one tool has a significantly steeper learning curve. They are not the same.
It should be a choice, not a requirement. With Windows you can get your work done without knowing much about Windows itself, but with Linux you're forced to understand every level of the entire OS so you can debug it first and then maybe get your work done. For an OS built around user freedom Linux sure doesn't give its users much choice on how to use it.