Hint: :q!
Sister communities:
Community rules (click to expand)
1. Follow the site-wide rules
sudo in Windows.Please report posts and comments that break these rules!
Important: never execute code or follow advice that you don't understand or can't verify, especially here. The word of the day is credibility. This is a meme community -- even the most helpful comments might just be shitposts that can damage your system. Be aware, be smart, don't remove France.
I finally tried Linux. Tried three different Distros meant for beginners and it couldn't do the one thing I do most better than Windows. Gaming. Too many programs or overlay tools are Windows only. Compatibility programs rarely worked. Wine laughed in my face. Some Linux tools were also only compatible with other kernals.
I made the switch to have more control and felt like I left one series of cages for another.
For me gaming was the easiest thing to replace on Linux. Bazzite was painless and for me ran games with better performance. Since I use my gaming PC like a console HTPC I also have a way better experience with the more steam os like gaming mode it has over the standard big picture mode on windows, since I can now configure system settings within steam itself with my controller if I ever need to.
I tried to use Proton for steam games, baked right in, shouldn't have many issues right? I'd still encounter games that just didn't work or had catastrophic bugs. Games that use kernals level anticheat are just not possible without emulation, I couldn't find low latency emulation, it was.. A trial in futility for me. The more I tried to make Linux work the more I had to ask myself why I couldn't just rip out the windows bloat and use it instead. I thought I was a Windows power user and it would translate to Linux, I was mistaken. I've taken for granted how universal Windows is and I have a respect for people willing to beat Linux into submission.
I never understand this mindset because a person who is technically skilled like this is exactly the kind of person who wouldn’t struggle with Linux.
They’re already the kind of person who would be an excellent Linux user. I can only imagine that, for whatever reason, they’ve grown emotionally attached and are simply too stubborn to consider anything else.
My favorite is the pcmr type that says Linux is to hard, but their comment history recommends registry edits to keep edge from becoming the default browser or something stupid.
I didn't know I'm already a computer pro by following a couple of idiot-proof steps I found by googling.
Unironically, yes. That’s not nearly as common sense as you may think. There’s no such thing as idiot-proof steps. To some you may very well be a pro from that alone.
There is no such thing as idiot-proof steps to tamper the registry. Most of those registry keys are not documented, and it's very hard to be completely sure about what you are touching.
If you need a debloated experience, install LTSC.
How do you think we all learned linux?
Because nobody actually spends 2 weeks debloating and using Linux desktop isn't easier. This community exaggerates the difficulty of windows while minimizing Linus desktop issues.
This meme is basically a late night infomercial.
Guys, I'm a Linux user, too, but can we stop having these fake arguments, please?
Many such cases
I never met anyone in real life who said the stuff shown in this meme. The handful of comments here are few and far between.
Spent two weeks debloating
The folks who care enough to debloat are either already on Linux or would spend maybe 1-2h to make a few fixes, before they get something they are okay with.
Just install Linux
For those who stick with Windows, it's often more than "just switching". They may need certain software, they may not be tech-savvy, they may be insecure about whether they could handle the occasional hiccup on a system that is completely new to them. All valid reasons for hesitation, and "just switch" is about as helpful as "just cheer up".
Because learning Linux would take time.
I've used Linux for 15 years now, and I'm still constantly learning new things. Linux is so much more usable now than it ever was, and I also think more people should switch. But suggesting that you "learn Linux" in two weeks' time is just silly and dishonest IMO.
I wish we as a community could stop with this sense of superiority and actually acknowledge people's humane struggles to help them make the move.
I wish we as a community could stop with this sense of superiority
Not possible in a Linux community. They have only three jokes:
Fuck windows
I'm so smart for using the superior software stack (and everybody is an idiot for not switching)
and my personal favorite: constantly trying to trick people into using FOSS software by telling everybody they're as good even in cases where they're clearly not (bro please use GIMP it's actually really good bro as soon as you understand its archaic 1998 user interface it's just as good as photoshop bro please)
I just wish Linux memes were more about Linux than they are about Windows.
and my personal favorite: constantly trying to trick people into using FOSS software by telling everybody they’re as good even in cases where they’re clearly not (bro please use GIMP it’s actually really good bro as soon as you understand its archaic 1998 user interface it’s just as good as photoshop bro please)
This. So this.
But coming from a position of nativity, it's even almost understandable. For someone with a software development background, Linux is easily on-par with Windows and for many stacks even a lot better. There are a few cool pieces of software that don't exist under Linux (e.g. Sourcetree) but there are decent replacements that are maybe a little bit less convenient.
So if you are a software developer and a very light user of stuff like Office, graphics/audio/video editing and similar stuff, you might actually believe that the FOSS alternatives in these areas are also decently good enough.
I mean, for me GIMP and LibreOffice are totally good enough, because I do next to nothing with these tools, and for the one children's birthday party per year that I make, GIMP and LibreOffice are totally enough.
The actual hubris here is to think that my noob-level experience with these tools allows me to judge whether these tools are good enough for professional use.
It'd be nice if public schools used Linux for coursework instead of Windows. But it seems they settled with chromebooks, so now kids are even worse off.
Ironic that they are on Linux, as ChromeOS is Gentoo, but it's the worst possible distro to use.
There’s known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. The first requires a lot less brainpower than the last.
I remember people laughing about that Rumsfeld speech but I just feel like those people didn't really get what he meant
Linux takes a long time to learn and is often quirky and strange in unexpected ways- life long Windows users already know how horrible Windows is and its quirky strange behaviors.
We stick with what we know. Unlearning behaviors is doubly hard when replacing them with something better.
I am one of those people.
I'm sorry but I can't dedicate the time. Last time I tried to install it for someone else I went down a 5h rabbit hole of finding a driver for a scanner, and I was at the point where I had custom pkg repositories and needed to fix pkg dependency conflicts myself and I don't have the OS knowledge to do all this, and I didn't have time because I had to travel back again.
When I tried installing it for myself, I was missing critical software for a variety of things. For example, there's no good DAW on Linux, and even if there was, lots of VST plugins are only Linux compatible. Things like Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects have no solid alternative to this day for Linux and hence I'm struggling to replace them. Blender is on Linux (obv) but for example render engines usually only come with software for windows.
And then there's a bunch of things where I'm not sure how compatible they are even if they were to run on Linux. Office uses proprietary file format constraints to lock down their ecosystem. Sucks, but everyone uses it, so I'm stuck. Unreal Engine, lots games, my audio interface, drivers for obscure small devices I need? I just don't know and I have to dedicate time to researching all of it.
I hope you can see why someone like me has a very hard time just switching over. Yes I can just pull the plug and do it, but I will get no work done for a solid 2 weeks and even after that I will be heavily constrained.
And this all on top of the fact that I regularly set up Linux VMs for specific things which break way too often on regular use. Which also does not spark joy.
I hope you can understand why I'm fine debloating windows with Chris Titus for half an hour and then just enjoying 4 years on it without worrying about all of that is easier.
And believe me, I bought a notebook and will try to go CachyOS x KDE Plasma on that, but it will be an experiment and I have lots of doubt that this can replace my setup.
Funny how people write a long essay why they stay on Windows, claiming what a hassle it is to set up Linux. Sure, you might know how do deal with Windows, but don't expect that other systems work the same way. Windows is the odd one.
If you depend on Windows-only software, there is nothing wrong with sticking to it. Use the system that fits your needs the most.
Learning Linux is nothing. Most people will never need anything outside of the GUI. There are distros that are very close to Windows in the GUI.
Oh well. Same people think switching to a Mac will take effort.
Thing is the people that never needed Windows, also didn't really need a PC...
Gamers seem to be an exception, and while WINE/Proton are good, they're not infallible. I can't even get WINE running unless it's running as root, which I don't really want to do, and it took a lot of faff to get it to even do that. Wasn't even anything complex, just a basic Win32 app I'd done as a test.
while WINE/Proton are good, they’re not infallible.
Just finished the latest trendy AAA game (Clair Obscur) thanks to Proton and Steam... 45hrs of (amazing) gaming and I didn't tinker with a single option.
Actually, stop telling people to "learn" linux. Linux is either supposed to be easily navigable without the Command Line, or it's not the right thing for most people.
Either dumb it down, or don't expect people to learn it.
You're 100% right.
Linux Mint is not hard to learn at all, it's almost identical to windows.
The problem is the random ass shit you have to debug that the average user will not do and conclude Linux sucks.
IE if you have an Nvidia card, which shit loads of people do, you will struggle with bullshit just having two monitors...
If you have Logitech devices, which shit load of people do, you won't have drivers and you'll have to fuck around dealing with shit.
In addition to other quirky shit that happens on Linux some not really Linux fault and some just is.
That said one of the good things about chat gtp / ai is that they are actually really helpful at debugging Linux.
So yea... Linux isn't just plug and play, the way windows is. Windows steals your data and has shit loads of bloat but just like cellphones the average person doesn't give a shit nor does he understand how / why windows is awful.
Sunk
Cost
Fallacy
GUYS. Linux is stupid because there's no way to get LEGO Star Wars Skywalker Saga NPC Spawner mod to work. Maybe it fails because there isn't a way to get DirectX SDK installed in protontricks but some mods work without this anyway. I'm going to go back to Windows Vista as GOD intended. Or maybe Windows Longhorn.
Thanks in advance.
I walked this path at first, too. For me, it was more like my stubborn battle with Microsoft than not wanting to learn Linux (I had already learned Debian some time ago).
I've flip flopped back and forth, but after the recent bs with screenshot and OS-side ads (for a PAID software, mind you) I haven't even given Windows a second glance anymore.
If you've got the knowledge to truly debloat Windows, you have the knowledge to set up Linux.
I just did a fresh install of windows 11 last week, after my attempt to switch to Plasma on ~~Debian~~ Fedora did not go very well. While it's absolutely true that some de-bloating must be done right after install, it took me like 15 minutes. I spent at least that long just finding the three different goddamn places I had to go to change the wallpaper in Plasma.
*Edit: wrong flavor of linux
The problem is you used Debian which is missing bug fixes for KDE, and is on a frankly ancient 5.27 - I have had nothing but an awesome experience on KDE 6, with both VRR, and HDR, working under Wayland.
Recommend trying a rolling release
windows debloating brought me more issues than using Linux, if windows is truly that much of an ass then you might as well have it as an option in a dual boos setup where you use it only when necessary (preferably non-debloated so it doesn't fuck itself when you need it)
I used to have a Linux/Win 11 dual boot.
After about 6 months I stopped using Windows altogether. After about a year I just wiped the drive and went 100% Linux because Windows becomes a liability when it does BIOS updates you don't want or need to ensure that it's the only OS on the machine.
Look, if it takes you 2 days to debloat windows, linux is gonna take a real fucking while to learn right.
2 weeks? More like 10 mins..
Until the next re-bloating update where your settings get reverted and services re-installed.
Being good at de-bloating (as you may very well be to do that in a few minutes!) is an anti-skill that shouldn't have to exist.
I mean, 10 minutes is pretty optimistic even for a relatively savy user. It took me somewhere around an hour to find and fix everything. On the other hand, it took me and a bunch of people on the Linux support subreddit around 20 hours of troubleshooting to get Linux into a mostly functional state on my PC, at which point I and everyone else had given up, so...
Its been nearly two years since then though, and given what a nightmare Windows 11 is, I guess I'll have to give it another shot.
10 minutes is enough only for "Oh, that's too difficult, let's pretend that I'm content with Windows as it is"
Microsoft's incompetence is the best thing to happen to Linux in recent years.
Fun coincidence, when I was about to write a supporting comment to this thread, my Fedora 42 running on X1 Carbon hard froze without any apparent reason and I had to hard reboot it.
Debloating windows is not a one-time adventure, it's what you're subscribing to do every now and then.
source: am recovering windoholic.