this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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Linux

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The best one I've ever heard is they like the Microsoft wallpapers. Yes i told them you can use them on linux too. But they argued with me that they wouldn't be compatible.

OQB @lordnikon@lemmy.world

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[–] hallettj@leminal.space 53 points 1 month ago (6 children)

I can't think of a good story from personal experience, so I'll share a wild objection from some guy on the internet from, I think 2007. The story pops into my head from time to time. This guy insisted that it would be impossible to create an entire OS that can run from start to finish without the resources of a major software company. He argued that therefore Linux must actually be a pirated, reskinned version of Windows. https://danielandrade.net/posts/linux-windows-misconceptions-tech-story/

I checked the Wayback machine to try to find more messages from that thread because I think he kept posting and doubling down. But pulling up ancient ZDNet forum posts is slow enough that I gave up.

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 18 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Apple tried to create their own system for years but finally gave up recently and moved to Intel and Microsoft.

That person can't be real...

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[–] SinTan1729@programming.dev 8 points 1 month ago

Omg please kill me 😭

[–] freeman@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

If it were true (and I doubt it), then companies would be selling computers without Windows.

The naivety.

[–] Gobbel2000@programming.dev 3 points 1 month ago

To be fair, nowadays the Linux kernel does rely quite a bit on resources from major software (and hardware) companies.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 3 points 1 month ago

No biggie here. Just one of the pawns in MS's FUD tactics.

[–] oatscoop@midwest.social 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

He's not entirely wrong:

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called " xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

You can learn more here.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 42 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The only people I know that I’ve not been able to convince are absolutely attached to their competitive shooters. That seems to be the last bastion for many.

I’ve tried to explain (in very subtle ways) that their lives would genuinely be better off without those types of games reeling them in, but it’s a genuine addiction for them.

[–] Scoopta@programming.dev 26 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I have a friend who won't leave windows because of League...in fact when we work on projects together I often have symlinks in my repo and he won't even turn on developer mode to deal with them because it means if he wants to play league he has to restart his computer since it breaks the anti-cheat...so I have to make sure to desymlinkify any repo I expect him to clone...it's cursed how much of a hold a stupid game can have.

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[–] justdaveisfine@piefed.social 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Similar here - The grip League of Legends has on people is terrifying.

[–] hallettj@leminal.space 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

As a gamer myself I don't think it's appropriate to try to deprive someone of a hobby that they genuinely enjoy. As a long-time Linux user I stick to games that work well on Linux, like Overwatch. But unfortunately games aren't interchangeable - if League is your thing, Dota might not be an acceptable substitute.

Better to argue for dual booting than to try to cut off a friend's personal relationship with their game.

[–] spartanatreyu@programming.dev 13 points 1 month ago

There's a difference between someone who likes poker and someone who has a gambling problem.

The same thing exists in games. It could be a reliance on gambling or other addictive behavior, it could be the game generates online toxicity, or something else. Either way, if it's becoming a problem it needs to be addressed.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 5 points 1 month ago

Even if that game is toxic waste?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 38 points 1 month ago (3 children)

"Will I get attached to a subscription for it or something?"

"It's not a subscription service!"

"Oh, okay... well, I don't know... I don't want to get a virus on it."

"You can't get viruses on it!"

"It's not gonna make me wanna have sex, is it?"

"It makes sex even better!"

"Sounds kind of expensive."

"It's the cheapest operating system there is."

[–] Marafon@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

Can I get a little sweet leaf right between my teeth?

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[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 29 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Last week I was told that someone I know was going to install windows 11 instead of Linux because they worry about privacy...

[–] hallettj@leminal.space 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is the BS I came to this thread for!

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

They also went and bought a TPM module... You know for privacy...

I can not fathom it, they are going from windows 7 to 11... same hardware.

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[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'd like to legitimately know the possible rationalization that came to that conclusion

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

My thought is that they must be doing this just to get under people's skin, it is so aggressively stupid it has to be some sort of contrarian shit.

[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago
[–] AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't have a computer to try it on and I can't be without a computer.

Oh here, take a Linux laptop from my giant box of Linux laptops!no I think I'd still prefer not dry Linux

[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Old laptop? Linux! I do the same thing on laptops people give me when they are done with them

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

People are ... done with laptops? And they just... give them to you?

[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

They think its better than throwing them in the trash and they have a misguided notion that I will actually use the computer when they give it to me

[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

"I deal with enough tinkering on computers at work, when I get home I just want it to work" Proceeds to spend hours getting mod packs installed on games they play for a week, month tops

[–] Integrate777@discuss.online 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

That's actually not as crazy though. Linus himself said people don't install operating systems, it's not what most people want to do in their free time.

We have our own version in linux too. Arch/Gentoo/NixOS, neovim/hyprland/kitty unixporn evangelists who clearly have a very different idea of what's worth spending time on, compared to the average user. Like gosh, ubuntu, konsole and vscode work perfectly fine too!

[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Regarding Ubuntu, its cousin Mint is even more regular user friendly, as is ZorinOS.

[–] mrcleanup@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I use Arch. I'm a beginner. It has been super easy.

You just need the right distro. Arch can be easy too.

[–] Integrate777@discuss.online 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I installed arch myself too. But i still don't see what benefits it brings over the simple GUI installers from Debian or Fedora. Just click a few buttons and I'm done. What was the point of all the complexity of arch installer anyway? I develop open source linux programs too, the arch installer stuff has very little relation to the actual development of linux projects. I don't see much reason for it, it's complexity for the sake of it. Just use a GUI installer and be done with it.

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[–] ulterno@programming.dev 4 points 1 month ago

Doesn't seem ridiculous enough.
They probably expect the OS to "just work", so that they can work on other things that don't just work.
A little BS though, but understandable.

[–] 3ra@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"It doesn't have the Microsoft store" he said; after which my friend and I facepalmed so hard that it might have caused us a concussion.

[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

One of my favourite things about Mint is that it has a Software Center with ratings and reviews. It's what tipped me over from installing Zorin OS.

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[–] ulterno@programming.dev 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

there was this person who was not using Linux because of the CAD software he wanted to use and when I asked what exactly it was, he said, "KiCad"

https://programming.dev/post/41009576/20603820

[–] ApertureUA@lemmy.today 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

One guy told me he plays Mario Kart. As a reason to not install Linux.

[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Snerk, show him TuxKart. I haven't played it myself yet, been meaning to.

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[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I have a lot of geek/nerd friends who know their way around it, but the one excuse I've seen, for anyone who has heard of it, is the stigma that you have to use the terminal and need to be a "programmer". Which is why, for those people, I just call it Mint Operating System.

[–] Statick@programming.dev 4 points 1 month ago

I have a friend in IT who spent a couple hours researching Windows 10 LTSC and then installing it, running the masgrave script, then running all the debloat scripts... instead of just installing Bazzite or CachyOS because "I don't want to have to use the command line for everything".

And then we (Linux users in general) get called elitists for trying to educate them 😂.

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I recently bought a new computer and decided to go Linux only. And because it was a new computer, it's bleeding edge. I got the 9950X3D, I got 64 gigs of DDR5, I got the 5090. And by all measures, it is a fantastic machine.

That being said, getting Linux working on it flawlessly was a several day long adventure.

The motherboard has a driver for its 5 gigabit ethernet connection and I have 10 gig in the house so I assumed that it would work flawlessly out of the box, and instead it was only working at like 100 megabits.

The actual fix involved learning a new set of commands to modprobe in the correct driver after downloading it from the site, which was much more difficult than I feel like it needed to be.

That being said, I'm not a Linux noob. I have used Linux in servers for a decade now, easily, and I've never run into quite this level of difficulty getting hardware to work correctly.

And ultimately what I ended up doing was installing LM Studio and an abliterated AI so that I could throw all of the errors that konsole was spitting at me into the AI and let it work it out, which worked a treat once I realized I had the ability to do that.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I have the same layout except an older 3090 instead of a 5090. I had compatibility issues until I switched to Bazzite. Seems Fedora based distros work better with new hardware compared to Ubuntu based ones. It's worked so well I finally straight up deleted windows entirely.

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

If my long-shot bid on kubuntu had failed to then bazzite was going to be my next distro.

[–] CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If I may ask, which distro did/do you have on it?

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"I'm too stupid."

People want to be ignorant about computers, they try really hard.

[–] meldrik@lemmy.wtf 6 points 1 month ago

“Too many choices”…

[–] Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Lack of new viruses, malware, ransomware. /s

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

"I like Windows"

Lol, no you don't.

You just don't like Mac, and don't know what an alternative would look like.

[–] EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

A guy kept arguing Linux sucked because no games work on it and especially not Black Desert Online. Here's the kicker: this argument took place in the BDO chat, while I and another poor soul were playing (and chatting) from Linux. I even made a tutorial on YouTube on how to play the game on Linux, he still didn't believe I was playing on Linux because "it's simply impossible".

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