• Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    6 days ago

    This thread is highlighting exactly why windows users think Linux is unusable - apt, pacman etc are all commands that require a minimal understanding of the terminal, and the average person does not have that. The answer isn’t “learn in your own time”, because that simply isn’t going to happen - they have no interest in the internals, how things work, they just want the end product.
    Regular users just want it to update itself in the background or have a nice obvious “system update” button like Mint. The only thing they understand about “apt upgrade -u” is the word ‘upgrade’ - the rest might as well be ancient sumerian to them. Even remembering the short phrase is infinitely more complex than pressing a clearly labelled button. You will never convert a single user by trying to convince them to use any form of CLI over a GUI.

    • Shanmugha@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      6 days ago

      Oh, so you are from one of my favourite gangs - “terminal is scary and a no-go”. Okay, I am yet in a good mood, so

      apt, pacman etc are all commands that require a minimal understanding of the terminal, and the average person does not have that

      they don’t require that. “open terminal, type this incantation, press enter” requires zero knowledge of how any of that works. Also, “average person” is wildly different depending on where it is measured

      Regular users just want it to update itself in the background

      Bullshit. You ever seen threads of how windows users hate its forced updates fuckery?

      The only thing they understand about “apt upgrade -u” is the word ‘upgrade’ - the rest might as well be ancient sumerian to them

      So let it be sumerian. Only thing anyone cares about is they know how to use it

      Even remembering the short phrase is infinitely more complex than pressing a clearly labelled button

      First - bullshit. Second - “clearly labeled” my ass, because human language is not maths, any text can be understood very differently depending on a number of things

      You will never convert a single user by trying to convince them to use any form of CLI over a GUI

      That made me chuckle. Go on, give me more insights about my life, it is so funny

      • f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        3 days ago

        Let’s say “average users” are even willing to use the terminal. I feel like people running random commands and scripts found online would quickly give Linux a reputation for malware just as bad as Microsoft’s.

        • Shanmugha@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          Depending on what you mean:

          • yes, the more popular Linux becomes, the more malware will be written for it, no doubt
          • how Linux is perceived is up to us as a community. There already are immutable distributions and filesystem snapshots, but will we advise them according to user’s needs or just send everyone new to Linux straight to Arch and arcane magic. The latter has been happening for ages now, but how big a phenomenon it is, I have no clue