this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2024
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Linux

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I just have to say, after having booted into Windows, that Linux is so much nicer than Windows when it comes to doing system "updates."

So, here I am, sitting in my chair for about 20 minutes looking at a mostly black screen and a highly dubious looking percentage number going up very slowly. It tells me that Windows is "updating" and that I should keep the computer turned on. Good thing I have the computer turned on or I wouldn't know that I shouldn't have it turned off, right?

Anyway, I start to think about how this experience goes in Linux. In my experience, I do "system" updates about once a month, and I can see each individual package being installed (if I glance away from my browser session, that is). In Windows, I have no choice but to sit here and wonder if the system will even work again.

Windows decides that it wants to update drivers, apparently (I honestly have no idea what it's doing, which is part of what pisses me off), because it reboots the computer. Then it reboots again. Then, eventually, everything goes back to the familiar Windows desktop. WTF?

How anyone could prefer Windows to Linux is truly a mystery to me.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Windows is, by a landslide, the easier system to use, regardless of what the reasons are.

Sometimes people find a thing easier to use, but then it turns out they only believe that because they have a lot more (or more recent) experience with it than the alternative.

I have used both Windows and Linux extensively. The easier system to use is always the one I'm more familiar with. (This became obvious when I tried using Windows again after being away from it for a decade or two.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

but then it turns out they only believe that because they have a lot more (or more recent) experience with it than the alternative.

I hear this all the time and it's just not true. I've been using Linux for ~3 years now and it's still significantly more complicated. And it's incredibly easy to see why.

Do a Google for "how to x on Linux" and tell me you're not instructed to enter a bunch of commands you don't understand into a terminal where it inevitably kicks back some generic non-descript error or just...does nothing at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’ve been using Linux for ~3 years now

And how long ago did you start using Windows?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does it matter? How many years do you think it should take to become familiar with the basic functions of an OS?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Does it matter?

Yes. Of course it matters. You just disputed an observation about relative amounts, with only a single amount to support your argument. With no point of comparison, your argument is meaningless.

But now I see you already provided an answer in an earlier comment: "multiple decades of using Windows". Compared to your "~3 years" with Linux. That doesn't refute my observation at all, now does it?

(We don't even have to consider the likelihood that you've also spent more time per year on Windows than you have on Linux, since the difference in years is so significant on its own.)

Do a Google for “how to x on Linux” and tell me you’re not instructed to enter a bunch of commands you don’t understand into a terminal

If you were to complain that googling for random people's ideas on how to solve a problem tends to yield more helpful results with the older and globally dominant desktop OS than it does with the younger one with a tiny minority desktop market share, then I might say you were right about that. But instead you wrote, "it’s just not true," about something that you're not in a position to know. That's a bit of an overreach, don't you think?

It's fine not to like a thing. It's fine not to understand a thing. But to go around condemning it as inferior based on your subjective and limited experience is unfair, and more than a little biased.

How many years do you think it should take to become familiar with the basic functions of an OS?

Hard to say, given that most of us have been using our OS of choice for long enough to no longer clearly remember how long it took us. It's complicated by the fact that so many people learn Windows as their first OS, so their expectations and habits are built around it from a young age, and those shape their approach and assumptions when trying something different. But in my family, grandma got familiar and productive with the basic functions of Linux in roughly 2-3 months. I imagine it varies a lot from person to person.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

with only a single amount to support your argument.

I've already explained this in the comment you just replied to. I only need a single amount because it is more than sufficient.

If you were to complain that googling for random people's

It has nothing to do with Google, it has to do with convoluted processes to complete tasks that are very simple and intuitive on Windows because it has a GUI and you just click around the menus until you find it. Or use the search (but not on W11 obvi).

It's fine not to like a thing.

That's not the issue. And you already know this because I've already said I've been using it for several years. This is just a vein attempt to derail the conversation.

It's fine not to understand a thing.

Also not the issue. The issue is being complicated and difficult to understand.

But to go around condemning it as inferior

You're making shit up again.