this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Quite a few posts about selecting a distro to use. Maybe it's time to make that link a little more prominent?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Have you seen the Reddit Linux communities? People don’t care how many tools or useful information you present them. They will ask the SAME “which distro” questions day after day after day.

There are 3 reasons you see repeat posts.

  1. They are extremely lazy and can't be bothered to find their way through a maze of information.
  2. The maze of information is legitimately confusing and they need help. But they are bad at formulating good questions so it looks like point #1. I very rarely see people take the time to explain what they've tried and why they failed.
  3. They want a conversation and getting their question answered is only one half of it.

Also one other thing I noticed is that if you do form a good question and create a wall of text, it can also scare people away. So people deliberately ask very vague questions and then slowly reveal more as they get asked for specifics. At that point you've hooked some people, they are a little more invested in helping and you can info dump on them.