this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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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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My dad uses it a lot. He has access to Google Drive, his blog, and email, and that's all he really needs. It "Just Works" and gets out of his way. He used to be a huge Microsoft fanboy and adamant that he needed Office, but now he just uses his Chromebook and is happy.
Sure, he could be using some Linux flavor, but what would he gain? He doesn't need anything outside of the browser, so ChromeOS is perfect for him.
A whole lot more privacy. Although that's unfortunately not worth it for a lot of normies.
IDK, if he's going to use Chrome and Google Services regardless, does Linux really offer much more privacy?
You can get a ton more privacy regardless of OS if you try, but if you just use the popular services, you can use the most locked down OS and you'll still have privacy issues.
So I'm not going to try to push Linux on people, I'm going to encourage privacy-oriented solutions. It's much easier to get someone to change one service they use than to change operating systems, and the services are the more important part when it comes to privacy.
price is a big part in all of it i suppose
Kind of. My dad is kinda cheap, but he was willing to pay a premium for Office. He mostly switched because he hates subscription services (and that's where Office is going), and he realized Google Docs provided the features he needed.
My dad would still be on Windows + Office today if Microsoft wasn't pushing for a subscription-based service. So he was won over by the experience first and foremost, but the lower price certainly didn't hurt.