this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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Nearly everyone forgets how hard windows was to learn initially.
I spent the better part of a child hood and the first 10 years of an IT career learning it. Does that sound like a simple or easy system? Conversely I've spent slightly less time but an equal 10 years of an IT career learning and supporting Linux. I've only recently in the last 3 or so years started to feel like I truly grasp Linux and started using it as a daily driver on personal machines.
I now find Windows absolutely horrible to work with. All the nonsense MS foists on it's users. The inflexibility. The weird choices. The licensing nonsense.
The bottom line is not that Linux is harder. It's that Linux is different and different is scary and uncomfortable. Different is hard, not linux. People are lazy and creatures of habit. We like familiar. Few of us actually enjoy the work of learning something new that isn't easy. If we did more of us would probably be pilots or engineers or whatever hard thing to learn you want to choose.
If you're into computers and you still find it hard or constraining keep at it. The Ah, ha! moment is coming. There's a paradigm shift in thinking you'll hit and suddenly you'll get it. When you do you'll find it's magnificent and powerful and freeing.
I wish more people would try Linux with an actual interest in Linux itself, not just thinking of it as a "free Windows".
You see, but for a windows power user, Microsoft’s obstacles are minor. I can’t transition because I have my most used Universal Windows Tweaker or WinAero tweaker registry edits written down for every clean install. Microsoft Activation Scripts 1.8 allows me to use anything from Windows for Education to Pro for Workstations. I don’t find it inflexible, I bend it to my will without difficulty because it’s what was the standard and I learned inside and out. I haven’t transitioned to Linux because I can’t maintain the same ability without relearning a new OS.