this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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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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Why did you move from Windows to Linux? (leminal.space)
submitted 4 weeks ago by umbrellacloud@leminal.space to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Personally, I’m not brand loyal to any particular OS. There are good things about a lot of different operating systems, and I even have good things to say about ChromeOS. It just depends on what a user needs from an operating system.

Most Windows-only users I am acquainted with seem to want a device that mostly “just works” out of the box, whereas Linux requires a nonzero amount of tinkering for most distributions. I’ve never encountered a machine for sale with Linux pre-installed outside of niche small businesses selling pre-built PCs.

Windows users seem to want to just buy, have, and use a computer, whereas Linux users seem to enjoy problem solving and tinkering for fun. These two groups of people seem as if they’re very fundamentally different in what they want from a machine, so a user who solely uses Windows moving over to Linux never made much sense to me.

Why did you switch, and what was your process like? What made you choose Linux for your primary computing device, rather than macOS for example?

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[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Windows users seem to want to just buy, have, and use a computer, whereas Linux users seem to enjoy problem solving and tinkering for fun.

Can people please just stop with these terrible generalizations? Lots of windows users consider themselves "computer people" and tinker with their computer and solve problems. Plenty of Linux users aren't doing shit but using it as it comes. It feels like a terrible rip off of the old apple ads "I'm a Mac", "and I'm a PC". It's crap.

[–] umbrellacloud@leminal.space -1 points 4 weeks ago

I’m sorry for whatever I did to personally offend you so much. This must be so hard for you. I hope you’re doing ok.