Okay I know this sounds like click bait but trust me switching over to linux requires you to first master the open source software that you will be replacing your windows/mac counterparts with. Doing it in an unfamiliar OS with no fallback to rely on is tough, frustrating and will turn you off of trying linux. DISCLAIMER: I know that some people cannot switch to linux because open source / Linux software is not good enough yet. But I urge you to keep track of them and when so you can know when they are good enough.
The Solution
So I suggest you keep using windows, switch all your apps to open or closed source software that is available on linux. Learn them, use them and if you are in a pinch and need to use your windows only software it will still be there. Once you are at a point where you never use the windows only software you can then think of switching over to linux.
The Alternatives
So to help you out I’ll list my favorites for each use case.
MS Office -> Only Office
- Not for folks who use obscure macros and are deep into MS Office
- Has Collaboration and integration with almost all popular cloud services…
- Has a MS Office like UI and the best compatibility with MS Office.
Adobe Premiere -> Da Vinci Resolve
- It is closed source but available on linux
- Great UI, competitive features and a free version
Outlook -> Thunderbird
- Recently went through massive updates and now has a modern design.
- Templates, multi account management, content based filters, html signatures, it is all there.
Epic Games, GOG, PRIME -> Heroic
- Easy to use, 1 click install, no hassel
- Beautiful UI
- Automatically imports all the games you have bought
PDF Editor -> LibreOffice Draw
- Suprisingly good for text manipulation, moving around images and alot more.
- There might be slight incompatibilities (I haven’t noticed anything huge)
- But hey, it’s free
How do I pick a distro there are so many! NO
So finally after switching all the apps you think you are ready? Do not fall into the rabbit hole of changing your entire OS every two days, you will be in a toxic relationship with it.
I hate updates and my hardware is not that new
- Mint - UI looks a bit dated but it is rock solid
- Ubuntu - Yes, I know snaps are bad, but you can just ignore them
I have new hardware but I want sane updates
- Fedora
- Open Suse Tumbleweed
I live on the bleeding edge baby, both hardware and software
- Arch … btw
Anyways what is more important is the DE than the distro for a beginner, trust me. Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, etc. you can try them all in a VM and see which one you like.
SO TLDR: Don’t switch to linux! Switch to linux apps.
I think some folk want to pretend using Linux is hard so that they can feel more… Uh… Technical for using it.
It’s actually hilarious how disconnected some Linux folks are lmao
The average person
- doesn’t know what an operating system is
- can barely work with windows, has had many struggles learning windows
- is scared of change
- doesn’t know about the existence of a BIOS
- will never be able to boot anything else but default by themselves
- doesn’t know how to troubleshoot anything about computers
- literally does not know or care about the existence of Linux
I know these things are changing, but anyone saying people are able to switch to Linux by themselves and its easy and doable for the average person is fucking delusional, this post is one of the most reasonable takes I’ve seen on the sub
We can all get smart and snarky about “average persons” but then again, who says the OP was for average person.
Your “average” person is not even on Reddit, let alone Lemmy, and if by chance they stumble along they are probably not clicking posts like this.
So when you stop laughing from “hilarious disconnected Linux folks”, maybe sleep on it, then try thinking about this.
In context of this community and this thread, no, Linux is not all that horrible compared to Windows.
then again, who says the OP was for average person
Nobody, the post is to aid us who are assisting other people to switch. I’m saying people here vastly overestimate the average persons ability AND willingness to actually switch, by themselves or assisted.
Linux is not all that horrible compared to Windows.
It is, in part because Linux is not beginner friendly but mostly because everyone is used to windows. Almost every program they’ve used is exclusive to it, which is why this post provides a path to eventually introduce them to Linux. Using Linux isn’t hard, using it the same way people are used to is. As is troubleshooting and installing 3rd party applications.
So when you’re done building strawmans, go touch some grass
If all you do is browse the web, as is the case for a a lot of people, the OS does not matter. Heck, my neighbor does not even have a computer, does everything on his phone.
@uranibaba @kernelle , well, yes and no. Yes, visiting most websites will absolutely not matter. Streaming however, does matter. Streaming from services is either not supported for some services and only supports lower resolutions. I am not sure which are supported or not currently, I remember Max not working on Linux, it might have worked with OS spoofing.
Edit: I dropped Max a while ago and haven’t tried to use it for a long time after it initially didn’t work while I had the service.
Exactly, in reality people will use what’s given to them. Just like windows, introduce it now and people would lose their fucking minds about how convoluted it is.
Transition costs are what we should be looking at, right now to install or use Linux you need someone with experience explaining it to you. Just like it was when PC’s were becoming a thing. Don’t have that person? Only alternative is MacOS or ChromeOS for them.
The average old person perhaps. Young people are not afraid of change in most cases. They don’t have that barrier of thinking learning something new is difficult. It just happens as they click around. And they have friends, and they ask their friends. Just like we did when we were young. I don’t think you asked your dad how to use windows… :)
I honestly think that if you would have Linux on laptops and you gave it to young people, they would have no problems finding out how to install programs and use the web browser. And that’s the start of the learning experience.
Sure, give a somewhat intelligent person between 20 and 40 a PC with Linux on it and they’ll figure it out. However, that doesn’t mean they have the patience of finding out how to install Linux in the first place. And also, they‘ll figure out how to install apps, sure. Until they try to download the installer.exe for Microsoft Office because why would they know that it won’t work.
The problem isn’t, that they couldn’t figure it out, the problem is most people just want a working computer and not relearn what they already know or learn what an operating system is at all.
(And also, I remember reading some study, that a lot of late Gen Z and younger (the ones that didn’t grow up with Windows XP or earlier anymore) are actually less tech savvy than older generations because they’re used to not really having to troubleshoot tech)
Your point is proven by the adaptation of chromebooks, kids have no issue using them and neither should anyone else. It’s not a Linux thing, it’s a “what did you use the most”-thing. Some distros are ready to be shipped to consumers, bought a laptop with Linux pre-installed in 2018 (XPS 13).
You’ll see mainstream use if stores are selling them in-store to consumers. You’re up against the likes of Google, Microsoft or Apple when you try to pull that off.
PS: I believe in mainstream Linux use because money has a tendency to ruin everything, just think it will be much slower than us enthusiasts would want.
