You do realise you can just look up every single one of that qn? And you proceeded to completely ignore the main point that this isn’t an issue with Linux but switching OS in general. Not my problem if you completely miss the point and choose to ask question about the obviously simplified steps made to show how easy it is when you actually spend some effort.
Also there are thousands and millions of articles explaining exactly this step by step that anyone literate can follow. You don’t need to understand what it is or how it works, simply following the instructions from an article with photos and that will do. You cannot fuck up an Linux Mint installation if you just use your eyes and read without messing with defaults.
Yes, I’m well aware. I didn’t ignore your point just because I used your own streamlined instructions for my stupid joke about how clueless the average user is.
You’re correct that the complexity of installing an OS isn’t Linux specific, and that certain Linux distros are significantly easier to set up than say, Windows.
But just because the instructions are straightforward if you already have some familiarity with computers, or are driven enough to look up shit and learn, doesn’t make them accessible to the average joe. That’s the point I was making.
I did tech support for my school in my youth. I’ve tutored and led lectures for a freshman intro to programming course (two separate semesters). I have roughly 5 years of corporate internal IT under my belt, and over 4 (and counting) years of sysadmin/engineering.
In all that time, at the absolute most generous estimate, maybe half of the people/end users would have been capable of installing even a simple to install OS like Mint. Yes, including the new Computer Science majors. Less than that would be willing to put forth the effort (to learn the terminology, search and read to clarify confusion, etc).
