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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Don't get me wrong. I love Linux and FOSS. I have been using and installing distros on my own since I was 12. Now that I'm working in tech-related positions, after the Reddit migration happened, etc. I recovered my interest in all the Linux environment. I use Ubuntu as my main operating system in my Desktop, but I always end up feeling very limited. There's always software I can't use properly (and not just Windows stuff), some stuff badly configured with weird error messages... last time I was not able to even use the apt command. Sometimes I lack time and energy for troubleshooting and sometimes I just fail at it.

I usually end up in need of redoing a fresh install until it breaks up again. Maybe Linux is not good for beginners working full time? Maybe we should do something like that Cisco course that teaches you the basic commands?

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Remember that Android is Linux-based -- so keeping that in mind, a massive amount of normal users use Linux on a daily basis.

I think the key is, operating systems are meant to exist in the background. If it's working well, you don't think about it at all.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This exactly. Services should always be background. The OS is a service, not a goal.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eh, I dont mean to be pedantic, but OS shouldnt be a service. Its should be a product.

Windows 11 is what happens when you make an OS a service... and no one wants that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd argue that a product with updates is indistinguishable from a service.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

An OS as a service does nothing but turn you, and your data and habits, into the product.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Remember that Android is Linux-based

People keep saying this without understanding that Android was forked with several billion dollars in funding and aimed squarely at "normal" users, and had a decade of development since then.

Most "Linux" OSes really don't bother with this. How many times has someone sent you into the Android terminal to fix a problem? Literally never. It doesn't even exist without connecting a PC. Because you don't need it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

He is clearly talking about the problems with Linux the OS, i.e. GNU/Linux, not with Linux the kernel, which is what Android is based on. So Android users don't count as Linux OS users. Besides that, I've been using Debian+KDE for over a decade as a daily driver and never had any such issues, It's hard for me to remember a single issue of importance.