KDE

@be4foss @kde Live stream of Joseph's talk: https://streaming.media.ccc.de/38c3/yell

I think the single biggest issue I have with Linux is package management. Maybe this is purely distribution dependent, but for example in Ubuntu most of the packages are way outdated, not even on the latest stable version. Then I either have to:

1. Build from source which means I gotta also install all dependencies and pray that the thing builds
2. Add some rando PPA which I have no idea if I should trust
3. Use "flatpaks" or "appimages"

None of those options are appealing. And along with these multiple options I end up having multiple versions of things installed in different locations in different ways and also my PATH ends up a big mess, I think I'm just doing something very wrong.

As someone who is way into the idea of Linux, wants to switch, and is very gun-shy about the million little programs and extensions I might not be able to replace, let me tell you what is required of anybody who is actually genuine in their desire to see Linux gain the traction it deserves:

Don't ever tell anybody to read the manual again. Just answer the god damn question. It's good when answers to basic, common problems are peppered around the internet like that; it's dumb and wrong and weird to think of it as a thing to be avoided. If you'd like to put a link to the part of the manual where the questioner could have looked to find it, that's cool, too. Don't just leave the link--there's a good chance they didn't understand it and that's why they're asking. Maybe they just want a person-answer instead of a reference-manual-answer, and it's good when the answer exists in both forms. Every answered question is a contribution.

I would go even further: the version of reality where Linux beats Windows and ushers in an era of community-centric open source dominance is populated by a Linux community that considers "rtfm", "pebcac", etc to be borderline bannable offenses. If you are a small, weak person, and want Linux to be your way of thinking you're better than other people, you'll drive question-askers away, back to Inferiority Land, using your knowledge to dunk on them instead of help them, and call it a win. These are the ugly bridge trolls, who may as well be paid Microsoft employees, keeping people away from your community, and a serious change of pace might yield much smoother adoption. At the very least, the community owes it to their own work to see how much smoother.

As someone considering the switch seriously, the knowledge that I may have to deal with people like that is absolutely, 100% a factor, and I am someone who has no qualms about telling someone on the internet to fuck off, so it's gonna be more of an issue for many others who are more conflict-averse.

The Linux community needs to take very seriously whether it actually wants increased open source adoption, or if it wants to remain a tiny minority so that it has a nice, large majority to feel better than.

So many cheap laptops are about to hit the market, and I'm ready for it.

My gaming desktop is the last barrier to a full transition, but I've been buying exclusively games with a Linux release for over a year now. Buckshot Roulette, Deep Rock Galactic, Hearts of Iron, Lethal Company, Project Zomboid... There's quite a few big ones.

Never thought Id upvote a KDE post...

That's what they don't understand.

Every year is the year of the Linux desktop, that's why we say it every year.

~random 4chan post I'm surely misquoting

I’m still using my thinkpad that’s 11 years running Linux mint beautifully.

@be4foss
@kde @NafiTheBear

I would really love it if we could get normal people using Linux but Linux has to come to them in terms of usability, to be honest. The Steam Deck did it, so it's clearly doable.

But in the state of things we're in, I'm afraid that *most people* are gonna follow Windows to Windows 11. and their understandings of how computing is will be mutilated by it.

and therefore we get more anprims per capita, because if you think that's not at least in part downstream of big tech fuckery you're lying to yourself

You're quite late. I don't know if you've heard, but they've got Windows 11 now. There are people using it. Not me, but people.

I relent, I need to switch. the proposed bullshit has gotten to much for even me, the world's laziest man.

Just a lazy man in a worky world. Should have been born a Limited Liability Corporation.

W11 is like vista, all frills and no substance. Some people will skip the upgrade due to slowness (it's slow with i7+16gb sometimes) and in case of users who use chrome only, ChromeOS flex or its siblings could be a solution.

I just want a Windows base kernal that I can build my own OS off of. My own DE, my own programs, I want DX12 and NT. I want File Explorer and driver support for days.

But I also want freedom to not have a giant open hole where my data just dumps into a Microsoft cloud environment.

Linux isn't ready for the mass Market yet. I say that as someone that has been a Windows free household for like over 8 years and who actively attempts to convert as many of my friends as I can.

It is not and probably never will be general market ready. Too fragmented and too many options. Which is why I love it so I wouldn't want it to change either.