this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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You keep implying Windows has ease-of-use on its side. That is just blatantly not true. I don't know a Windows user that hasn't had to edit registries, for example, and that's a pain in the ass. Windows is just a piece of shit that people stepped in so long ago they stopped smelling it. They don't pay attention to how bad it is to work with because "that's just the way it is." The one benefit is the software mentioned above (with just a vague notion of "some software" when the vast majority is fine), though again most work with a VM if Wine isn't enough. Support is an issue of getting users there though. If people keep assuming that what you're saying is true they'll believe you and not try it. If they switch the software developers will start targeting Linux.
Playing old games is also often really painful on Windows, and requires a lot of hacks. On Linux I've had a very good time with that honestly. Maybe I've just gotten lucky, but Wine with Proton has made the experience with old games pretty easy.
Sampling bias. The people you know are likely more technologically inclined than the average user. Really, effectively anyone who uses Linux is simply due to the nature of the thing. To people like you and me, the average user is a literal idiot. And that's something we forget. The average user doesn't ever have to finagle with registries and probably doesn't even know they exist. Hell, they probably don't even know how to change their default browser from Edge. And don't get me wrong, Windows is a piece of shit. But it's undeniable that its standardized protocols and coherent ecosystem make it easier for the average person. I do concede that this is due in part to software developers targeting Windows primarily, but I don't see a world where Linux is used by the masses unless some distro sees adoption and standardization by some larger body.
As for old games, if I played Morrowind via Steam it would work fine but the reason I play OpenMW is because it modernizes the engine. 1080p isn't even possible in vanilla. 100% improvement imo, but it causes me problems on occasion.
You're experiencing more delusions. 99.9% of Windows users wouldn't even know what that is.
Again you're asking me to write out what is a list a mile long. I'm not doing that.
I will give you one example though. I went to download GrayJay yesterday. I got the file. I have no idea what to do with it. Because there are a dozen types of files for Linux and all of them have to be installed differently. I got a folder. I know from years of experience how to install .deb, .rpm, flatpak and appimages, this folder has 398457 files in it and none of them are those. That's not even getting into how a lot of Linux software, you're expected to know how to compile the fuckin thing yourself...
You know how to install programs on windows? You download the .exe, double click the file and it installs itself, every time.
You know how to install programs on Mac? You click download on the .dmg, double click the downloaded file and it installs itself, every time.
It looks like GrayJay only has an android application, with a desktop one in testing. I'm assuming you have to compile that yourself because it's in testing. You aren't supposed to be using it if you can't compile it from source. Just run the android one in an emulator if you need it on desktop. That's the same thing you'll need to do on Windows.
Yeah... You have to go to their website, hope it's the real one, download the .exe and install it. Then to update it you have to do the same thing. On Linux you just tell your package manager to install it and then you're done forever. It'll keep it updated and you never have to think about it. The fact Windows apps are required to check online for updates and then you have to open it in a browser and download and install it yourself is the most garbage experience. You're just used to it.
Weird, you don't have to compile the Windows or Mac versions...? 🤷♂️
...why wouldn't it be the "real one" on their website?
...no, they update themselves? Have you just never used anything other than Linux? It's hard to imagine how you would not know this unless you hadn't.
Other than the pop-ups telling you you need to update every 5 minutes?
From their FAQ: "Do you have a desktop version? A desktop version is actively in the works, and already in internal testing phases."
It looks like you can download the pre-built applications for all of them though, including Linux. You probably just need to use chmod to let your system know it's allowed to execute it.
I meant the website.
No they don't... They tell you if there's an update and then you have to do it.
Mine doesn't. I'm on Garuda. It just has an icon on the task bar.
Yes, I am aware. I did not argue that is isn't for testing. I said you didn't need to compile it for Mac or Windows, because it's not expected of you to have a CS degree to install it.
WTF is chmod? Execute what? How can you not see that this is a problem?
It is a problem. The fact Windows will just execute anything is an issue. That's right. On Linux you need to tell your system to execute a file. That's what chmod is for. (I think you may be able to do this with a right-click. I'm not sure. You just need to tell your system that a file is an executable and it's allowed to do so.)
Well now you're just blatantly lying. Windows doesn't execute anything without you asking it to. The difference is that it works when you do.
I think you misunderstood. It will anything whether it should or not. Also, other processes can execute a thing even if it shouldn't. It can be made to execute a payload that shouldn't be run.
I didn't.
It does what it's told, which is the way an OS should work.
And Linux can't? Isn't that the whole thing about Linux and open software is that it can be made to do whatever you want?
It does a lot more than it's told and you know that. Do you think it's not running anything you didn't exicitly tell it to? Did you tell it to install the drivers for your hardware? I doubt it. The job of an OS is to keep your system operating. It handles scheduling and all kinds of stuff. Executing the executable you click on is a small part of it.
Ideally, yes. Whatever you want. Not whatever bad actors want.
Here's a question for you to consider. What is an .exe on Windows? Does that file extension do anything or is it just a string of character tacked on the end that the system assumes is safe to execute? Can it execute other file types? (The answer is the file extension doesn't do anything. The file is data, and any file could be an executable regardless of the extension.)
All different tasks under the umbrella of "install this software". I don't understand the relevance.
So Windows will install malicious software and Linux won't...? Even if you tell it to? No.
Again I don't understand the relevance.