this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
41 points (95.6% liked)
Linux
60949 readers
723 users here now
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.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I'm not talking about gatekeeping the software. I'm talking about not dumbing down the suite. Cause Linux in it's current state, defo isn't suitable for normies, and I don't want it to ever be usable by normies.
Most people are tech illeterates, and it's good that multi billion dollar companies are making sure they don't fuck up their computers.
You know, back in the day, normies used DOS, Windows 3.1, and various Apple machines. (None of these were seamless) You'd be surprised now much non-enthusiasts can do when motivated. They did break stuff, but they tried to use it all.
By dumbing down the suite, are you talking about things like flatpak / atomic distros?
If so, I am also not a fan of those things - give me Debian stable and the software in the repos and I'm happy - but I also don't think I will be harmed by others coming in and trying different approaches. From what I can tell, with each paradigm shift, the old approach doesn't go away, but stays powered by the volunteers who care about it.
Give me Flatpak and atomic distros, I'm too old for maintenance. Give me some of that good dumbing down, cause I'm dumb.
I'm a one man dev/support/sysadmin I use Ublue's and Nixos because why would I do the work that's already been done,
Imo GNOME is already pretty easy to use.