It's easier to disable all the garbage than remove the garbage?
this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2026
765 points (97.2% liked)
Linux
11092 readers
987 users here now
A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)
Also, check out:
Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Are 98% of PC users using proprietary hardware incompatible with Linux? That would be pretty crazy, considering that that list of hardware is miniscule.
Like, I get where you're coming from, Linux isn't a 100% perfect drop in replacement for Windows that covers every single scenario and edge case. But it's never going to be that, and I don't think it needs to be that. It's still good enough to recommend over Windows. That hurdle won't get any shorter if people don't at least try using it.
Hardware compatibility is just one of a long list of reasons. The primary of which is usability. Linux can be completely free of ads and pop-ups but it doesn't matter if it can't do the things you need it to do, or it's too complicated to make it do them.
I don't know where you got this binary position. No, it doesn't have to be, that's not the point.
You can recommend it all day, if it can't do what the user needs it to do, you're wasting your breath. Some of them aren't mandatory but many of them are deal breakers.
No one is suggesting anyone shouldn't try it. But trying it also costs time and (probably) money.
Indeed
but you gotta admit it would help mass adoption.
i cannot install linux on my mothers pc, because all she needs is...
excel, and a browser.
and excel isn't on linux.
and sure, i could show her libreoffice calc - i use that without issue - but she's not interested in learning anything new these days
and sure, installing excel, specifically, isn't super easy on windows. But generally, installing a piece of software on windows, is easier than linux. There's often an installer package downloadable from the website - where as for linux you're often greeted with a terminal command.
Thats not "mom friendly", especially not for the stereotypical "mom" who doesn't know tech.
Phones have made it super easy to install software - and the app stores for mac and windows are good solutions for these non-tech savvy people. Only a few distros have an alternative, as far as i know
Bingo. #1 biggest problem for Linux right there. And the particular terminal command you need will be different from whatever you find, depending on your distro. And the software itself is often not packaged for your distro either. And even if all of that is correct there's still a good chance it won't work. Some missing dependency or other generic error comes up with no useful information for even an experienced person to use to debug.
When everything you need can be found in the graphical package manager as a flatpak this will be a solved problem but until then...
Nearly every Linux distro nowadays comes with some sort of "app store" for installing programs, the notion that the only way to install things is via a terminal is outdated. And I'm sure if you slapped a Calc shortcut on the desktop and renamed it Excel, your mom would be none the wiser.
It doesn't matter if it has an "app store" or not if the software you need isn't in it.
Go respond to our other thread dude, you don't get to dodge that one to stir up more bs here
Don't know what you're talking about. I am not "stirring up" anything. Just acknowledging the facts that so many Linux users intentionally ignore. They can't understand why more people don't use it but then deny the reasons when they're told.
The few reasons you've given haven't been true for at least a decade, and you've declined to give any reasons in our thread. Be honest, when's the last time you directly interacted with a Linux PC?
So like I said, I did give you reasons, you just didn't like them.
I'm literally typing this on a Linux laptop right now. I haven't used anything else in...3 years?
Be honest, what's the longest you've gone without opening the terminal?
I didn't simply dislike your reasons. Your reasons are invalid, untrue in 2026.
I've been using Linux at work for well over a decade, and at home for at least 5 years on my gaming PC. I have watched and experienced various Linux distros going from poor Windows replacements to very serviceable Windows replacements.
On my home gaming PC, I have only run into two issues that I used a terminal to solve. And one of those I could have solved with a package manager because the solution was just to reinstall a few things that had gotten corrupted.
Again, I recognize and accept that there are some things Linux still can't do. But my whole point is that's ok, because it can still function as a replacement for Windows without those things, for a huge chunk of the people still using Windows. It's weird that a person that's used a Linux laptop for the past 3 years doesn't recognize that.
My reasons are not invalid or untrue, you just don't like them.
Congratulations?
Depends entirely on what those things are and how badly you need them. For many they are essential applications. MS Office, Adobe products, hardware interfaces, etc. etc.
I've used several distros on several devices, including a dedicated gaming PC (currently Cachy) and a dedicated server (Debian). It's weird that you don't recognize how complicated these things are to use for a normal person.
There's absolutely no way KDE is "complicated to use" unless your brain is the size of a goldfish grown in a badly kept piece of Tupperware.
An Android phone's default UI is significanty harder to navigate, compared to the standard Windows desktop metaphor, than KDE's default UI. People handle Android just fine.
The DE is not the problem...
And what is the problem?
Most Linux distros these days are more usable and less complicated than Windows. It's not difficult for most people to get it to do the things they need it to do. This view that Linux doesn't have the software selection or features comparable to an Enterprise Operating System ™️ like Windows is largely outdated and misguided.
Mkay, sure, uh huh. You're being awfully discouraging without explicitly telling people not to try Linux, but c'mon, we know what you're doing.
Abso-fuckin-lutely not. You're just lying.
It isn't.
I am not discouraging anything. I am being realistic. You are not.
K you wanna try and actually substantiate any of your points, or are you just going to continue to give a "nuh uh, you're wrong I'm right" argument?
I could but as a Linux user there's no way you don't already know this. You're just in denial.
Could you? I don't believe you.
That's fine.
LOL, I probs shouldn't feed the trolls, but here goes nothing.
We just bought a new PC. And because my family members are kind of adamant on using Windows, we will probably install the latest iteration that M$ has offered.
Funny enough, I am also the techie within the family. As such, I am expected to set it up so that it works as conveniently as possible.
Oh boy... From my reading on the subject, it seems to have become a gargantuan effort to rid Windows 11 of all of its anti-consumer mishaps. Only after doing so, can I actually start setting it up for our use case.
By contrast, if I'd install any beginner-friendly Linux distro, i don't have to undo anything; setting up starts right after the installation.
I can't fathom why anyone would prefer the former over the latter, but please feel free to give your take on the matter.
Stuff like Bazzite has literally become plug-and-play. And breaking it is harder than your average Windows install.
As for software: WinBoat is a very easy (almost) one-click installable piece of software that bridges whatever gap you're imagining.
No one prefers it. No one uses Windows because they enjoy the setup process. However:
LOOOOLOLOL it is absolutely not. There's even like 5 steps in the guided installer and each of them is incredibly convoluted. You're still lying.