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this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Linux
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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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You have to use the terminal
Anything using the terminal... I once tried to do something on Linux because a friend told me it was great. I gave it another go when it came up on my Chromebook and tried to teach myself. I just don't get it.
I'm not a programmer at all, so anything that involves typing commands is going to baffle me!
One thing i had to learn when i started to understand how big techs really work, of what that would imply (see chat control) and get passionate about free software, free operative systems and freedom of customization is that freedom itself almost always requires work, the question is: is that a work you're willing to do? for me the answer is a strong YES.
For the average user all that extra works gives them very little return.
Most people don't want everyday computer use to be work.
Fair.
But I was just giving my perspective as an outsider who stumbled across this post because messing about with the terminal had the opposite affect on me as someone who appreciates the concept of Linux but doesn't really have the level of passion to learn programming for it.
When I was in college in the 1990s, non-STEM students regularly learned enough of the Unix command-line to:
pinetalkor on IRCpicoorjoeeditorsThe command line is something that millions of people have learned; and you can, too!
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YES! I fucking hate it. I shouldn't have to enter code in order to install a program. I want to go to a website and download the software, click install, and have it actually just work.
I've used mint for several years now but it will never be a primary OS die my household because it's such a hassle to work with.
You don't - you just open your distros software manager (which is like an app store) and get all your apps that way.
Been like this for several years.
Yeah I keep seeing people mention having to use the terminal to install software, and I wonder what distro they're using and what software they're trying to install.
Most distros use flatpak, so when opening GNOME Software/Discover you can install Discord, Spotify, Web browsers, text editors, Steam, etc all through it. And even Ubuntu which doesn't use flatpak by default, all of those apps are in its Snap store as well. Hell, Ubuntu even has software drivers through a GUI in one central place which is very nice.
I'm on Fedora Kinoite right now which really encourages you to use Flatpaks, and the only software I've installed through the CLI are dev tools which would be disingenuous to say in this situation stops casual Windows users since they are very unlikely to need Rust, Neovim, various C/C++ libs, etc...
On many popular distros there are graphical apps preinstalled for that. The distribution maintainers have repositories with common packages to make it so that you can open an app store and install programs from one place rather than going to different websites and downloading installers.
Honestly, I'd rather use terminals to install software. Most of the time, it's actually far fewer steps than just clicking through several screen on top of having to find the application installation file you downloaded.