People in the workforce that get handed over a laptop with Windows usually don't have any control on it due to company policies, so this is a non-argument. For the rest, I doubt 99% of people actually "need" Windows. 50%? Probably, possibly. Also, proprietary software has nothing to do with Linux or not Linux, there is proprietary software that's not Windows only.
I also don't think any of this is about privilge, it's about control. If you want control, you have to work for it. That's how everything works in life. People will always try to take away from you control. Switching to Linux may take work, but it will give you control. Learning a bit more Windows (like the operations mentionned earlier, the registery) will probably be easier and give you less. Everyone can then adjust things depending on how much control they want and time/energy they have.
I don’t get how losing access to the software I need to do the things I need to do - have spent quite a bit of money on - and a lot of time learning - gives me ‘control’.
Actually - it doesn’t. Plain and simple. I actually laughed out loud a little at the comment, ngl.
It’s actually that Linux is controlling me and what I can do. :/ Specifically, what I can’t do.
I’d lose thousands of dollars and years of investment into learning and using these tools I rely on.
It would cripple me completely, professionally - overnight. For real. I’d also lose access to a decade and a half of project files from Logic, etc.
It’s completely privilege if you happen to be in the minority that can find the time and value loss that switching to an OS that doesn’t allow you to run any previous software you’ve used (except Firefox, maybe :P) somehow works for you.
It’s funny - I have complete control over my ability to do everything I want to do on my Mac.
Switching to Linux immediately takes my entire command deck (Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, various plug ins, Photoshop, Animator, Maya, Unity3D…I could go on…) away from me.
And what’s funny is - I have the ability to run most of the software I’d run on Linux on my Mac anyway, due to its underpinnings.
Then I’ve still got WINE…
So, the fact is - there are almost only disadvantages for a vast number of, especially average users - to switch to Linux - and most of that is the time and headache involved in unnecessarily learning a new system.
Most people don’t want to even deal with computers to start. And this leads to the biggest reason we will never have the ‘year of Linux’, and the biggest reason I laugh off Linux evangelists as totally ignorant of the ‘real world’.
Us nerds really get stuck in our tiny little corner of a perspective sometimes.
Very little demonstrates that more than Linux switcher evangelists.
The average person literally knows the like 4-5 tasks they need to do on their computer and they don’t want to know or learn anything else! Like, people are not like we are, and any serious Linux evangelist forgot that a long time ago.
To be honest, your reaction is so dramatic and I am not sure is it something personal.
But I could agree with you on this point. A average person literally knows the like 4-5 tasks they need to do on their computer and they don’t want to know or learn anything else. That's true.
Modern software, be it Windows, Mac OS, or you productivity tool is going to ruin your workflow by introducing non-reversible UI changes that sure no purpose other than telling the world that our product is not staling. That's the standard practice.
While I am using Linux desktop, with customized config that is not changed for years, and I don't need to learn a new workflow for these years anymore. That's good and I like it because I am getting old.
> I don’t get how losing access to the software I need to do the things I need to do - have spent quite a bit of money on - and a lot of time learning - gives me ‘control’.
We're in a discussion about how you can get Windows to do the things you want because of user hostile decisions made by Microsoft.
> It’s actually that Linux is controlling me and what I can do. :/
I don't think it's called "control" when it's due to an unconscious agent. Life is not "controlling" you because you will die one day. It's how things are. You can influence it, like living longer by not smoking, or porting over software to linux, or trying stuff out with wine or sharing how it works.
> It’s completely privilege if you happen to be in the minority that can find the time and value loss that switching to an OS that doesn’t allow you to run any previous software you’ve used somehow works for you.
You're making the fallacy of thinking that switching OS means you'll loss all software, which is absolutely wrong. Unless you happen to only use desktop apps that only work on windows, which puts you in the minority. A good part of Excel works online for example, same with most of Microsoft Office. Alternative also exists. And again, considering the post we're in, people are frustrated at windows, they're already spending quite some time and energy in trying to fix things or being frustrated at things.
You and everyone else are free to invest their time however you want. That doesn't mean it's the correct or best decision. There's nothing about that that's privilege. Some people work with Excel all their life yet refuse to learn more of it, even when they are offered formations at work. That's not lacking privilege. And again, it's perfectly fine if they don't want to do it. But the people that instead learn more Excel are not privileged in any way.
Edit following yours:
> The average person literally knows the like 4-5 tasks they need to do on their computer and they don’t want to know or learn anything else!
I'm glad we agree that it's in their power to do it and that they actually refuse to do anything about it. If you consider windows to be becoming too anoying (which is what this whole thread is about) and keep complaining and not doing anything, this is not because of a lack of privilege. This is on you. If windows is working fine for you, great! I'm happy to hear it! Same for MacOS. However, people are having issues frequently with closed source OSes. This one about windows, a recent one about MacOS: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30864613. For them, switching might be a solution.
I'll add that I don't really see the point of editing your comment to be even more snarky and less based on facts that it was before. Maybe reading the guidelines again would help you?
I also don't think any of this is about privilge, it's about control. If you want control, you have to work for it. That's how everything works in life. People will always try to take away from you control. Switching to Linux may take work, but it will give you control. Learning a bit more Windows (like the operations mentionned earlier, the registery) will probably be easier and give you less. Everyone can then adjust things depending on how much control they want and time/energy they have.