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David Bureš

@PurpleJillybeans Also: don't even fucking mention the Terminal. Good Lord I don't know why nobody in the Linux community understands that normal people don't want to use that shit

45 comments
funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@davidbures I think calling people who are used to use the terminal "unnormal" is one of the definitions of "being a dick".

But in less defensive words: often the terminal is the only way when other tools don't work.
@PurpleJillybeans

David Bureš

@funbaker @PurpleJillybeans Linux users are far from normal, the same way people using Mastodon don't represent the normal population. In order to even find out what Linux is, you need to know what an operating system is, and that's far too much for a population that doesn't even know there's a difference between "internet" and "web browser". (1/2)

David Bureš

As long as Linux users think they are "normal users", there will be little progress made in Linux's journey to become mainstream

The terminal being the only way to do most stuff is a massive failure on the part of Linux, not a strength. And Linux users / distro maintainers have to realize that. The average person will never open the Terminal; the moment someone even suggest that, they'll go "This is too difficult and a waste of time. Why isn't there an app for this?" (2/2)

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@davidbures strong words, but nothing behind. I'm happy to help, but if you don't want: be happy to be spied on and your data sold to whomever

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@davidbures ofc you could also go the third way: start contributing to a better solution.

Holland 🏳️‍⚧️🚩🏴

@funbaker @davidbures this is just not productive. Devs need user input, & the only response cannot be "you should contribute then if you don't like it."

Think about what you just said. "If you are a typical computer user & don't want to use a command line, THEN CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPING SOFTWARE YOU'D RATHER USE."

People who don't want to use a command line WON'T be developing software!!!!!!

So yes, you are PUSHING users into getting spied on by belittling their needs.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@itsmeholland As a Mac GUI Dev he would be cleary capable of doing that. But all he did and does was to insult linux users.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@itsmeholland I'm not a GUI Dev at all. I'm a Sysadmin and able to deal with Problems around Linux. Unfortunately I was not able to find a single question under the OP.

Holland 🏳️‍⚧️🚩🏴

@funbaker@chaos.social you're either not seeing the big picture or your choosing not to so I'll spell it out.

This isn't about HIS SPECIFIC "question," or anyones specific question, to you or anyone in particular.

This is about the TENDENCY of Linux people to respond obnoxiously to ANY beginner questions (or in your case, the IDEA of any beginner question) with hostility & pedantry.

That's literally what OP was about, & all it was about. & thats what almost all the comments have been about.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to Holland

@itsmeholland yeah. no. this particular case was different.

ask me any beginner question. but don't expect a timeframe or smth like that to answer.

Holland 🏳️‍⚧️🚩🏴 replied to Holland

@funbaker the point about the terminal was not even directed at you, not sure why you're making your status as "not a GUI dev" a thing when it's not relevant at all. No one actually asked you in particlar anything, but you still needed to chime in to tell HYPOTHETICAL/unnamed/not present people who have an issue using CLI to go fuck themselves & become a dev if they want a GUI for everything so badly. This is literally what people are complaining about on this post lmao.

Holland 🏳️‍⚧️🚩🏴 replied to Holland

@funbaker@chaos.social & no, no one is "insulting" Linux users, unless you take "not your average computer user" as an insult somehow which you seem determined to do.

Using the command line automatically elevates you to somewhere above average among the general computer-using population. That's a fact. Not everyone wants or needs to be "somewhere above average" while also having a modicum of privacy & that should be fine. For some reason in the linux community it's often not & you're kind of proving it. 🤷

lori

@funbaker @davidbures attitudes like this are why people don't want to learn to use Linux. You have to meet people where they are.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@lori I'm not gonna lie: you won't have 1:1 experience like with windows.

lori

@funbaker I know, I've been using Linux for a very long time now.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@lori so you are not even having issues with it then.

you know what I see in this whole thread? culture shocks. lots of them.

FOR ME it looks like people can't handle the freedom given by linux.

lori

@funbaker Or maybe you just can't imagine dealing with anyone that isn't like yourself. Because I'm talking as someone who has introduced other people to Linux and you are talking as someone only thinking about your own use of it, and that's not what this thread was about in the first place. I have a computer science degree, I want to get people into Linux who don't.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to lori

@lori much appreciate and good luck with that. but my issue was with the subpost here which calls linux users "not normal". I have a problem with that.

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to funbaker

@lori and then image me being swarmed by people full of vanity.

lori replied to funbaker

@funbaker I have no idea how you read a single thing here as vanity

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to lori

@lori and you see no problem with people being called "not normal" either?

lori replied to funbaker

@funbaker No, I don't think people who are using Linux terminals are The Normal PC User at all

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to lori

@lori that alone may be something to be discussed, but this is not the issue here.

lori replied to funbaker

@funbaker To me the issue is that you see people talking about how to get the average person on Linux and you want to call that "not being able to handle the freedom of it"

Which is going to get exactly zero people off of Windows

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to lori

@lori so you choose to ignore the issue of people getting called "not normal". I'm not sure if that doesn't make you part of the problem, frankly said.

lori replied to funbaker

@funbaker considering it applies to me as much as you I don't think there is a problem. I'm also not the normal computer user.

Lykso replied to funbaker

@funbaker @lori "Not normal" isn't an insult, necessarily. "Normal" is that which common, or average. I don't think it was meant in a derogatory sense here. "Average" might have been a clearer word here, maybe? This is how I took it, anyway.

congusbongusgames replied to funbaker

@funbaker @lori I wonder if there’s a language issue here; in some cultures “normal” is value neutral, synonymous with terms like “mainstream”, whereas others see it as a positive, so calling someone “not normal” is a put-down

Glitch

@funbaker @lori Hey so, I need you to take a second and just listen.

My dad is not a tech savvy person. I have to walk him through how to find the file menu on his browser just to clear his history now and again and leave written instructions on how to do things like print and basic stuff on his desktop.

My sibling works in a library and that's pretty standard for the folks coming in too. I'm a millenial and many of my classmates did not know how to operate computers at all either.

/1

Glitch replied to Glitch

@funbaker @lori

Mainly cos computer typing classes were phasing out, and people were mostly using phones and tablets because computers are too expensive for a large chunk of the population.

So when folks get a computer, using anything that's not gui based, much less requires attempting to find documentation is too far out of their reach and understanding.

I understand you getting mad at folks being called "not normal" but as a linux user who can understand and use terminal, that sets you /2

Glitch replied to Glitch

@funbaker @lori

Apart from a large chunk of the population who doesn't have that sort of tech literacy or understanding and absolutely needs a solid gui interface in order to get the most out of their os.

These people are looking for an os as a daily driver, not for any sort of specific use case.

I installed Mint on my old laptop for my dad and it worked for him for years once I set it up because he could understand it and it was familiar. But he could not use terminal to save his life.

Glitch replied to Glitch

@funbaker @lori

There are a lot of non tech savvy folks that could really benefit from linux and enjoy it, but the rest of the community has a habit of focusing on the small things or things that seem sort of common sense or simple to the rest of us who have tech literacy.

This is the problem, we can see it playing out here in the replies to the og post too.

Its easy to let our tempers get the better of us or brush off stuff as inane, but tbh everyone's gotta start somewhere right?

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty replied to Glitch

@GarbageGlitch @lori In Driving School, I was unsure about how to do certain things. Did I call my instructor "not normal" for it? certainly not, it would been an F otherwise.

Everyone likes car comparisons, right?

Glitch replied to funbaker

@funbaker @lori

As I said, I understand why you're upset about that, it's fair, but you continuing to ignore the original discussion and points, and instead focusing on wording you take issue with specifically is illustrating some of the exact problems we're discussing, and is not contributing positively to the conversation.

I think you need to step back for a second and come back later, it seems this hit a personal nerve for you.

IronCladLou replied to Glitch

@GarbageGlitch @funbaker @lori yes to this! Mint feels like windows and is super stable, the installer is easy and painless. Hardware support is excellent (wifi cards, Bluetooth, graphics, etc) I recommend it to Linux newbies all the time.
I used it as my main laptop distro for years 👍 ( I have other favorites nowadays 🤪)

Ruben Schade :runbsdBg:​

@funbaker @davidbures Oh for Pete’s sake. Literally the attitude that you were being asked to drop.

KindlyWizard

@funbaker @davidbures is it possible that this dismissive attitude is part of the reason the year of non-Linux users caring about switching?

funbaker #AssangeIsNotGuilty

@KindlyWizard perhaps you didn't read or understood the previous post.

lori

@davidbures @PurpleJillybeans I lent a friend who needed to do some simple work while travelling (in terms of computing, mostly needed a web browser and some spreadsheet software) a Linux laptop because it was all I had to spare for her at the time. She had zero problems with it. The Chromebook kind of audience could be converted to Linux users so easily. But if you start trying to get into terminal stuff they are going to bail so fast and chances are they don't need to mess with it anyway.

Mayor of Nerdocrumbesia 🏡

@davidbures @PurpleJillybeans

Agreed. Once they get used to Linux and see how much easier the terminal is they use it.

At first though, it should all be how to do things with the menus.

Piko Starsider :verified_paw:

@davidbures @PurpleJillybeans I don't "mention" the terminal, I only ask to be used when troubleshooting, and I usually explain that it's the equivalent to opening a million of obscure submenus in windows except that it doesn't change from version to version and I can just give a chunk of text to copy and paste. So many times it happened with windows that I spend 10-30 minutes trying to do something that is the equivalent to a few minutes in linux.

In both cases I first try to use a remote desktop control system like rustdesk so I don't actually have to tell the user anything about using a terminal. I do explain how the equivalent in windows looks to let them know it's not any easier.

And again, that's only when trying to fix things. I have friends that have switched to linux in the last year and they didn't have any issues. No terminal needed.

While I agree with your first point, I don't think that's a good way to say it. It doesn't really contribute to the discussion. We need to talk about solutions, not about problems. We need to tell users about KDE, Cinnamon, MATE, whatever they're using. If the community talks about the GUI solutions then we'll be more focused on what they lack.

@davidbures @PurpleJillybeans I don't "mention" the terminal, I only ask to be used when troubleshooting, and I usually explain that it's the equivalent to opening a million of obscure submenus in windows except that it doesn't change from version to version and I can just give a chunk of text to copy and paste. So many times it happened with windows that I spend 10-30 minutes trying to do something that is the equivalent to a few minutes in linux.

betalars :antifa:

@davidbures yeah command line is great, bit it's not UI.
It's more of a developer interface.

Pēteris Krišjānis

@davidbures @PurpleJillybeans People want to use PowerShell. People do things in command line on Windows all the time.

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