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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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Why do you still hate Windows? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I realize this is a Linux community, but I was wondering why you still hate Windows. I mean, I love Linux, but I will not argue that it's more convenient to the average person in most use cases to use Windows, I recently had to switch back to Windows and I realized how convenient it all was and how I was missing so many things because of my love for Linux. But at this point, Linux is a part of my personality and my self-image and I will not leave it, but I gotta be honest, it's pretty convenient being on Windows. So, why have you guys chosen to still stay on Linux? Some reasons I can appreciate include

The terrible privacy policies of Microsoft. It sometimes makes you feel like your computer is not owned by you but lent to you by Big Tech.
The community and the spirit of sharing
The joy of "figuring it out" and customizing everything you want to the minutest details
FREEDOM!!! sudo su Kinda ties into the previous points, but still one of the best selling points, the freedom to do whatever you want is liberating. You can run a server on it or you can create a script while knowing you have control over almost every FOSS app there is or just destroy your whole system with one command. Idk, feels good man!

These are the big ones, but one must realize you are sacrificing many things while not using windows too, productivity can be much greater there if you are a normie, it's really convenient! So yeah! Give me your reasons! Also, how many of you dual boot?

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It just.. lacks features? I couldn't use ZFS or Btrfs, FDE requires third-party software (veracrypt) and lots of other things that I see as standard system utilities (think ssh, git etc.) are not available on a fresh install. And then you're supposed to download and install .exe files from the internet? Since microsoft controls what goes in the windows store, that could provide the same experience as your distro's repositories. But again, most things you want aren't there, and you can't even trust the things that are there. For some reason, a billion dollar company cannot curate a software repository of the same quality as the ones maintained by unpaid volunteers in the Linux world.

So yeah, I think it's just not there yet. Maybe in a few years windows will be a viable alternative for desktop systems.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

FDE requires third-party software (veracrypt)

There's bitlocker, I think it was added in 7 or Vista. What do you mean?
But other than that, I would rather use VC too.

standard system utilities (think ssh, git etc.) are not available on a fresh install

Hmm, depends. It has a built in openssh client and server, but the "feature" (automatically installing package) is off by default. It can be enabled at install time with the use of the standard windows image modification tools (DISM I think?)

And then you're supposed to download and install .exe files from the internet? Since microsoft controls what goes in the windows store

I think it's better that Microsoft does not have that much control over software distribution.

But again, most things you want aren't there, and you can't even trust the things that are there.

Of course you can't, nobody can tell by looking at the store page if it was modified by anyone, including Microsoft.
The amazon app store for android explicitely tells that they are adding tracking code to every uploaded app, and to make this possible they replace the digital signature of apps uploaded. Google with the play store does not tell anything like this afaik, but for a few years now it also basically compromised the digital signatures of developers, by requiring the private keys to be mandatorily handed in for continued app updates.
I don't trust that these companies that already rely on mass surveillance as a revenue stream, they won't add tracking code to apps unauthorized by the devs. If not right now, it will happen in the future.

For some reason, a billion dollar company cannot curate a software repository of the same quality as the ones maintained by unpaid volunteers in the Linux world.

Besides quality, I think open source distro's repository and it's packagers are largely more trustable. They are not motivated financially to modify the packages in unwanted (by the user) ways, and they are transparent.

So yeah, I think it's just not there yet. Maybe in a few years windows will be a viable alternative for desktop systems.

I think they are drifting farther and farther away.
It was an option. But the shitshow of 11.. thanks that's too much. I'm not installing that for anyone. And 10 is soon end of life...