“Under the shelter of each other, we survive.” -Mike Davis, RIP
Human, curious; designer, usability advocate, oss fangirl; snowboarder, Michigan kid, Motörhead fan. Former Model UN dork. Still a general dork. #nobot#noindex
@BlackAzizAnansi I can tell you that you will cry. You will cry a lot. You will need to learn about "distros" and how to solve problems in BASH. It will rarely "just work." Everything will always be a little harder.
About half the software will be from open source projects (and have crap usability), so you will have to know to "Go find Gnome File Manager" or "CUPS" to print from, instead of just "printer" or "files."
@BlackAzizAnansi Linux ecosystems do nothing "native." All our controls and settings on Macs and PCs, are part of our OS. In Linuxland, you get the double-edged sword of "choice." Which is important for sexual health, and a downright pain in the ass for a laptop you depend on.
You will also need to update the drivers of hardware components—and core apps you use to browse files with, the one that manages your "desktop" environment (which is separate from your OS), etc.
@BlackAzizAnansi All of which is to say, that is also why I deeply resent Apple and Microsoft turning the personal computing space, into a luxury market.
People of all economic abilities, cultures, and physical or cognitive abilities, should be able to use a computer as a simple tool, in 2024. Linux is a lifestyle commitment—much moreso in North America, where it's a very niche lifestyle. At least in the Global South, everyone else also uses it, so it feels less alienating.
(also, I don't even know how much of that you actually knew, and were just openly musing—or if you're a developer—so for however much of it you totally already knew, my bad!)
