@AliothFox I think a lot of people misunderstand why Linux users tend to use the the terminal. It's not that you have to use it, it's that there are a ton of tasks that are easier in it. ​ It's a very slippery slope where you go into it very tacitly to copy a command into it that the internet told you about, then suddenly you're, like, "oh hey this is kinda nice ​ I wonder if I can do... *boopboop* oh HECK that works!!" and it's all downhill from there.

But yeah, there's almost *always* a GUI for something you wanna do. ​ It can be a little hard to find that GUI since a lot of Linux help sites are just, like, "here just copy this command" which is definitely a problem for people trying to avoid terminal. ​

@AliothFox Yeah that used to happen all the time actually. ​ There's a reason rm -rf / is a meme. Nowadays it's safer since support sites are a bit more centralized and curated, but it's still definitely a thing that can happen.

Usually the bigger problem is people overestimating what they can do in terminal and then breaking their system. The biggest issue I see tech literate Windows users facing is that they come to Linux, start messing with a bunch of stuff, lack the knowledge to fix it, then swear off Linux as broken, usually while trying to make Linux behave exactly like Windows which, like, it never will. ​

A lot of people encourage Windows users by saying that Linux is the same as Windows, and in a lot of ways it is, but they also need to be encouraged to try and adapt to some new things that (imho) are actually better. Like not downloading random .exe's from the internet. ​

(sorry I always somehow manage to ramble ;^; I need an editor)

@Rusty That's the nice thing - you can get Windows stuff to run on Linux; you just have to do it through virtualization and/or compatibility layers (which, to at least some degree - especially with virtualization - insulates you from the random .exe that you decided to download).

My way of encouraging people to try Linux isn't saying "it's like Windows" (it's not like Windows - that's basically its best quality). What I tend to say more often is stuff like "it's not any harder to learn than Windows" or "it's an operating system like any other" or something like that.

A lot of people think that the non-Windows UX is going to be the sticking point that makes them hate it, but the truth is that the real sticking point is the lack of compatibility, which 1) is improving every day, and 2) usually has alternatives or workarounds (even if they are a bit obtuse at times).

@AliothFox I'm hoping WinBoat gets GPU pass through at some point ​ I do think there are decent FOSS alternatives on Linux for software people use in Windows, but it's a big ask to be, like, "Hey, change your operating system AND change all of the applications you use ​ "

Although, unless you're an artist and your preferred art program is Windows-only or you're a video editor stuck in the Adobe Suite, there aren't many programs I can think of that you'd be leaving behind. I guess that's the one upside to everything being a dumbass Electron app now-- credit to Telegram for using Qt, even if Telegram is butts.

@Rusty @AliothFox It looks to me like WinBoat is just a wrapper to install windows in a VM, which seems to defeat the purpose of “not running Windows”, is it not?

Basically reverse-WSL…

@Rusty @AliothFox yeah, just my thought was that most of this talk of switching to Linux is to get away from the Microslop enshittification of Windows, and if you end up installing and running Windows anyway, that sorta defeats the purpose. It's all still there, even if some of it is hidden.

Does your WinBoat still want you to sign in with a Microsoft Account and turn on OneDrive and bug you about Copilot and using Edge?

@CrinkleSix @AliothFox You still need to sign in with a Microsoft account, yes. It can't nag you about OneDrive or Copilot or Edge though because the desktop is abstracted away from you and you only see it if you directly boot into it. It uses RDP to run application windows directly in your Linux environment.

I personally wouldn't run WinBoat, but if someone wanted Windows applications in their Linux environment and dealing with the Windows activation bullshit didn't bother them, then it'd be a good option. ​ Or, well, it would be if WinBoat had GPU pass through, which it doesn't.

@Rusty @CrinkleSix Even my Windows doesn't nag me about Copilot or Edge lol

There are ways to get Windows to shut up - like Six said, all the options are there, they're just hidden. But people do make tools :3