Mastodawn

is linux ableist? how?

some backstory: i was talking to a friend who was thinking of switching away from windows 10 to a mac because windows 11 is... well, terrible for a slew of reasons. i, perhaps too excitedly, brought up linux. they were talking about wanting something that works and i said i struggled with too and linux is actually much easier to use than i thought it'd be.

they then called me ableist for recommending linux because its assumptive that someone who is neurodivergent like them would have an easy time with linux at all. that how linux works itself is inaccessible and ableist in of itself (whereas macs and windows are not). i tried opening up a more in depth conversation about it but they werent available for it. so i figured id ask here, because im really confused, and would like to learn more

#askfedi #Linux #ableism #help

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SometimesLovely

@insecteuthanasia
I am austic, with very moderate computer skills. I moved to mint, using a commercial usb device, i found the instructions to create a bootable drive confusing. I used it from this for a while before replacing windows.
I am general user, and was able to use this with no real issues. I expect i will be able to modify my set-up over time. Just one point for linux wizards, sometimes all we want, all we can do is pictures, email, browsing simple spreadsheets and typing letters

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FruitConsumer 1d ago

@SometimesLovely @insecteuthanasia
Yeah, there could be some very clear noob documentation: "Want X thing? Open terminal and write 'sudo dnf bla bla'. Here is an explanation of what this command does. . ."
A lot of stuff's pretty simple ONCE you know it. But not having initial exposure to some things creates friction.

Even just a searchable dictionary could make people feel more grounded. (But typing out clear search queries does solve a lot of issues.)