@neil I would say that there is a certain amount of #AppleEnvy at #Microsoft and #Google right now.

A #WalledGarden allows higher #Rent and cheapens compliance with legislation that attempts to restrict what users can do.

Open source - and thus backdoor-free - VPNs and e2ee are probably being targeted as preemptive obedience to future laws.

@tomstoneham @neil to be fair it's quite easy for people to leave windows and switch to linux.

A lot of gaming is already happening on linux and I am astonished when like >60 people working in non-tech jobs are talking about linux distributions

@saxnot @tomstoneham

> it's quite easy for people to leave windows and switch to linux.

For *some* people, sure.

For a lot of people, probably not, sadly.

@neil
This is an 'argument' I always refuse to accept.

It assumes that Windows and Mac users are proficient at using their respective operating systems to the point that they 1) can install and configure it independently, and 2) are able to troubleshoot and solve their own problems. It also suggests that only on Linux they would run into trouble, and become dependent on a third party.

The reality, in my experience, is rather different. Most users don't have a clue how to install their OS, as in all likelihood it came pre-installed with their system. Most people will call a friend or family member to help with a computer problem, or search the internet for instructions they don't actually understand. To them, computers are nothing more than a tool, much like their car. And their car, they take to a mechanic, even for the smallest thing they could do themselves.

Switching to Linux poses the same issues as switching from Windows to macOS (and vice versa).

1/2

@saxnot @tomstoneham

@aerion @saxnot @tomstoneham

> This is an 'argument' I always refuse to accept

Sure! That is your prerogative.

Nothing that you've written backs up the claim that switching to Linux is "easy" though. Just that other things will also be hard for some people.

@neil
What about the part that the UI learning curve has pretty much been eliminated? 😃

The issue people have (again, in my experience) is having to learn a new way of working. It's the perceived difficulty that switching to a Linux system means not being able to use it without having to learn something first.

Yet the Windows desktop paradigm means that Windows users will instinctively gravitate to the same areas they're used to on Windows: the start button, task bar, system tray, etc. I'm less familiar with macOS and equivalent DEs on Linux to be able to compare them, but Xfce seems to be familiar to Mac users.

I don't, and didn't, claim that switching to Linux is easy. But I reject the notion that it is difficult. And I would argue that it is, in fact, easier to switch from Windows/macOS to Linux than Windows <—> macOS, thanks to the ability to choose a similar UI in case of the former, unlike the latter.

The real difficulty, as stated, lies with the apps.

@saxnot @tomstoneham