Linux users are inherently more tech savvy because there are no limits. On the contrary, there is documentation and free knowledge aplenty. Windows and especially Mac hide and obfuscate everything happening under the hood and you are vaguely warned away from doing anything not specifically blessed by the corporation. That’s why those users are less tech savvy on average.
Just the fact that someone is using Linux at all means they are probably tech savvy, simply for the fact they had to install it in their own. If all prebuilds came with Linux, it would likely be the other way around. (Although why someone would, out of free will, go and install Windows is beyond me)
Interestingly people who learned to use PCs back in the early days most likely installed themselves Windows on their own MS-DOS PCs and probably also upgraded it themselves, whilst Mac users did not.
Which kinda gives weight to the idea that it’s the technical barrier to entry into using a certain OS that makes for tech savvy users of that OS: they had to be tech savvy already (or at least have the mindset of trying stuff out which is IMHO what creates tech savvy users) in order to get that OS running.
I agree there is an obfuscation of what is happening under the hood in Windows and Mac systems- but that doesn’t stop the tech savvy from digging a bit further. I played around with resource files back in my System 6, 7, and 8 days, and got pretty comfortable with registry edits from Windows 95 onwards.
I think it’s more that Linux only appeals to the tech savvy, precisely because of the lack of that obfuscation layer.
Linux users are inherently more tech savvy because there are no limits.
You clearly have not met my parents. I installed Linux on their PC because they are not tech savvy. Doesn’t matter if Windows or Linux breaks down, they can’t fix it anyway, so might as well reduce the chance they manage to infect their device with all kinds of malware.
Which distro did you install for them? Same ship, and it’s sinking :'( They’ve got an old (2011?) Toshiba Satellite that’s on thin ice when Windoze 10 becomes EOL this October. PopOS! or something else?
I would look at the Atomic spins from Fedora or other immutable distro. Your Parents can be separated from the OS while being able to install/uninstall user software as they like without a problem. The OS can update itself in the background without them even knowing about it. The Budgie version is simple to use with an easy to get used desktop. It also offers just enough customization to make most people happy. The atomic Cosmic spin might also be a possibility also.
I think that’s a pretty recent phenomenon and it still requires that there’s a good friend or family member who is a Techie to actually happen.
That said, thinking about your post does bring a whole “chicken and the egg” possibility to mind: are Linux users tech savvy because of the open nature of Linux or are Linux users tech savvy because for most people the technical barrier to entry into running Linux is still high enough that they have to be tech savvy to begin with in order to start running Linux?
I think it requires a bit of both.The average user only wants their computer to work and doesn’t care if Linux is OSS or exposes the inner workings of the system more. For them there is simply no reason to install a different OS, pre-installed Windows might be a bit annoying at times, but generally it does its job just fine.
For us choosing a distribution, downloading an ISO image, creating a boot disk and going through an installer which asks ‘scary stuff’ like “do you want to accept our partition suggestion, or do you want to create your own? Oh PS this action may RESULT IN DATA LOSS” is all easy-peasy.
We are able to find alternatives for programs we need, or are able to track down a Linux version. Either in the distro’s package repo, Flatpak (or Snap, for the more masochistic minded) or by compiling from source (with all the complications and parameter setting that sometimes requires). Or we run the Windows EXE in Wine.
Most users simply aren’t tech savvy and/or don’t care enough to go through these kinds of ‘hoops’. Acquiring this knowledge requires investment, without motivation (which usually needs to be intrinsic) that simply won’t happen.
We hate stuff like Windows being a black box and Microsoft trying to push their MS accounts down our throats enough to not blindly put up with it. Most people I know just create the account, go through with the installation and go along with their days.
It’s the painful truth that yes, it requires a certain attitude to want to switch to a different OS.
What also doesn’t help is the attitude I sometimes see in the Linux community. For example, I recently posted my experience with gaming on Linux. In short: it sucked, badly. Some responses I got were helpful, but there were also a lot of ‘meh, that game publisher sucks anyway, you shouldn’t play their games’ responses. Fortunately I’m not a novice when it comes to Linux, but I can image a beginner would just say ‘screw it’, install Windows again and advise everybody they know to stay the fuck away from that elitist cesspool. If we hate that MS dictates what we do with our devices we sure as hell shouldn’t start dictating what our (potential) fellow Linux users do with theirs.
Mac use to be much more open and direct about things. Even the pre-unix Macs were more obvious then Windows of the same era. Unix Mac was way, way more adjustable and while it’s not system related, shipped with iMovie and other bits of software for creating things.
Make the study about iPad/mobile computer kids verse desktop kids and you’ll see a sharper contrast.
Linux users are inherently more tech savvy because there are no limits. On the contrary, there is documentation and free knowledge aplenty. Windows and especially Mac hide and obfuscate everything happening under the hood and you are vaguely warned away from doing anything not specifically blessed by the corporation. That’s why those users are less tech savvy on average.
Removed by mod
I’ll jerk off as hard as I want, thanks.
It’s okay they’ve built up calluses over the years.
Yeah, leave some spunk for the rest of us!
Using Linux counts as jerking off? You should try talking to a Mac user
Just the fact that someone is using Linux at all means they are probably tech savvy, simply for the fact they had to install it in their own. If all prebuilds came with Linux, it would likely be the other way around. (Although why someone would, out of free will, go and install Windows is beyond me)
…because it’s the easiest OS to install and use?
Interestingly people who learned to use PCs back in the early days most likely installed themselves Windows on their own MS-DOS PCs and probably also upgraded it themselves, whilst Mac users did not.
Which kinda gives weight to the idea that it’s the technical barrier to entry into using a certain OS that makes for tech savvy users of that OS: they had to be tech savvy already (or at least have the mindset of trying stuff out which is IMHO what creates tech savvy users) in order to get that OS running.
I agree there is an obfuscation of what is happening under the hood in Windows and Mac systems- but that doesn’t stop the tech savvy from digging a bit further. I played around with resource files back in my System 6, 7, and 8 days, and got pretty comfortable with registry edits from Windows 95 onwards.
I think it’s more that Linux only appeals to the tech savvy, precisely because of the lack of that obfuscation layer.
You clearly have not met my parents. I installed Linux on their PC because they are not tech savvy. Doesn’t matter if Windows or Linux breaks down, they can’t fix it anyway, so might as well reduce the chance they manage to infect their device with all kinds of malware.
Which distro did you install for them? Same ship, and it’s sinking :'( They’ve got an old (2011?) Toshiba Satellite that’s on thin ice when Windoze 10 becomes EOL this October. PopOS! or something else?
I would look at the Atomic spins from Fedora or other immutable distro. Your Parents can be separated from the OS while being able to install/uninstall user software as they like without a problem. The OS can update itself in the background without them even knowing about it. The Budgie version is simple to use with an easy to get used desktop. It also offers just enough customization to make most people happy. The atomic Cosmic spin might also be a possibility also.
I think that’s a pretty recent phenomenon and it still requires that there’s a good friend or family member who is a Techie to actually happen.
That said, thinking about your post does bring a whole “chicken and the egg” possibility to mind: are Linux users tech savvy because of the open nature of Linux or are Linux users tech savvy because for most people the technical barrier to entry into running Linux is still high enough that they have to be tech savvy to begin with in order to start running Linux?
I think it requires a bit of both.The average user only wants their computer to work and doesn’t care if Linux is OSS or exposes the inner workings of the system more. For them there is simply no reason to install a different OS, pre-installed Windows might be a bit annoying at times, but generally it does its job just fine.
For us choosing a distribution, downloading an ISO image, creating a boot disk and going through an installer which asks ‘scary stuff’ like “do you want to accept our partition suggestion, or do you want to create your own? Oh PS this action may RESULT IN DATA LOSS” is all easy-peasy.
We are able to find alternatives for programs we need, or are able to track down a Linux version. Either in the distro’s package repo, Flatpak (or Snap, for the more masochistic minded) or by compiling from source (with all the complications and parameter setting that sometimes requires). Or we run the Windows EXE in Wine.
Most users simply aren’t tech savvy and/or don’t care enough to go through these kinds of ‘hoops’. Acquiring this knowledge requires investment, without motivation (which usually needs to be intrinsic) that simply won’t happen.
We hate stuff like Windows being a black box and Microsoft trying to push their MS accounts down our throats enough to not blindly put up with it. Most people I know just create the account, go through with the installation and go along with their days.
It’s the painful truth that yes, it requires a certain attitude to want to switch to a different OS.
What also doesn’t help is the attitude I sometimes see in the Linux community. For example, I recently posted my experience with gaming on Linux. In short: it sucked, badly. Some responses I got were helpful, but there were also a lot of ‘meh, that game publisher sucks anyway, you shouldn’t play their games’ responses. Fortunately I’m not a novice when it comes to Linux, but I can image a beginner would just say ‘screw it’, install Windows again and advise everybody they know to stay the fuck away from that elitist cesspool. If we hate that MS dictates what we do with our devices we sure as hell shouldn’t start dictating what our (potential) fellow Linux users do with theirs.
Mac use to be much more open and direct about things. Even the pre-unix Macs were more obvious then Windows of the same era. Unix Mac was way, way more adjustable and while it’s not system related, shipped with iMovie and other bits of software for creating things.
Make the study about iPad/mobile computer kids verse desktop kids and you’ll see a sharper contrast.