this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
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"Tech journalists" installing linux in 2025 like it's this hot new tech is not exactly the early adoptership I'd expect from them :)
I felt late to the party in 2003. Been quite the ride watching others suffer windows this long yet.
For ~97% of the computer using population it is a hot new tech.
Compared to the state of consumer-grade Linux 5 years ago to today, it's absolutely a hot new tech.
One cannot understate the impact that the Steam Deck and Proton had on driving consumer-friendly features to Linux simply from the demand of an exploding user base.
Alas, argumentum populum is no valid vindication nor excuse.
"Anybody here work in advertising or marketing?" [--Bill Hicks, and the rest of that bit] hints at the reason though.
This right here. Got a Steam Deck. My Surface Pro 4 finally died. So after years of hassling from my best friend, who runs Arch btw, I got a Framework 13 and put PopOS on it. Zero issues, to the point, sadly, where I haven't really learned to troubleshoot it much yet. We're gonna install Bazzite on my home theatre PC this weekend when he comes down.
The only Windows I'm gonna run from here out is on my work PC, and the AI shilling, spyware, and cloud requirements sure ain't changing my mind.
Be forewarned, Bazzite has some install issues and can lock up or appear locked up during a painfully long install process. Also, VR support is meh on Bazzite and their immutable distro and managed packages make it more challenging to get non-managed solutions rolling.
As somebody running Bazzite and loving it on their HTPC, I am looking at switching to CachyOS using the Handheld (SteamOS) Display Environment or launching directly into Kodi.
Well there's always dual booting. I'll consider VR again one of these days, maybe. I early adopted the Oculus Rift way back, but I've never had the space for full motion and stuff. Did a fair amount of space travel with it though. That was nice.
Truly. I honestly feel like a lot of the linux oldheads got off on being part of an exclusive club and actually hated when things became easier to use (hence all the crying whenever anyone who isn't literally a cis admin or c developer points out the glaring UX flaws that plauged and still plagued linux).
Steam has the money to both fix a lot of problems and bulldoze through the wave of elitist condescending douches that typically inhabit linux spaces.
On top of that, and I know this part will get hate, now with LLMs, a lot of the questions that would get you absurdly rude and defeating remarks, you can just ask an LLM and get on average more accurate answers and less hazing for no reason. Yes, I am saying that LLMs give more accurate responses, as that has been my experience when it comes to asking questions on forums vs them.
And just to be clear, I have always been the type of person to ask questions as a last resort because I can't deal with those people and don't think being hazed should be a necessary part of doing power computing. You shouldn't need a thick skin to fix a driver issue for instance.
Anyways, I do think that these things have made linux far more approachable, but common apps being supported is still something that needs focus. Like the only CAD options for linux are what, freecad, where its free because you pay with your time and frustration, SolveSpace.... or onshape, which is simply not viable for hobbyists who at all ever want to make any money from their hobbies?
The same is true for video editting where there are absolutely some first class programs that run on linux, but the media creation pipeline also clearly has adobe shaped holes (just to be clear, though I feel it doesn't need stating, I do hate adobe).
Yeah the elitism thing is detrimental because it drives newcomers away. The more people who get interested in linux and start using it the better.
Every time anyone rejects Microsoft's shitty bloatware/spyware it's a win. I just converted a few months ago. Win11 is going to push more and more people away.
Ive been getting a taste of linux setting up a few raspberry Pis. Its been really fun and it got me looking at installing a linux distro on my PC. Probably ubuntu or ive heard good things about mint.
That is EXACTLY the path I took. I started playing with a Raspberry Pi as part of my ham radio hobby, a Pi 1B in those days. Then my old laptop died, I bought a new one from Dell, which came with Win 8.1, and it kept dying. While going around and around with Dell's tech support, I pretty much had to use that Pi for my normal work. I got a pretty good crash course in Linux, to the point it was more familiar to me than Win8.1. So I tried Ubuntu, it was okay, I tried Mint, and that was my home for the next ten years.
If you have amd in your system mint is a pretty great choice.