The average Linux evangelist on Lemmy vastly overestimates the tech-saviness of the average person.
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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Welcome to your daily post about how Linux users talk so much about themselves...
Surrounded by zero Linux users talking about themselves.
I use arch btw
And a whole bunch of Windows users clearly thinking way more about Linux than they care to admit.
There is not a comment in this thread worthy of a shitpost, just lots of boasting how great Linux is. The Linux users don't even get the irony of this. But, you're technically correct.
This is true! Ignorance of Linux is the no1 reason people don't adopt it. This is doubly hard for Window-brains because the concept of choosing an OS is foreign to them. From their perspective it's your boss, your school, or your parents who choose your OS.
I think most of normal users don't even know what an OS is, so they don't think who is choosing it.
Having taught a computer science course on Operating Systems it's even tough to teach a room full of CS undergrads what one is.
Even though I highly support Linux and what it's thriving to be, but comments like this are why people don't switch. Calling people names never is a good idea to get them to support your cause.
Exactly. If we want people to switch to Linux, we need to make sure they are going to have a good experience. That means to accept that there are still some use cases that Windows is better for, at least for some people. If all you use your gaming rig for is LoL or you spend 99% of your workday in Excel, it doesn't make sense to switch. Linux will be there for them when they're ready.
Do we want the kind of people who are afraid of Linux to switch to Linux though? I feel like those people should stay on Windows until Linux adoption is just too overwhelming. Let the people who actually want to explore and try new things switch first, cause they’ll be more useful at providing feedback, and less likely to hurt the community.
Like, was it a good thing that Linus did his first Linux challenge? It was a lot of press, but a lot of it was bad. Maybe that is a good thing and I’m just wrong here. I feel like in his second challenge he was much more open to actually trying something new, and kind of realized that he doesn’t actually know anything about computers, but just Windows.
I don't think being afraid is a big problem, if you are also motivated to try it. If you're afraid and have a good experience anyway, that's a good thing. If you were afraid and have a bad experience, you'll likely not try it again for a long time, if ever. The key difference is what kind of experience you have. If the bad experience can be avoided in the first place, for example by telling that their game will not work, then nothing was lost. They may try again when they're bored with that game.
If they have a community to help them make the right decision and choices along the way, they can have a good experience. I think the point I'm trying to emphasize is that the community should try hard to set them up for success rather than cheerleading: "go for it! it worked great for me!"
I hear your point about Linus (of LTT) and yes he gave Linux "bad press", but I think it helps balance the hype with some realism of "it doesn't work for everyone".
I wouldn't call Linus an average user though. I liked watching Switch and Click's journey with Linux. She starts out knowing basically nothing, but with a can-do and eager-to-learn attitude. She worked through it and now has become quite the Linux power user. I think that that is more encouraging and relatable to the average computer user. I think it's the way to go in general: be encouraging and positive, but also be honest about the rough edges.
It's also about setting realistic expectations and not overselling the product. Tons of people install Linux on either bleeding edge hardware (no vendor support) or an older, secondary computer (well supported, but slow) and they experience that as "Linux is bad".
They may expect their proprietary software to work and it doesn't. Then they have to go back to Windows after they had finally worked up the courage to try Linux. I think it's fine to say "I don't think Linux will work well for you" before they get into that situation.
I, myself, despite having used Linux off and on since the mid-90s, didn't fully commit to a Linux desktop until a year ago. I built a new PC for it, knowing it would run only Linux and with parts I knew would work. I knew exactly which programs I had to give up on and find alternatives for. I made an informed choice and I've never been happier with my PC after switching.
Ok, but, like, who cares? If someone wants to eat a pile of shit to stick it to the burger enjoyers, let them.
Apparently enough people to comment on that.
I talked to some colleagues some time ago and they had never heard of Linux. The very concept of different operating systems was news to them. We still have a long way to go.
MacOS users in this post:
TempleOS users in this post:
Well we wouldn't want to commit sacrilege
WSL users: 🤪
It’s funny because without Linux, they wouldn’t have any of their modern luxuries, but they’re usually completely ignorant to that fact, like a bird eating fries off the ground thinking they’re really good at scavenging food.
You know people would just.... Use other operating systems, right? The march of Technology doesn't just halt because Linux never got invented, it likely would have just ended up with smaller machines using a stripped down form of windows
Yeah, I know that. It would probably be BSD though. Doesn’t change what I said though. They’d be ignorant of whatever else it was. It definitely wouldn’t be Windows though. Proprietary systems would never work for things like server farms that have 500,000 servers.
What are you basing this off of? The alternate histories stock market history?
I promise you if Linux wasn't invented we would have made another niche product or adapted what we have lol, the world doesn't need to revolve around Linux
You clearly do if you went out of your way to make this meme.
I assumed it was a Linux person making it. As someone who is a Windows user by trade, but a Linux user at heart, I found it quite funny.
WSL