uselinuxinstead
You Should “Just” Use Linux Instead!
Hey fellow Linux users. Have you ever had these words or similar words come out of your fingers? Or seen them come out of other’s fingers?
Have you ever seen the famous Sealion meme?
.png){kind=link}
The fact that someone pointed you here means you probably crossed someone’s line from “being helpful” to “being obnoxious”. You’ve become that sealion.
Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.
- Person complains about a thing.
- Hey, I know a way that they could fix the thing.
- “Why don’t you “just”…
“Just” is a word that you might be trying to use to tell them not to worry. But it is likely going to sound like “I know more than you, your needs, and your capabilities” and basically is going to put people up to feel bad at themselves or start a fight.
“But Windows 11 Is So Bad!”
Sure it is. So What? We all hate LOTS of corp products we’re forced to use every day. Your OS is simply one more.
Then they should just leave
There’s that “Just” word again.
Have you even begun to explore their use cases? Their hardware? Software requirements? Technical capabilities? Ability to type even simple commands in the command line? Are they disabled? Are they a gamer? Do they share their computer with others with different needs? Do they need it for school or work?
Person hates Windows, What Do? Checklist
- Is this a complaining session or a request for help? If it’s complaining, be friendly and understanding and sympathetic. Don’t even bother with recommendations unless they ask.
- They want advice? Honestly ask and understand their underlying problems
- Windows 11 doesn’t support their hardware
- “stick it to the man”
- Privacy
- Avoid AI
- Remove bloat
- But also
- Do they need locally installed MS Office or other corporate software
- What games (if any) do they play
- Accessibility support
- Nvidia drivers still kinda suck…
- Do they know people who can support Linux with them (No, not just “ask in the Discord”…)
Maybe they just need to stay on Windows
I recommend every new Windows machine to run https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat . It’s a one line powershell command that cleans up the worst bits of Windows. The ads, the nags, Copilot, telemetry, etc. It honestly solves a whole lot of the complaints people have. Rerun it after every major update since MS will silently turn stuff on again, but it works for Most things.
How to pick a Linux distro
There’s various “distro pickers” out there like https://distrochooser.de/ - but leave yourself open to helping explain the answers. Some of them might be a bit confusing. If possible, let them try out a “Live CD” for a bit before settling. Changing to Linux is a big leap.
Use Open Source software even on Windows
Even if they stay on Windows, there’s lots of great app store style stuff they can use to debloat and point towards FOSS. Install https://docs.chocolatey.org/en-us/chocolatey-gui/ for them and teach them how to use it. Recommend LibreOffice. Whatever - give them a good experience with the FOSS way of doing things, and they’ll be interested in learning more next time.
Make the User Happy
Sure, we all believe strongly in Free and Open Source Software. But the actual goal in consulting with people is to meet their needs. Not push your agenda. Don’t lose sight of the end goal. Do that, and you’ll just scare them back to enshittified corp stuff because “Linux is Confusing and FOSS people are mean”.
Basically, Don’t Be A Jerk