Installing Linux Doesn't Need to Change. The Experience Does.

Oh look. Yet another post demanding things from a volunteer-based community without actually volunteering their own time to work on solving the problem they're insisting needs solving.
I'm sure these demands will totally make a difference in ways that putting their time into actually writing code wouldn't.
- I think it should be encouraged for non technical users to share their insights regarding UI/UX. People who are skilled in building applications often don’t have great skills in that area anyway. Actual UI/UX specialists are even harder to come by it seems.
  The issue with this video is that it doesn’t bring in a ton of new insight. Issues regarding the variety of package management solutions are well know for example, and some distros are already solving this by having system packages and flatpaks managed by the same installer.
- By that logic I should demand to get payed for testing your "free" software in real environment
- And that attitude is why adoption will remain low
  
  There goes the Q4 profit goals of the FOSS community.
  
  ROFL. Kiddo, I've been contributing to OSS for over two decades. The day I start caring about what non-contributors think is the day I stop writing code. Either show up with patches or STFU.

Just saying, not my experience. I have used linux for over 25 years and nontechnical users in my family have also for almost 20 years. By in large it has worked just fine.
The big issue is Linux is not the OS that is supplied when people go to the store and buy something (well except for Android and Chromebooks which are Linux and are popular). It is also not the system or have the apps their friends use. It also does not have the huge supply, support, and word of mouth ecosystem. Buying hardware especially addons is confusing. Getting support is hard unless you have friends that use. Buying Linux preinstalled often costs more. Change too is hard and there has to be some driver and for most people there is not.

The vast majority of people have no experience installing an OS and likely never will.
The typical user uses whatever is preinstalled when the get the hardware.
My father-in-law wrecked his windows pc with malware over and over so I bought him a Wow PC https://www.mywowcomputer.com/ and he loves it. I don't think he has any idea its running linux.
- How do updates work with WOW computers? Or does the software just never get updated? Or do you just update the computer for him every now and then? What distro is this using underneath?
  
  The updates are automatic. They seem to have rolled their own desktop environment. Not sure which distro. The main selling point was that I don't need to maintain it for him. I am registered as his "tech buddy" so they contact me if something needs to be done hands on. In 3 years no issues/calls so far.
  
  Yeah, I was just thinking this needs a lot more upfront info. I mean, kudos for the site that harkens back to the 90's infomercial era and keeping it comfortable for those generations, but a page with some specs and actual info would go nicely with that.
  
  From the website landing page :
  New programs and updates are provided automatically for the life of your WOW! Computer.
  From https://www.mywowcomputer.com/open-source/
  Distro is based on tiny core
  The source files can be found by following 3 links deep to https://www.telikin.com/source/ doesn't look like they include their frontend though, which might be proprietary, idk.
  (you lazy bastard /j)
- Lol only $1300
- Honestly I think the bigger barrier is the BIOS. The button to get to the boot menu is different on every motherboard.
  
  My brother in Christ, do you think an average person knows what BIOS/boot menu are?

Didn't watch the video... but the premise "The biggest barrier for the new Linux user isn't the installer" is exactly why Microsoft is, sadly, dominating the end-user (not servers) market.
What Microsoft managed to do with OEMs is NOT to have an installer at all! People buy (or get, via their work) a computer and... use it. There is not installation step for the vast majority of people.
I'm not saying that's good, only that strategy wise, if the single metric is adoption rate, no installer is a winning strategy.
- I looked for a reasonable Linux laptop for my wife and either it was European (large shipping costs) or ridiculously marked up.
  She just went with a windows laptop 🤷‍♀️
  
  I bet the local Linux User Group would know. Seems too late for that purchase but worth checking for the next one.
- Most people who go out and buy a computer doesn't understand what an OS is. If Linux was standard when you bought a PC, it would be the dominating OS. I mean, you could switch the OS to Linux on the computers and I think most people wouldn't realise when they buy it lol
  
  Indeed, so my argument is that sure a "better" installer might change a small fraction of the marketshare, say 1%, but it's not enough to change significantly, say 10% or even reach parity.
  An interesting example is the Steam Deck coming with Linux installed. Sure there are few people who do (by choice) install Windows alongside Linux but AFAIK the vast majority do not. That's IMHO particularly interesting on a topic, gaming, where Windows has been traditionally the #1 reason people picked a specific OS.
  
  I think they would. I tried Linux again for the first time in 10+ years and kept running into issues like my sound would randomly die or change to headset, when I tried to update the video driver it hard- locked the system, etc. I just installed Ubuntu the other day and whenever it boots the monitor just goes into standby with no signal. It's been nothing but trouble, and I have pretty normal hardware. Most people aren't going to know or care how to deal with those problems. As far as Linux has come, it's still not ready for widespread adoption by most people on the 'it just works' front.
- Even then those who have to installers don't really have a good experience with distros of wide market share (narrowing to Linux distros only), especially with whatever fresh hell Calamares is. (It doesn't even support LVM or just installation with specified mounts points if you already set up your partition layout!)
  Seriously, I've had better experience with the installer Ubuntu Server uses.
  
  It does "support" LVM, but with a wacky/hacky workaround and that's a real shame !
  Also, there is some talking on github on how they will probably completely drop LVM in the near futur... That's not what someone should expect from a Linux installer!
- Linux definitively does dominate the end user market. You just mean the end user desktop/laptop market.
  I agree though that preinstallation is the biggest deal. The fact that people have to install Linux at all is the problem. The installer itself is already 100x better than the Windows one, but that's not enough.
  Not to mention it means manufacturers ensure all the hardware is compatible, drivers etc are installed and working, which is why windows users feel it works better.
  
  If you mean unrootable Googled Android then I don't consider that Linux. If you mean something else please clarify.

Or users could maybe learn how to do things without having their hands held and treated like babies every step of the way; or at least how to search for information to find what they need... 🤷🏻‍♂️
- Or, maybe yo will understand when you grow up that people are good at different things.
  Garuntee there's some pretty easy things for me to do that you would get left behind trying to do, and not just on PC
  Same for you. You know some things you'd blow me away doing.
  Just because you don't know what I know , and vice versa, doesn't mean people are dumb.
  Means they've learned different things.
  
  Nah, I get that we're all good at different things. But people should be good at doing basic research and troubleshooting.
  We use computers all the time. Many of us use cars all the time. And we know how to fuel them up, check and top-up oil, add wiper fluid, check coolant, etc. There's also the manual to refer to if we don't know.
  Same shit with PCs. But people aren't willing to put in the bare minimum effort to do shit, and companies take advantage of that to ruin it for everyone.
- search for information when Google intentionally lies to you and hides results to keep you on their site looking at ads longer …
  
  Adblockers will fix part of that. Using the "web" link on the results will make the search a lot better, too.
- A person can only specialize in a small number of things.
  I’m happy to learn about computers, but when it comes to, say, cars, I have no desire to learn. If I have a car problem, I don’t have the knowledge of how to even look up a problem.
  
  Can you put gas in your car? Do you know how to check your oil and add more? Can you put wiper fuild in? Do you know how to check coolant levels?
  Most importantly: do you know how to RTFM to do this stuff if needed?
  That would put you miles above the typical PC using idiot that we keep coddling by ruining things we use.
  
  In today world, you don't need to specialize in something to fix basic issues. Simple online search will help you with most basic issues You encounter which is probably 60-70% issues most people have with cars, computers or etc.
  I don't blame people that they can't recompile a kernel, applying a patch to fix some random issue. But I blame people that didn't want to spend 30s on searching how to fix their minor issue like for example checking execute permission for appimage, Search engines today even tell you how to do it in a small AI window on top of the page.
  Internet really helped people to gain a basic knowledge in a matter of seconds and yet they still don't want it
- They could. But you and I both know they won't because most people don't care about anything beyond 'make the magic box work so I can do my job / play my game / etc.'
  
  Because we keep feeding them stupid pills and encouraging them not to think. Microsoft was a pioneer of the whole "water down software and call it user-frienfly'" thing.

Yeah I love linux, but it's user experience , while light years ahead of what I used in the late nineties and early aughts, is still clunky compared to others.
That being said, honestly most of linux's issues are GUI related, when it comes to going mainstream. The capabilities and efficiency are far ahead of windows and mac os but most users don't care.
Directions, examples and mundane work should all be seamless for mainstream consumers.
A good rule of thumb is, " if a user has to look for it to fix it, or open a terminal window to install software, then it won't be accepted fully.
Mainstream users don't want to type commands in a prompt. Why does everyone think windows blew DOS out of the water in sales? It wasn't because DOS wasn't working. It was, hell early windows ( I started on 3.11 so that's my limit of knowledge ) still used DOS.
So bottom line. Start putting the non tech consumer first or we'll forever be stuck in this "almost mainstream" category forever.
- I don’t see them as mutually exclusive - can’t Linux be user friendly for the non-techie while also offering a techie lots of flexibility and command-line joy? 🤷‍♂️
  
  They can and should. But they don't. They really only cater to the techie, because that's who uses it
  Then they got pissed when their "marketing" efforts fall shorts.
  Stop acting like non Linux users are dumb. They aren't. they've used the time others spent learning other thing, while others spent their time on techie things . Their priorities were different. Or maybe their poor and don't care about that as they need a PC but have to work 80 hours to feed their family.
  But no. Instead of making life better through foss for those who need it, you're making Linux some unattainable nerd toy.
  We can tell ourselves we don't care. But we do. Or the thread wouldn't be here
- Idk mainstream users should learn to learn and empower themselves with knowledge.
  The enshitification of hardware and software by constantly catering to the dumbest of people is hurting everybody.
- This exactly.
  I enjoy the level of control I have on my Linux machine but I spend about 40% of my time in CLI.
  I recently had to troubleshoot a windows machine, and the lack of control was frustrating but every step for that problem was GUI-centric. Everyday people don’t want to remember commands so they can set up their browser and word processor. They want (to them) simple and straightforward.
  To us it’s a low bar, and most of us are from the generations that dreamt of a predominantly tech-literate society, but that’s not reality. We have to meet them where they are, and if they want to learn beyond that then we welcome them in.
  
  Super glad you understand my point. it honestly is the one thing holding us back I believe
- is still clunky compared to others.
  Wut?
- So bottom line. Start putting the non tech consumer first or we'll forever be stuck in this "almost mainstream" category forever.
  I'm okay with that.
  "Mainstream" users are getting stupider. Even Windows is to difficult for them. They want the Apple walled garden with a subscription plan for their devices and no permissions to do anything that a corporation doesn't want you to do.
  Fuck. That.
  
  So. We just encourage ignorance and security threats so we.. can.. be .. better than them? I don't think that's the healthiest outlook ...