this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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And Linux isn't minimal effort. It's an operating system that demands more of you than does the commercial offerings from Microsoft and Apple. Thus, it serves as a dojo for understanding computers better. With a sensei who keeps demanding you figure problems out on your own in order to learn and level up.

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That's why I'd love to see more developers take another look at Linux. Such that they may develop better proficiency in the basic katas of the internet. Such that they aren't scared to connect a computer to the internet without the cover of a cloud.

Related: Omakub

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[–] yokonzo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Thank you! I'm a staunch believer that most of you don't think about how much prior knowledge you need just to be able to use Linux, let alone not break things.

[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 months ago

When we started, none of us had any prior knowledge and quite frankly, if it broke all the time none of us would have stuck with it. It's the same for people when they started with Windows or Mac OS

[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

At the same time I think most people don't think about how much prior knowledge you need to just be able to use Windows or Mac. And for someone without ANY prior knowledge all of them are the same.

Story time, my MiL is a zero when it gets to computer literacy, to the point that every week I had to solve something for her. Eventually I gave her a laptop with Linux in it to make it easier for me to do support, and to my surprise she had lots of problems the first months when setting things up and until learning the ropes, but afterwards there were almost no problems.

The thing is that people have a lot of Windows knowledge, so when they try Linux they expect it to be Windows and get frustrated when it's not.