Linux

If i couldn't use Linux at work, I would just quit.

I know it's beside your point, but I want to chime in...

My understanding of the history of fashion is that back in the 1950s America...they were trying to nudge culture into accepting their worldview.

On the contrary, I don't think that's how the mentality came about, or was held at that time at all. If you go back to the 1850s or 1750s, suits and dresses (or some older variant of them) were a sign of wealth, intelligence, high class living, etc. They had to be hand-tailored by experts using rare fabrics and dyes that had to be shipped all around the world. Then the industrial revolution came, and clothing was able to be mass produced (usually at the cost of quality). Suddenly the middle class had access to suits and dresses, but the perception that it was something for the wealthy was still there. For many businesses targeting the middle class, the suit and dress WERE the uniform, as a means of displaying how regal their brand is.

And it's not like we've gotten past this. If you go on any of the social media sites with ads, take a look at what you see: some knock-off piece of trendy clothing that's made to look like a high end fashion brand, but targeting the lower/middle class.

All that said, I'm all for the "punk rock" mentality. Don't do what your parents did just because society told them to tell you it was important. Stick it to the man, yadda yadda. But I think it's a trap to assume that the 1950s proletariat felt any differently than the same class of people do today.

As for windows v linux, of the people who are aware of both yet continue using windows, I think most would say that they use it specifically because they have a "preference for something that i can just set up and not have to tinker with" and because they also aren't making their choice based on "the trackers in win11 or because [they] care that Microsoft is an evil megacorp".

Windows doesn't let me have a desktop cube or have my windows burn up or be torn apart by claws when closed.

Sure, I also like the GNOME workflow and the open source ethics and repositories and the like, but my inner 12 year old likes the eye candy, too.

I don't understand why so many people are comfortable using the Office Job OS when they could be using something that suits them.

It comes preinstalled on most computers people buy. Tbh that is mostly the reason.

It's like if you bought a house and it came with a full closet of "good enough for you" suits and instead of going out and buying comfy clothes you just use the suits provided, especially because you know how to wear suits and haven't yet figured out how to wear hoodies which look "harder" (ok the analogy is falling apart but ykwim).

I get that Windows is kinda boring, but it's still like a thousand times more interesting and customizable than anything Apple makes. I find the whole Apple aesthetic to be painfully boring and restrictive. I get that it's more fashionable or whatever. I just hate it.