When I saw the title of this I started cracking up. I've started watching your content heavily over the past week or two exactly because of the GNU/Linux hype LTT has been drumming up. I feel very targeted but in a "gate's open, come on in!" way lol. Thanks for all your content and guides!
Honestly, the Linux and open source community have been an entirely different experience. I'm used to devs, programmers, and fans being defensive about their things rather than helpful. I've been using solely Linux (other than mobile) for about 6 months and there are so many helpful people and resources out there. I'm not completely new to Linux, but I've taken the deep dive and am even considering getting a Linux phone.
@@anarchoN3rd let's be honest. Linux has it's tech gurus, people thinking they're better than anyone else. But for every person like that there's many more awesome folk looking to help others. Wanting to give others advice where possible, wanting to chat about different os's get what's good, cool about them even if they have their own fav
"A Gentle Introduction To Linux" one minute later: What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
@@BobDevV In my experience problems only come up as soon as you want to do something fancy. If your OS is just a bootloader for Chrome, you can as well save a few hundred MB of RAM, 17GB of disk space and the cash for a license and use Lubuntu.
Ha, jokes on you. I use alpine Linux which is based on BusyBox and doesn't use the GNU utilities by default. I also have an Android phone which is also Linux without GNU utilities.
@@BobDevV literally nobody is being purist about the name... Except Richard Stallmann maybe, but he's not going around correcting people either. Every Linux DE *does* have a consistent UX and hardware problems are a meme from 10 years ago
I think we should also tell new users of what possible difficulties that could be experienced by them. No matter how good we present Linux, if we don't mention problems, they'll potentially hates Linux because of that.
Agree, we can't just expect people to go full Linux without letting them understand which down side they will have upon going from Windows to Linux. If none of those distros fits their need, or worse, returns problems to them, they will soon eventually go back full Windows.
Like the fact that Linux doesn't treat a computer like a desk at all, and instead it treats a computer like a filing cabinet, which can be really jarring for Windows users.
@@toastybread_ch Linux, being UNIX, treats everything like a text file or a folder. Every action in Linux is done by moving, copying, creating, deleting, writing, reading, or executing these files and folders. Windows treats your computer like a desk, and programs are seen as tools. They are a separate thing which has its own file type, treated completely differently from all other files. Theoretically on Linux you could make any file executable (it's not a good idea but you could). Windows requires a lot of formatting to do it.
@Distrotube I enjoy most of your videos but i really think you missed the point Linus and Luke are trying to make with their video series. Let me put it this way. Your "noob gentle" explanation/introduction of Linux within the first 2 minutes of the video is like a "noob gentle" introduction of Windows by first explaining the 7 layers of the OSI model. 90% of new users just dont care. They care if it 1) does what they want and 2) works when they want it to.
Yeah I agree. This is for someone already in the know. For me a noob is someone like my mom, who doesn't even know she's running windows, let alone which version. She doesn't install another browser she just uses what I told her to click, she just opens office stuff, browse or watch Netflix. I've had people ask me to install windows for them and they meant office, that for me is a noob.
If anyone in that group should introduce Linux to the world it's Anthony. He knows and Loves Linux just like us. And well, he's my favorite of the group tbh.
when linus and luce make their videos anthony will be comenting on them to explain to the people watching what they are doing wrong and how it could be easier and stuff so im currious to how its going to go but i am waiting to watch everything and it will be helpfull as im switching to linux using manjaro
While you do have a lot of great information here, Linus's video is meant to show how the Linux experience is from the perspective of a Linux noob that wants to game on Linux. Since you are far more experienced, you are more biased to think that the experience isn't that bad. For instance, you act like you don't need to learn how to use the command line, but in reality, depending on what you want to do, or if you have to fix an issue, you will most likely have to use the command line. Making things worse is that there are a lot of differences in the commands depending on what distribution and apps you have installed and all the tutorials seem to expect that you already have familiarity with Linux.
Of course it's biased, the same way that LTT's video was biased towards Windows, because they were coming from that OS. And about the terminal, you'll maybe need to use it if you're gonna use non supported hardware or if you're trying to run a game that doesn't really do well with Proton, but other than that, you never "need" to use it. I know many people that have never touched a Terminal and have been using Linux for a long time. I myself used to not use it but now prefer to use it for convenience.
@@El_Batipapa It really depends on what you want to do with your computer. When I started using Linux, all my other computers were still running Windows. Therefore I needed smb sharing so I could pass files back and forth. To set up a persistent Samba share on Linux you will have to use the command line to create the smb.conf and password files. I would think this would be a common thing that people with multiple computers would want. A few other less common things that I needed to use the command line for was setting up WOL, VNC, enabling hibernation (on Mint), and modifying the swap file size. I'm not saying that using the command line is a bad thing, but for people who want to come over to Linux from Windows, it could be a turn off and make the learning curve that much harder for them. Linux really has come a long way in being more accessible, but it could still use a little work. I really want Linux to be more popular so more software and hardware developers will support it and because Microsoft keeps doing more and more anti-consumer and anti-competitive crap and I am sick of it.
to be fair i had issues in Windows that could only be resolved via command line or registry. i had a corrupted USB stick once that needed a command line. i had corrupted folder rights that were only fixable with a command line. and for certain customisations you need to go into registry.
@@Software-sb1gx Windows users have no idea you used to have to type 'win' into dos prompt to start Windows. If you learn windows you learn it's de, and nothing else makes sense, even the windows os. If you learn linux, every other operating system makes some amount of sense except windows. 😂
As a Linux newby I like Linus' take on introducing Linux to new users more than yours. Linus' and Luke's opinion sound more human and relatable. Don't get me wrong I love your videos in general and I have learned a lot from them. But Linus is experiencing a lot of what new users experience. Also with the "you can modify your entire system" and stuff, most people just want a functional desktop, they don't want to mess with system files and the such, is good to have the option and I myself enjoy messing with my system but we need to think on the average user. About privacy, not defending MS, what they do is not right, but is useless to say MS bad, Linux good. Educate people about privacy in general. Most people still have smartphones and social networks which are equally bad.
What most advanced linux users don't understand is what average users will be like. Most linux sale points are build around open source and customizability, but that's not what average user want. Average users wants easy, simple, working and functional solutions. Linux can't provide any of these in one package. Users don't want to tinker on their system just to get some stupid program to work. Users don't want to download hundreds of package to get operating system they want. That's why Windows still dominates. They offer one major operating system that has everything you need and more. Sure it has ton of crap in it but that will ensure everyone will find something for self. Sure Windows keeps user away from tinkering too much the OS but that's the price for keeping users destroying their OS (looking at you Pop!_OS and Steam). Sure some customization options are limited but that makes OS more simple to use and more consistent. Linux is way behind with the user experience.
I came to say exactly this. Their Pt1 that they published yesterday especially demonstrates the issues average Joe’s have. Also, I didn’t care for the Windows Vs Linux comparison on this video… it was very much biased and really left out UX.
@@JoeyDee86 the graphical package manager refused to install the Steam package, which had a dependency that was buggy. So it had to uninstall GUI to be able to install Steam. The bug was fixed the day after (when it happen, not day after the video was released). If Linus would have done what users would have done, gone to bed and tried the other day, Instead of going to the command line. When the command line package manager warned Linus that installing the Steam package will uninstall important packages, like the GUI. And a plain "Y" or "Yes" doesn't do to continue. You need to write the string "Yes, do what I say!", exactly. And Linus didn't read the warnings, he wrote the line without looking at the warnings. So yes, when users doesn't read the warnings, and continue despite some extra strange things to enter to continue, then the person will shoot themself in the foot. And rightly so.
"The one who switches back to Windows first is going to get a punishment" Oh no I hope the punishment is not having to use Windows 😱 please anything but that
Ok, first of all this is way way too heavy for someone who doesn't know anything about Linux. Second, Linus' videos aren't for first time Linux users. They're supposed to show what a first time user's experience would be like (and a relatively tech savvy person at that).
@@Remls At the very start where he talks about Linux kernels would lose most people. He spends a very long time trying to create an analogy that honestly doesn't even help about something that honestly is not very important. (Understanding what a Linux kernel is is only really important in rare or extreme cases.)
I just cant get over the sigma linux user proto mindset. Its insane. Im a tech person (not good enough for linux users probably tho) Im a power user, im the designated 'tech person' in my family and friends. Why would I ever use linux for minimal gains and maximum pain? If you enjoy it and its fun, thats for you, if you get satisfaction out of full control, thats fine for you. But to say linux is better for the average person is just no where near being true. ITs even hard to sell 'tech people' and power users on it. Plus, lots of niche level control is still possbile for window and mac users, the benefits are not real imo... all depends what you want to do.
@Carlos Yung I think its a hobby for most people, then they learn the basics enough where they forget how hard linux is for an average person to switch over too, then they can't relate to normal computer users needs. Haven't even thought about music production on linux, lol even getting audio drivers working on windows can be a headache let alone linux with 5 million different distributions.
Overall, I liked the video, but I want to note one thing, as it is a very common misconception that annoys me. Windows 10 does not require 60 gbs of storage space. I don't mean to be rude, but that is absurd, considering the average operating system takes under 10 gbs of space. Windows 10 only has that requirement when you install it virtually (there is no requirement when installing from a USB/Disc) and even then, it is only a suggestion. It is very easy to bypass that restriction, and is done quite often. The reasoning behind this has something to do with the intended usage of Windows 10. Windows 10 is not intended to be run in very "optimized" environments, like Linux. It's implied that if you're going to use Windows, you are going to *want* 60 gbs minimum (and most people would say more). As far as I've seen, in many thousands of installs, Windows only takes up about 8gbs on the low end, and 20 gbs on the high end (depending on versions, etc). While 20 gbs is a lot higher than average, being double in some cases, it is no where close to the 60 gb standard that is constantly brought up.
@@namesurname4666 thats even more absurd than the original claim. Updates are in megabytes, and overall wont affect the storage (same for any OS). Secondly, common software depends on the user, and applies to any operating system. You dont factor it in with others, dont factor it in with Windows. And last of all, where in gods name did you get “100-250gbs” from. That’s utterly ridiculous. Microsoft themselves only recommend 60gb, and some would say thats a lot. Your use case is not the average use case.
@@majorbuthemightplayvideogames when you have few storage it's a limited experience, on my laptop 250gb pagefile takes 10gb and the windows folder is 31g, the os will use more space for drivers, updates, temp files etc
@@namesurname4666 "250gb pagefile takes 10gb" makes no sense whatsoever, and is a great demonstration of the absurdity of your claim. Regardless, thats still based off your unusual usage, and is not a good or reasonable example of the whole. My point still stands.
It seems to me that vast majority of people are missing the point of Linus' challange. The point is to see how hard would it be for an avarage PC gamer to switch to linux. I think their videos and comments about the problems are spot on so far
I feel Linus is better suited to show us his experience with linux precisely because he is not familiar with it, with him we'll see what's it like to switch for us instead of just telling us how much better Linux is
Yes but whatever advice he gives as a " here's the lesson" often MIGHT not be accurate. This is why ANTHONY is far better suited to this introduction task. Anthony, like Wendell from Level1techs, knows his shit...yet CAN explain/translate things into a noob-friendly way that any Linux noob can easily digest and benefit from.
I actually converted a friend to linux because of the linus challenge, even though he is a heavy gamer. I never thought it would be ever possible, it's been a week and he is amazed at how good it is, and he already doesn't care about the things he can't do on Linux. He told me he couldn't see himself go back to windows. By the way i made him install manjaro kde, because even though he is a Linux noob, he is a windows power user so i thought it was the best non limiting distro for him
I haven't tried switching in a few years, but with Windows 11 on the horizon I'll be giving it another try. Gaming is 99% of my use case, and I had some compatibility issues back in Mint 10 even when trying multiple versions of WINE, trying to get a couple of my favorite games working properly. I've seen a lot of comments on YT and Reddit lately, saying gaming is extremely good now so I've got more hope lol
@@rayanmazouz9542 The only things I play much are rocket league (which back in the day had some kind of micro-stutter that I spent dozens of hours trying to fix), FFXIV, and a bunch of survival & crafting games like Minecraft & space engineers. Everything ran pretty well, except RL and MechWarrior Online (which had some video driver support problems), which are my two most played games so it was a fail in my particular case.
@@tkeleth2931 as long as your gale doesn't use a heavy anti-cheat software or is an app from the windows store, it will probably run fine nowadays (don't use the Linux native build for rl, proton will give you a better experience)
@@tkeleth2931 rocket league works great and i think the final fantasy mmo has a gold or platinum rating on protondb, so that should be fine. I will say from the comments on protondb, debian based distros seem to have to do more workarounds with games than arch ones. not sure why that is.
imo it would be better to describe the distros like Mint, Manjaro, Pop, Debian, etc as part of the family of operating systems called "Linux". To me the concept of a "family" makes more sense to explain to new users, since the operating systems have a common linage with Linux as a kernel.
@@monkev1199 not quite. All Linux-based systems are members of the UNIX family, which is what most programs are written for. But some programs, like gnome-shell, specifically use the features of Linux, like some technical systems other UNIX kernels don't have. So it's really just that you're running a big kind of OS called UNIX, and everything else depends on what programs you have installed.
@@charliekahn4205 that isn't a meaning full family to distinguish, mac os is also a member if unix family but mac programs ain't gonna run on linux ;) that said there's no reason why the linux family cannot be a part of the unix family, just as the debian family is a part of the linux family xD. that's not considering that debian is actually pretty kernel-agnostic, it is very possible for debian to adopt the ziron kernel ;)
I moved to Linux Mint when my old system was bogged down by the anitvirus softwares. I have since moved to a much capable hardware, but I have stuck to Linux Mint cause of its simplicity and robustness. In the last two years, I don't remember ever having a system wide crash. I like the way, it just would not interfere with your work. That being said, one of the issues with linux is its compatibility with the latest peripherals. This is not an issue with OS, but the manufactures simply do not want to produce drivers for linux.
@D Reaper Printers are notorious for not working in linux, even if they are old/refurbished. Like for example: Canon Printers. They are usually good only for paperweight. We can get some idea about compatibility from sites like openprinting. However, even that is not guaranteed. I bought an Epson Ink Tank after checking for compatibility, but after purchasing, I realised that it has only partial compatibility. But, thanks to wifi printing, these troubles may soon be a thing of the past.
@D Reaper so just because Linux is horrible in supporting newer hardware people should not it buy? After 6 years of Linux Mint I went back to Windows. I am just done with bs and broken software. At least with Windows I know that when i plug anything into my PC it will work 90% of the time out the box and for the rest 10% only few clicks are needed.
I think people will appreciate watching other "noobs" start from 0 and learn to love Linux Linux wizards know their way around so well that things will go over the head of the average user Videos by experts and videos by entry level people are both important, I think
Oh, one of the most important things that you forgot to mention: *no forced updates.* Edit: thanks Andrey, you're right! Not only doesn't it force updates, but when you do decide to update your system, you can still continue to do whatever you were doing while it's updating in the background, and when it's finished, *you don't need to restart your computer.* (except for kernel updates, indeed.)
Ugh, forced updates was one of the worst thing about Windows. I had essentially abandoned desktops entirely for the last 10 years or so, and that was a big factor. Now I use my computer every day.
Personally I think it's useful to always make a separate partition for the /home folder, because when you start distro hopping you just keep the same partition with your files, settings, etc....
It also makes it less likely your system will become unbootable. If /home won't mount properly, it can be repaired without booting from an external drive.
Yeah and when it comes time for system restoration...enjoy your insanity. You're better off keeping important stuff on separate storage drive just in case you need to do a clean install of that same distro or a newer version of it.
@@motoryzen True this is actually what I meant. I have always kept my /home on a separate drive. Except in computers, like my laptop, where I made a /home partition.
What exactly is the deal with /home since I use a linux vm for uni work and some stuff seems to only work if I have the project folders in /home, though that leads to the issue of not knowing what are folders for one assignment and the actual stuff that should be left in /home
When people ask me about Linux, I just ask what programs they use. 99% of the time they don't need Windows at all. These days we don't even use desktop version of office, we all use the web api versions of everything where I work.
I started my own linux challenge when LTT started talking about it. There were definitely a few hiccups at first, but I'm loving it. Gave my aging gaming rig a new lease on life. Was on PopOs at first, but now i use arch btw.
My 5 (almost 6) years old PC runs Windows 10 perfectly well, apps open in seconds, menus open immediately, games run smooth. Boot could be a few seconds quicker, but it's still far from an issue.
6 years old is okay for Windows 10. I had a c2d from 2008, not as friendly with Windows 10 in the user experience side of things. Even with a 512 GB SATA TLC SSD as the boot drive, I found Win 10 slower than using Linux Mint on a 2008 era AMD 64 x2 5000+ (Brisbane). Been using Linux Mint for over 8 years, and I consider myself a normal user, not a guru level. 6 years old, would put your around Intel Skylake era or newer. Which is perfectly fine for Win 10. Dual cores, not as friendly on win 10, windows 7 is better for older dual cores (no multi-threads). Linux still faster I find on dual cores/tri cores/quad cores.
yea he was exaggerating a lot, stopped watching when he claimed windows 10 takes up 80 GB of disk space LOL my win 10 / 11 folder is 20 GB, and was never larger than 30 GB (after like 4 years of no fresh install). linux can be great by itself, so why resort to blatant lies to make it seem better than it is
@@Phondrason well depends, if he was factoring in page file size..since that is reserved as well for windows operations swapping stuff out of system ram. Page files can be large..3x the size of physical installed RAM, that is IF Windows itself is managing. I usually set my page file as fixed based on 2x Physical installed RAM. I don't put the Page file on the SSD tho. I place it on a separate spinning 7200rpm hdd.
I'm running Win10 on my Thinkpad T61 and it's doing an adequate job. Modern websites like RU-vid kill performance but that's to be expected from a 13-year-old laptop with an Intel IGP and 4GB of memory. Linux didn't improve performance, contrary to what many people have told me. I have tried Mint, Manjaro, Arch and some Ubuntu fork but returned to Windows because there was no point in switching for me. I can not share Marc's sentiment.
@@rippspeck Okay, there is something I didn't quite clarify I suppose in my earlier comment. Which is that needing to choose a low resource use Linux for older hardware. You have a Thinkpad T61 which is roughly from 2007. Not that different from my X200 thinkpad. I had to use Linux Mint XFCE release to get the best performance out of my X200. Still running on a spinning 2.5" WD black hdd. The XFCE desktop UI is much lighter than the Main Linux Mint Cinnamon desktop UI. I also made a test of the Cinnamon desktop version on my X200, it was slow for my tastes. I can't speak towards Manjaro, Arch or really Ubuntu. I avoided Ubuntu after they went with the Gnome 3.0 desktop. Not all Linux OS is made the same. Some are intended for strong powerful desktops & laptops. Such as Linux Mint Cinnamon, Pop_OS, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, KDE Neon. However, other Linux OS are meant for older less powerful hardware. Linux Mint XFCE, Puppy Linux, Bodhi Linux, Lubuntu, Tiny Core to name a small handful. I use Mint XFCE, Puppy & Bodhi. I've also used Vector Linux, Mangaka Chu & Commodore OS. Not a complete fan of Bodhi to be honest, not liking the Desktop environment that is with it. Tho it did breathe life back into a R51 Thinkpad. I did a few months of research and trying out Live CDs/DVDs of Linux. Before settling with Linux Mint Cinnamon/XFCE. I use Mint Cinnamon 19.3 on my main daily driver. It is a Xeon e5-2650 v2 (8c/16t CPU) 16GB ddr3-1333 ECC. All my other dual-core rigs are running Mint XFCE.19.3. On my limited hardware selection that I have to do Linux trials, dual core/tri-core/quad core with no multi threads are better with lighter Linux Distros and not heavier ones. Once you have the multi threads, be it in Intel camp or AMD camp, user experience will be much improved. Also, big improvement from 4GB of DDR2-800 to the DDR3-1333 16GB ECC in quad channel that I went to from my old Linux Mint daily driver to the Xeon build. Not enough information on the version of Linux you used, but I would say you likely used the full modern desktop release of your mentioned versions of LInux. Not the light weight variant. I would say, give Linux another shot. However, in the case of your T61. If it can take a 2.5" SSD that would be a good suggestion. It will improve the user experience of your T61. I have a 512GB 7200rpm 2.5" WD Black in my X200 and Mint 19.3 XFCE runs just fine. Boots to the login in screen in under 20sec.
I feel like many members of the linux community miss the point of the ltt challenge. Primarily ltt wanted to test and see how "easily" an average user is able to get it up an running and simply use it for every day tasks. (Like gaming) All the positives of linux are great and all but are not directed at the average user. An average user does not care or want to edit code. Does not want to change his desktop environment, does not want to use a terminal etc. Etc. So unfortunately watching your video kinda made me think even more so that Linux is not suited for the average user.
The punishment should have been an LFS walkthrough tutorial, but as someone pointed out to me earlier that probably would have meant more work for Anthony.
2012 - 2014 was a weird time for Windows users. On most hardware available, you could legit install and perfectly use, with all functionality enabled, Windows XP, Vista, W7 and W8.1, interchangeably. For laptops, it was more Vista to W8.1, but still.
LoL! Vista ? Perfectly usable? That's damn funny right there! I watched Vista make itself unbootable too many times trying to install SP1. My Sony laptop, I just pulled out the original drive, dropped in a fresh drive and installed Linux, never had a problem with it after that.
@@raresmacovei8382 really? I never had a computer that could upgrade to Vista SP1 without eating it's OS. My experience with Vista was that it was MUCH easier to infect than XP Pro SP3. One brand new laptop, I made the recovery discs, installed all the updates, defragmented the drive, rebooted and asked Windows to resize the partition, and that was the last time Vista ever booted on that laptop. Put Ubuntu on it, and never had another problem with it, it was my troubleshooting and development computer for years.
Linus actually stated they were not doing the challenge from the view point of professionals, but what one would encounter as a normal person trying to use it who has little to no experience in using it. And what it is like to do so. They have purposely not asked those who know Linux to help them. Such as people like Anthony or L1. And when they ask for help online, as far as I know they have done without people knowing who they are. By doing things way, it highlights the good and the bad. But also what needs to be looked at for new users that are not tech nerds. It is something that needs to be done. Unfortunately like so many tech fields sometimes those in it forget those starting at the bottom have no clue. Heck till about 3 years or so ago, most of the stuff I could find for Linux, made me feel like a 1st grader trying to understand 3rd grad problems. Totally out of my reach. And most people will be on a Kindergarden level if not lower when it comes to understanding of things. But thankfully most instructions have become a darn darn side easier to understand in the last few years. Even now I don't fully grasp things and have to trust whatever the advice is to follow it and hope it works. By the way I am enjoying your videos for us newbies about Linux. Though not much of a newbie I guess anymore (2 years) I haven't gotten much passed getting my every day things I use up and running. Only resently decided to get back into doing some gaming. But like most users of a computer I'm not into the tinkering side of things. So till I run into an issue, if it works I just leave it alone. But it took a long time to get the basics going to my satisfaction. Then again, it was a case of poke at it and hope I don't break something or I wanted something that wasn't in a repository or other factors most don't have to deal with. I too am on Linux Mint Cinnamon edition. I've yet to crash it, dispite my mess ups :-) Pop I managed to crash within a week, Lol. But then again, I'm the kind of person you give things to electronic wise to see if it will break or not, Lol. Things like computers seem to have issues with me. Been forced to use 10 was what pushed me over the edge and went Linux. Big learning curve but worth it :-)
many people on Linux community simply forget that most people aren't developer and the reason why Linux never become mainstream choice is simply because there isn't any Linux distro that try to replicate how Windows are Mainstream User oriented. Sure distro like Pop is trying to do this, but that's ain't enough, the moment when u can accidentally delete your Desktop Environment without Highlighted GUI warning and just bunch of command line Text, is just how bad the UX is on Linux.
First time I tried linux some months ago, and although I distro hopped a few times, but never looked back at windows 🤣. I had few issues at first few days, but just reading the manual or searching on net did the trick.
@@joanapaulasoliveira Cool. A couple of things for you. 1. Forget about the Terminal (for now). 2. Update everything after installation. 3. Search for "10/12 things to do after installing Linux Mint" on you tube. This is a good one, but extremely thorough. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E3q9S0FkvcA.html 4. Have fun ;-)
" If You don't like some parts of the operating system, You can replace them with something You like" This is unfortunately not fully true. In theory Yes, Your can replace almost every tiny piece of Linux OS. In practice that's a BIG Noo , because it's too intuitive, difficult, painful, and for unexpierenced user trying to switch to Linux, pretty much mission Impossible. Regular PC users have to stick with whatever they Distribution have, and support.
@BoulderBro999 why? Not really, I got package dependency conflict that took me 6 hours to fix. This is one of many reasons why I am still keeping a copy of Windows in my harddrive. And then my mom is angry at me for 2 hours straight, saying "So much for freedom". EDIT : Linux is ready if you only need to touch the CLI 6 years after you installed Linux. Why ? Because that is the amount of time I spend time on Windows without CLI. From 2010 - 2016, eventually I have to touch it because there is a trojan infection.
@@anokiyoussou 6 hours of your time.that should work out of the box. but really i think fedora gets close to that experience especially for 3d artists because it has native 3d maya packages (wich arch doesnt have and good luck setting up that ruby path to convert your rpm packages to pacman packages) with a little config you can run zbrush natively.and yes almost forgot about blender(that will run way faster on linux).substance 3d painter(can be force launched through proton),and i didnt test marmoset toolbag mb i will test it later. roadblock i ecountered is adding kitty terminal to my shell list so i can switch to it and use ranger without hassle cuz w3m,uberzug(x11 btw) does not work my conclusion for the distro choice will be fedora,i only need to make a script that i will call OCC(One Command Config) that includes a shit ton of fixes and generally configures fedora for your daily driver use *in one SINGLE command* ,fixes i can tell that this script will include will be: fixing your middle mouse scroll wheel,install your tablet drivers/configures it,adding windows shorcuts for your file manager,task manager or you will use ranger instead, and etc.
@BoulderBro999 why? yeah, the problem is that normies users are lazy (Don't want to learn), but they are your only way ticket to dominate the desktop market. Some normies like my former school teacher thinks that unplugging the usb while running a file transaction from the usb to a harddrive is ok. Not only that, my current language teacher literally doesnt know how to screen share using zoom, etc. There are a lot of cases that are worse than the ones I just explained. I love CLI now though. I riced my CLI with zsh and spaceship prompt theme. I switched to manjaro, I got some problems like audio issues when using obs studio, zoom issues when using i3wm, etc. But I really enjoy the process at solving the problem. Also, developer tools like npm, node, etc are available, nice! So yeah, my experience on using Linux is far smoother. Linux is not ready for normies, but for techy users, it is ready.
I moved to Linux (Debian) when i got the windows 11 news, and how they demand certain hardware. Of course i was already pissed about how they(Microsoft) treat their users in general, so...i have been on Debian + openbox for half a year, and i couldn't be happier! Linux Rules! I will never go back to windows. No antivirus needed, just a simple firewall (ufw). I can set things up how i like it. I am in control now, as it should be! Sure, things may be a tad more "complicated" with certain things, but as you Americans say: "Freedom isn't free". Great video for newcomers. Have a good one folks!
Appreciate the introduction. I’m completely new to Linux with hopes of eventually switching over entirely. Am not a gamer or especially tech savvy just your average computer user but really excited about discovering and learning my way around some Linux offerings. I’ve narrowed down my choice of distros to two and purchased a refurbished Dell Latitude laptop to dual boot with Windows and then either Mint or KDE Plasma 5 but intend to use an old Lenovo laptop to install Lubuntu onto as it has low hardware requirements. Thanks again and love your channel.
The issue with having so many distros is that comment about not needing command line is redundant. And Linux vets need to stop it with the "you don't need it" Imagine you've never used Linux before, you need to download a specific software, you don't know how to, you Google it, you see wget bla bla bla, dpkg bla bla bla, apt-get install. Imagine how frustrating that is, because you were under the impression you didn't need it. You most certainly need command line. It is the only constant. Even then for a new user they won't understand why that pacman command isn't working on their Debian distro. Because they don't know what pacman even is, because they were told they didn't need to know. Just be honest and stop pretending it's easy. It's not. Windows is easy, Mac is easier. No one in the history of using windows has ever needed to know what the kernel is and a lot of Mac users think Unix is Linux because they have never needed to know the difference.
I think the goal of Linus' video is not to showcase Linux to new users, they have Anthony for that. They are trying to use Linux without any help from their coworkers to simulate the experience that a truly newcomer would have. They are trying to setup their environments on their own, figuring out how to make X thing work, learning some concepts from the ground up like, what is a desktop environment, and how do I change it, and all that stuff. I remember when I was getting started with Ubuntu, I thought Ubuntu == Gnome, I didn't know if I had to install any drivers, etc (things I was used to do in Windows). I think that's the case for most people. For those who have been using windows for 20 years, just for gaming and document and wanna try Linux, probably explaining that Linux is a kernel, not an operating system right away, might be intimidating. I think their mindset it's just, "I wanna try a new OS", but the first thing they hear is "this is not an os". Still an awesome video, I would have loved this when I was staring to understand what Linux is all about, 3 or 4 weeks in.
agreed, this video too advanced for fresh users. additionally linux has become synonymous with the family of operating systems based on the Linux kernel; the Linux family of operating systems, aka linux :p when people want to talk about the Linux kernel, they call it "the linux kernel" xD
The big problem with them, particularly Linus, in this challenge is that they *aren't* normal users. Linus in particular has tons of custom stuff, including some extremely new functionality, that took him and Jake hours and hours to set up properly in Windows (there are at least 5 videos dedicated to them setting that stuff up) - yet he seems to expect those things to be dead simple to configure to the point where he grumbles about having to read a wiki page. The average user, even the average gamer these days, isn't going to encounter the issues he has because they are going to have far more run of the mill setups than Linus has.
@@masaufuku1735 part of that may also be part of his online persona lol. the dude is a joker sometimes heh. that said, linus portrays the perspective of a fresh user, albeit a technical one, completely ignorant of how linux works (he reportably refused community help because "that's not what an average user would experience"). yes he's an hyperbole but he still highlights the issues with linux as a platform family quite well :3
DT: "Linux is also free, as in freedom, meaning it respects you, the user" Canonical: "We're forcing Snap Packages down the throats of Ubuntu users whether they like it or not!" (i.e. Firefox as a Snap) *Hey, DT, Devuan got a new release based on Debian 11 (Devuan Chimaera), will you make a review on it?*
LOL if it were up to the Gnome folks they would force flatpaks down everyone's throats. It's just that everyone wants their method of packaging to succeed. Btw Appimages > flatpaks > Snaps
This video is a very good example right out of the gate as to why a seasoned Linux veteran is NOT who should be introducing Linux. You are not at all in touch with what the average user is going to be interested in or understand. The best person would be a very casual user who barely knows how to do anything. If a basic user can understand and use an operating system that means it's user friendly and viable.
@D Reaper they were probably shown how to use it by someone who understands basic users. For the most part all a user will interact with on a computer is the web browser and a few specific apps. and if you teach someone to use linux by showing them just that then they'll do fine. This guy literally opens up with trying to explain the kernal and some fairly advanced concepts along with different ethical reasons to use linux. I'm not saying linux is hard to use. What i'm saying is that power users suck at explaining how to use it.
@D Reaper for most people their experience with linux will be very similar to their experience with mac os and windows. the trick is just getting them to try it. Start telling grandma about the kernal and all the different distros and you'll lose her pretty fast
I second lubuntu! I have a 10+ year old laptop that struggled a lot with Windows 7 back in the day. It sat unused for a few years but when I decided to put lubuntu on it, I was surprised just how well it still runs! I can now use it as a side machine when I need it and I don't have to be annoyed because everything I use it for opens in seconds.
There's some Linux flavor that will run on damn near any antique computer. My old 32 bit IDE box is running Debian Bullseye. I'm thinking of building Alpine on it. I tried doing an Arch 32 build in virtual but all the key signatures bounce when I try to install the base. With 32 bit your choices are more limited tho as many of the mainline distros dropped support for it. Nobody is developing for that architecture anymore.
Thank you for the video Derek. Also Mint does update software like Libre Office as updates come out. Cinnamon tools usually do not update until the next release, about 6 months per update for those.
This is a great educational video, but honestly, I don't think many people care about all of this detail. They want to know, how well their games are going to play on Linux and how the software they are familiar with will work on Linux.
I think this would be true if he was running it on a standard laptop, but with all of the custom stuff he's doing on his system and network (stuff that he and Jake spent like 5 videos setting up in Windows) he's going to run into a ton of problems that an average user never would.
I think the main thing many Linus viewers want to know about Linux is how well it would work for them to play various games (probably in Steam Proton), and which distros are best for that.
Don't forget to mention community, the Linux community is one of the main reasons I went from a Linux experimenter to a full time Linux user. Awesome people more than happy to help.
Honestly, there are actually a couple of significant hurdles. Installing a Linux distro is easy, well, it might be. Here's why i say that; Setting: I'm a Joe Schmoe Windows user who has somehow found my way into trying out "The Linux", and i've managed to follow a guide on how to prepare a USB stick for installing the distro. Hurdle number one: I stick the USB stick in a USB hole and reboot my computer. My computer proceeds to boot into Windows like always. Huh. That's disappointing. Guess i'm using Windows. The problem: The computer isn't set up in the BIOS or UEFI menu to boot from USB, or it's set to boot from SATA or NVME before USB, OR it might just be that the particular USB port i stuck the USB stick in isn't bootable or configured to be bootable. Result: I'm more of a Windows user now than i was before, because installing T3h L1nuXX didn't work. Hurdle number two: I stick the USB stick in a USB hole, restart the system and it boots into the installer on the USB stick, SUCCESS! I choose language settings etc and then i get to the part where i have to tell the installer where to stick teh linux. The default setting is wiping EVERYTHING off my computer and replacing it with teh Linux goodness, but i'm not that commited so i choose the advanced option of actually deciding where to put the dang thing. Enter the partitioning screen with the weird terminology, the different file systems, the HDA dev shoobidiwoop this, the EXT4, NTFS, FAT32 that, the ZFS, the encryption, the layout, in short ALL THE THINGS that make exactly ZERO sense to me, Joe Schmoe. The problem: Hardware enumeration and terminology is worse than greek or latin to Joe Schmoe, best case scenario is Joe simply removing the USB stick and performing some sort of ceremonial burial ritual for it or something. WORST case scenario; Joe slowly backs out of the advanced partitioning screen and goes with the default option of wiping the slate clean and installing where the installer wants to. Result: BEST case, Joe is again MORE of a Windows user than he ever was and that's that. Worst case, Joe has nuked exactly ALL of his data, including every single important document he's ever had be it private or work related. ALL OF IT. Bye bye every single photograph of Joe junior, Joe's parents, that precious picture of Fido as a puppy snuggled up with Joe junior in the crib, taken when Fido had snuck into Joe juniors room and somehow climbed in with him and then Fido died getting ran over protecting Joe junior who ran out in front of a car in the street... Etc. You see, Joe Schmoe doesn't back up his data. No, every single piece of personal data is now gone. Deleted. See the problem? Yes, everyone should back up their data. No, not everyone does.
I decided I was going to look into switching to linux about a week before I saw anything about the linus challenge and I am getting constantly more curious about things. It has been really fun so far. This is a really good video!
I have had nothing but headache with Linux. It's not about 'experience'. Last time I Installed Manjaro, it broke my partition table. Before you assume I formatted my Hard-Drive, I didn't; the partition was not replaced, but there was an error about the kernel and the partition table on every reboot. Windows never broke my partition table. That was not the first time I tried Linux; the experience always felt unpolished. As for your reasons why Linux is better, storage isn't a problem if you have had a job in the last five years. You are usually the product when the product is free. As for privacy, well, you assume you're too important that Microsoft will really want your data. If Microsoft had a keylogger, I am sure geniuses around the world would have proved that. Software don't take 30 seconds to open because you are on Windows and not on Linux; they do because you are opening them off a mechanical drive. I'll try Linux again, however, that will unlikely happen without its own HDD. I don't trust Linux not to break something that Windows never broke, and expect me to fix it myself Instead of doing what matters.
Another point is that the distributor of Windows (HP, Lenovo, etc.) is always putting bloatware impossible to erase in Windows machines, this is a second automatic update system that comes with a lot of tools that never work smoothly and they add up. Don try to uninstall them, because they somehow appear again. Also Windows launches with a lot of trial software, depending on the distributor, so, after a month or three, your free trial of Office expires, your Antivirus expires, your media suite expires, and the notifications to update or buy the full product start and never end.
When ever I get a laptop with preinstalled Windows, I usually wipe the machine and install clean windows 10. No more bloatware. Sure they shouldn't have bloat in the first place but that's what OEM want to do. And if OEM's starts selling laptops with preinstalled linux, I'd be damn sure they would be filled with bloatware too.
I'm sorry, I'm a Linux power user and even I have to say that there is a lot of fanatism in what you are saying. "Windows is using you, you are the product"... Seriously? You talk like windows is this urban horror story that you have heard from your buddies in a bar. Both operating systems have their use cases. I would never try to switch over my programming to windows, but I also wouldn't switch over my recreational computer usage to Linux. No matter what the internet says, Linux does have a certain learning curve. I know that if you never worked with windows or Linux, then windows has one, too, but most people are used to windows. The number of people in their community they can ask if something is wrong is much larger with windows, and yes, windows does require less maintenance nowadays. And if people decide to pay for that, that's a fair decision. Just as it is a fair decision to say, let's use something I can fix myself. Different use cases, different people. What I would NEVER say is that Linux is better in every way and that there is no reason why anyone should use windows. Because that's simply not true.
I just realized that, Windows, despite being a proprietary and paid OS, doesn't really have a central application store and you're always side-loading the "apps" you want. Linux on the other hand, is free and gives users freedom, but nearly every distro has their own repository of software. How ironic.
I installed Linux Mint on our 10-year old laptop recently, and I don’t regret it. It makes the laptop much more useful and fast, and I was able to still dual-boot Windows.
I think to migrate from windows to linux, the best one in my opnion is Zorin os. They have a more confortable appearence and simple functions like mint, but waaay more beautiful and smooth
AWESOME VIDEO ! I've been planning to switch to Linux for quite some time now and your video is very helpful and convincing. I'm planning to go full installation of Linux Mint 20.2 to a new 1 terabyte storage drive anytime soon. I have just a few questions: 1) How can I install my device drivers like my motherboard's drivers in Linux? Or is that even necessary when using Linux? 2) If I will connect my old storage drive containing my Windows OS after the Linux installation, will there be any conflict especially in the file manager and booting up? I would like to be able to use all of my files that I have from Windows in old hard drive to Linux Mint in the new storage. That's all. Again thanks a lot for your awesome videos.
Did you ever get answers to these questions? 1) On Mint the drivers should be automatically detected and installed. If not, there's plenty of helpful people on the Linux Mint forums willing to help. 2) Shouldn't be any problem, I'm using Mint and able to dual-boot with Windows and access files from both systems. I can access my pictures, videos, documents, and even my Steam games.
@@christopherlee7334 Thanks for asking! That question is more than 2 years old and I have been using Linux Mint for more than a year and a half now and I never had any problem regarding those topics. All drivers loaded properly and completely. File transfer is also a breeze. I love Linux distros with all of it's awesome free apps and the Office suites are fully compatible with Microsoft's online office apps that you have to subscribe to continuously and won't function if you stop paying🤣🤣 Linux is my daily driver and it had exceeded my expectations and I have no plan to go back to Windows in a foreseeable future.
I've actually been using Linux Mint since version 5.0. I haven't used each release, I've mainly been on the LTS versions. Currently using 19.3 Cinnamon 64bit on my main Linux daily driver which is a Xeon e5-2650 v2 with 16GB ddr3-1333 ECC. I've also got Mint 19.3 XFCE running on 3 other older dual core machines. One of those 3 is my thinkpad x200 which is my work laptop, another is a media streaming/htpc.
Linux Mint should make LMDE the flagship edition… It doesn’t come with all the Ubuntu bloat and uses mainline Debian as it’s base. (Even though, it currently runs oldstable)…
@@MichaelJHathaway I always tend to underestimate the technical illiteracy of some people, but I don’t see a relevant difference in the user friendliness between any of the „just works“-distros. Yes, Gnome might be jarring for a Windows only person, but LXDE, XFCE, Mate, Cinnamon and KDE all follow the same operational principles as the Windows Desktop.
Important to point out that the series is meant for people with as much experience with Linux as either of them, but I guess mostly Linus. While there are things Linux veterans can explain better, you can't control the problems newcomers might run into. In comes Linus with "I used Linux as my daily drive so you don't have to." Heck, I'm even less experienced with Linux than Linus is, so I appreciate that they're showcasing what can very likely happen to me. I didn't break Pop right off the gate, but to say my experience with it was smooth would be a stretch. Now I'm using Manjaro and already looking into something else. My friend speaks highly of Solus and the rolling release is one of the things that attracted me to Manjaro, but he also said Mint might be good for me if I don't like Solus. Finding what distro is right for you is a journey. The information provided by veterans is valuable, but don't take what they say to heart. Look for a distro that's right for you, not the one veterans recommend the most. Just my two cents after a few weeks with Linux.
Honestly when something breaks on you, terminal (CLI) usually is your BEST friend, even on Linux Mint. Because for some actual internal settings (and lots of them!) there is no GUI!
@D Reaper for instance with gtx1660super and many newer nvidia cards there's that weird bug when nouveau driver is loaded instead of nvidia - randomly. The only solution is to edit xorg and/or blacklist nouveau driver. And it's super easy with CLI, finnicky when moving from folder to folder and giving yourself root privileges every single time when opening a locked Linux filesystem folder. Also it involves modifying grub entries which REQUIRES terminal - there's no way around it.
I have completet my (they call it the pws profiel werk stuck in the Netherlands) pretend collage assay that we have to do in middel school here on exactly this topic with the translated title of "the What, How and why of switching to Linux", so this is some coincidens for me. I have a somewhat diffrent structure but covered most of the same topics :) so I think I did a good job.
A great video to explain things to new users. There are to many distributions. I know a lot off the good ones I used to use were stopped for one reason or another. Some because the person went to school and others did not pick it up. Others like Mandrake that were stopped but now you have two different distributions that have taken up where that left off. I am glad we have many desktop's though as some go and do there own thing we have others we can try out. I just wish we had less and only those that wanted to go a different direction would create one but I guess it is better to have to many as people have options that they do not have with Windows or Mac.
Fantastic overview and distro recommendations for new users. You hit all the key points. I feel we all have a responsibility to help new users given the somewhat overwhelming choices in numerous distros, customizations, and FOSS software. I couldn't agree more, a new user is going to feel welcome, right at home, and enjoying the experience!
I mean technically you have options for gui enhancement on linux. To my knowlege there is only one shell replacement that really works, and that's Cairo, updated for Windows 10. It might have Windows 11 support, but it's a slightly clunky experience that takes some getting used to. And it doesn't match modern day design standards. But other than that, you are right. There isn't a real desktop replacement suite for windows. Not like the desktop replacements that we had for windows 7 and earlier.
man you really did a good job on this video those are 3 great recommendations, although I know people associate lubuntu for older systems it really does just work great as a more lightweight distro no matter what you have. thanks for the content dude
Hey DT! U are awesome! Please keep on doing this great job, your efforts are highly appriciated!
2 года назад
you forget to explain how to initialize from usb stick, and sometimes windows block this, and how to modify this on the bios. alot of people doesn't know how to do it.
The fact that this is necessary to make a video such as this proves that Linux is always off from being friendly to existing PC users let alone novices in computers as a whole. You can tell me I'm wrong by saying "no it's just as easy let me show you" well you got to let the user do it by himself the only person who's likely going to be convinced to use Linux is himself and if the newly-introduced user is not disgusted or confused but if not convinced then you just lost a new user. It's already an uphill battle even though lennox's gaining support a lot of popular programs are still incompatible and unsupported. Without using a wine compatibility layer which is not exactly easy to install even with RU-vid tutorial guidance.
4:24 I'm running Linux Debian 12.1 with Cinnamon DE on a machine with an Asus P5QC motherboard, which first came out in September 2004, which I bought second-hand on eBay. The CPU is a modified Intel Xeon X5460 which came out in late 2007, which I also bought second-hand on eBay UK for £2.00 or $2.45. It runs really well, I highly recommend the Cinnamon desktop environment to anyone thinking of moving to Linux from Windows.
There is no way in hell that he will get his sound to work... so far for compatibility and ease of use out of the box. These guys do not exactly have typical hardware configurations...
Dude, you're not getting it. Linux is already loved by the enthusiast community; LTT's challenge is not about that group. Instead they're exploring the question about how accessible Linux is to the average, everyday person. Ordinary people are afraid of the unfamiliar. They aren't going to sit down and listen to someone spew info at them for 30 minutes. They want things to make sense and "just work" the moment they start using it. You are talking to the wrong audience.
I just gave a 4 year old Dell XPS 13 developers edition (R.I.P., developers edition) to a friend in need of a newer computer than what she has. We're both over 50, she from an engineering/administrative background, I a retired IT person. She has a Windows/Mac background, but is savvy with tech at an administrative level. I installed ZorinOS on the Dell, and she loves it. I gave her a few pointers, explained the overall distro universe in Linux, briefly explained its history, and pointed her to the forums. I just now forwarded the link to your video for perusal. I think the stuff regarding virtualbox and USB live distro's for installations might be a bit over her head right now - that's the sort of stuff I did for her before giving her the computer - but she'll be intrigued by your video. Thanks for doing this.
Your OS is a tool. You should not need to adapt to the tool, it's supposed to serve you and do what you please. Linux is not about that. It takes a shocking amount of time until something doesnt work like it should to. Lack of support and general hostility to a non technical user are the biggest problems with Linux. And recommending it to everybody, is a recipe for bricked pc's
Linux running better on older hardware was a major reason that I started using it as heavily as I do now. Forget six years, I'd say TWELVE YEARS is perfectly usable! I collect and "rescue" older computers very frequently. I have an unhealthy number of PCs. There's no way I'm paying $100 to put Windows on every last one of them, or I wouldn't be able to afford this adorable little hobby of mine. Plus Linux just... runs so much better on them. Even a "bloated" distro like Mint. It even better knows how to handle a mechanical drive than Windows does!
Hello from Greece! What Linux community has to understand is that the MAJOR problem of moving to Linux is not the OS itself but the lack of popular and familiar to Windows users software like Adobe stuff, Office, Corel stuff etc.
Of course we in the Linux community ARE totally aware of the average Windows user's daily workflow but the thing is that is not 100% compatible to the Linux workflow, licensing and the idea of having software that respects you, the user. But there are typically workarounds to all of that and I recommend exploring and using them on a daily basis
The funniest thing to me is that everyone in my area uses Windows. Everyone that ever required it for school back in Elementary school and high school (I Believe those would be the equivalent english names) had to pirate microsoft office. Everyone uses windows because it’s what everyone uses and what they require it for, that is pirated, but on linux you would be forced to use something like libreoffice.
@@misscutie264 It was the only thing people knew. To this day it still is that way. Go ahead and ask any person on the street for an alternative to Microsoft office. You will get weird stares probably. I believe ordinary think that there is ONLY microsoft office. Do you get what I want to say?
