Boost for visibility.
To the #Windows and #macOS users of Mastodon who have tried #Linux and ended up still using Windows or macOS:
What is it about the Linux distro(s) you tried that made it/them unsuitable for your use? If some problem or set of problems was fully resolved, would it be enough for you to be able to comfortably use Linux?
The poll is just a list of possible things that could make Linux difficult or impossible to use for some, please feel free to comment with specifics.
@arraybolt3
OS usability still bad for non IT users in some areas. Just one problem can be a showstopper.
Ask for help online and IT pros mostly only know, and suggest inappropriate, IT pro answers to non IT users. Windows has more normal users offering help.
@ianp5a @arraybolt3 This is what I was going to say but you said it better.
Windows and MacOS users aren't expected to be anything more than computer users, and when you ask for help you generally get user-level answers. Install Linux and suddenly you are expected to be a computer nerd, and when you ask for help you often get answers that make no sense to anyone that hasn't been using Linux for years. And you tend to need help more often with Linux than with MacOS or Windows, although that's been less true as time has passed, but only if you are using certain popular distros.
It's as if there were an automobile brand that really only wanted customers that are mechanics. They'd prefer you be a pro mechanic, but shadetree mechanics are tolerated as long as they are willing to learn. Just plain drivers aren't made to feel welcome at all, unless they aspire to become mechanics.
@Lunatech @ianp5a For the most part that's an issue with the people providing help in my experience - I've seen plenty of people offer good, user-level help for Ubuntu in the official Ubuntu support chatroom and on Ask Ubuntu (though of course not everyone provides support that way). On the other hand, I've glanced into Arch Linux's forums before and... that is a bit too intense even for my liking.
@arraybolt3
I'm quite familiar with Ask Ubuntu too and see a lot of people suggesting command line suggestions to questions posed by novices, even when user level or GUI solutions exist. This surely gives the impression the command line is THE Linux way. I've even had people tell me that the command line is THE Linux way. And worse. For most normal users, hacks and command line are a definite no-no and bad UX. And should only be proposed if all else fails.
@Lunatech
Yes. So true.
@ianp5a @Lunatech That makes sense. I guess for someone who's comfortable with the command line, it can be hard to break out of the mindset that it's the way to fix everything since it generally is very fast and (for some) much easier than clicking around until it works. I'll try to keep this in mind myself just in case I'm unintentionally chasing people off.
@arraybolt3 @ianp5a @Lunatech It's only fast if you've spent a decade memorizing the commands and all their various switches and building up the muscle memory you need.
For most users, it's both *slower* and more frustrating. And that's before they get advice that doesn't apply to the distro they're using.
