this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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Didn't watch, but did try to install Debian fairly recently. And everything in the TLDW is true. The Debian funnel is verbose, confusing, dated-looking, jumping straight into tech babble like "burning ISO" and vague mentions of 3rd-party tools, as if everyone understood what all this means or how to do it. Let's be serious, this is just not going to work for non-techie normies, and the maintainers must be deluded if they think otherwise. There needs to be a 1-2-3 walk-thru with big friendly buttons and all the software included to get a working bootable USB stick. Last I checked, even shady Fedora ticked these boxes. Debian is supposedly the flagship FOSS distro. It is behind the times and needs to catch up.
I agree that the website needs some work but I highly disagree that it should be simplified and dummed down for beginners, there are enough great Distros for beginners and Debian isn't really one of them so why should they brand their website like it?
Because Debian is the FOSS distro on Linux. All the others are associated with private companies or compromised in some other way. Normal people deserve to be able to use a properly free OS too, it should not just be for nerds.
There are many FOSS distros with no relations to any pivate company...
Like Arch, openSUSE, or Fedora. If you don't like proprietary software, don't install it.
There are plenty of friendlier distors out there that have novice users in mind and help them learn the basics. Debian is the distro you choose because you have a specific goal in mind, could be a server, a dev machine, or to build your own distro, but not as 'my-first-install.'
Everyone is saying this, but personally I do not get the logic. Yes, Debian-alike distros are easy-peasy to install and use these days. So why not Debian too?! Just make the installation easy and get the default settings right (ordinary users do not change defaults) and then everyone can profit from the flagship FOSS distro that Debian is. Literally nobody is going to lose out, and we would all gain from having a proper FOSS distro that is widely used.