this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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I'm somewhat amused by the fact that lots of people are suggesting Linux as an alternative but can't agree on which flavor to use as the alternative.
Don't get me wrong, I think Linux is awesome, but this is the problem. You're never going to get the saturation necessary to bring average consumers over in significant numbers until they have a clear choice.
So, Linux is written by system programmers for system programmers.
The rest of us get to outsource that work by using a premade distribution, where system programmers mostly volunteer their time and efforts to package togther the system they want to use and they distribute it for free. Of course, there is no consensus of what anyone wants to use so there are lots of different distributions.
This isn't a problem and there will never be consensus.
If you need a "clear choice", you can always subscribe to one from Microsoft.
I thought the whole point here was to suggest people not use Windows... That seems to be what all the people saying "switch to Linux" are saying...
Your money, spend it how you want. Me, I'll eschew the bloated system designed to separate customers from their money in favor of the free and open source alternatives.
I guess I feel like "spend your money however you want" does a disservice to people who are not tech savvy who will now be pushed into a subscription model because they don't know any better. And they don't deserve to be kicked to the curb just because they don't have the computer knowledge to understand that Microsoft is fleecing them.
Offering them an alternative is great. Offering them 10 alternatives is just confusing. At best it will push them over to a Mac or a Chromebook because at least they know what those are.
The move to a subscription model is the disservice and requires no particular savvy to differentiate from free.
Macs and Chromebooks are fine for some people and won't require as much hand holding as a direct Linux install regardless of the distro.
People are going to rely on what others recommend when they don't know themselves. It's up to those people to cull the list from ten to two.
Is the person a budding tech that wants to hack on their system? Send them to Arch.
Are they a creative looking to craft? Throw them into Ubuntu Studios.
Maybe they're grandparents who barely understand tech. Ok, Mint or Elementary are good options... Just maintain SSH access with keys.
The options are a strength.