TL;DR: I wonder why we always have the same 2 posts as top posts of the day.
They appear a bit unnecessary and mildly annoying to me.
Do you think the same? Or do you like them, and can explain me why, so I can change my view?
Please don't just blindly downvote, writing this post took a lot of time. And if you feel the need to do it anyway, tell me why first.
Maybe I am the only person who thinks that.
I probably am, at least according to numbers.
Basically, I've got the feeling that every top post of the day for the last weeks is something like "I've freed myself from evil Windows' shackles and finally switched to Linux.", or "What distro do you recommend?".
Don't get me wrong.
I feel super happy for every newcomer discovering the wonderful world of Linux and FOSS.
I, just like most others here, always try to help them in finding their right distro and guiding them in their first steps.
We all have been there.
And I'm super proud of us all, as a community, that we happily embrace every new member. We definitely have to keep that behaviour, it's what connects us and makes us strong.
I just think we should redirect them a bit onto the specific communities.
Not by banning or censoring, just as friendly reminder, e.g. by a sticky post, comments like "Hey, check out [email protected]" or something else.
It doesn't help much if there are the same threads every day, with people circlejerking on hating Windows and recommending Mint a hundred times, just like 100 people before did on the same thread.
I hate Windows too, but it feels like we're identifying and comparing ourselves with the bitter ex-partner we had a while ago. No, not being Windows shouldn't be the main reason Linux is great.
There are so many great posts and discussions, that are all going missing in this swamp of "Winblows bad, hehe".
We should focus on what makes our software great, and not what the "bad ex-partner" did wrong.
Same with newcomer posts.
I think if the posters get redirected to the correct sub, they will receive more help, since the people partaking in the community are there because they wanna see exactly that.
At the same time, I'm afraid this would undermine our openness and friendliness of this community, and result in being as shitty as Reddits' sub.
!Just as an anecdote, when I was a noob, I posted a question there, and, like 5 minutes later, I got a dozen of non-constructive, offensive comments. 10 minutes later, my post got removed. This was my first contact to the Linux world btw. Guess who switched back to Windows for another half year because of that?
We have to prevent this at any costs.
Anyway... !<
I really enjoy this community here and wanna keep it this great.
I just wanted to ask you, what you think about those everyday-top-posts.
If you like them, please try to change my mind and explain me why :)
Edit/ Additional stuff/ Learnings:
- I don't hate those "I switched to Linux"-posts, just to clarify. They're fine for me, they just feel like white noise. But I've read many times in this thread that a lot of people enjoy those posts. If that's the case, I'm totally fine! :)
- I think putting those posts in a weekly sticky thread could be worth an idea? Then everyone could describe their experience of this week of switching from one distro to another, e.g. "My first week of Gentoo" or something like this. Would be an interesting read for everyone.
- I also believe those "Fuck Windows"-posts can be kind of therapeutic for some people, since Windows became really shitty and annoying in the last years. And when you feel the relieve from finally getting rid of it, you tell that everyone. Understandable.
- Splitting the community isn't the best idea too. We can always learn from each other and I like the diversity of this community.
- Thank you for your kind and constructive answers! ✌️
Responding with a meta level tangent comment, but I can't help feeling that when I read these type of comments that it's just Microsoft astroturfing, trying to shape the narrative away from migration to Linux.
Especially when you see those "I still can't get my favorite single game that uses anti-cheat tech or strange peripheral to work with Linux, so Linux sucks for all gaming" posts.
Just kind of seems like there's this stealthy narrative warfare going on.
Dang it, you got me!
Just kidding 🙃
I get why you think about that. I sometimes enjoy thinking about "conspiracies" like those too.
Especially with the rise of LLMs and bots, it doesn't sound unrealistic tbh.
On the other hand, I don't believe MS does care about us at all, or at least that much.
Years ago, yes. But they're really good at their "Embrace, extend and extinguish" practice. They "love" Linux now, don't forget that. Home users leaving Windows isn't that big of a problem for them, as long as we continue using their services, like Edge, Outlook and Teams.
The MS ecosystem also dominates the business world and won't get replaced anytime soon, and this field is where the paying customers are.
About the fake-accounts: if I'm not certain if I am reading a troll post, checking the profile helps.
For example, I'm a mod of some communities, have a very long and extensive post- and comment history, and behave like a human would (which basically means I'm very dumb sometimes 🌝).
So, the chances of me being a troll from Microsoft is there, but slim.
I have to admit: I was the same as the example from you in my beginning times.
Here's my story if you wanna read it:
I want to be the same as this mentor, and I think just offering frustrated noobs a helping hand and open ear will help a lot.
Being unconventionally/ unfittingly friendly can open many doors! They often need some type of vent, and if it helps them feeling better, great! Post like those usually don't get much attention anyway, so I think the risk of them turning someone else off Linux is not that high.
Truthfully, your response was WAY too weirdly (no disrespect meant) verbose to reply to (apologies), but I did want to reply to this one point, that I've quoted above.
I truly don't think it's a ""conspiracy"", I think that really happens today.
I think there is a stealthy warfare of the management of the narrative that goes on between corporations and regular people/customers, especially when it comes to protecting their businesses, their profits, and their products. Astroturfing, etc.
I don't believe it's 'tinfoil hat time' (my phrasing, not yours) to express such a thing. I think its just acknowledging that such a thing truly exists, because any corporation would be foolish not to take advantage of the tools available to them to maximize their success/profits (unfortunately, even if it trashes the country).
Tragedy of the Commons.