Hi, i’m using linux again after being on mac for 8 years, before which I used Ubuntu exclusively for about 5 years. I can no longer say critical things about Windows, because I just don’t know it. I understand that a distro like ubuntu wants to accommodate the new linux user coming from Windows.
Understanding that takes a lot of my anxiety away about my keyboard and menubar preferences, because the greater good is helping people settle in without too much opinion. And yet…
I’m sad about the state that greets me, 8 years later, as the most vocal linux authorities seem to use distros and desktop environments with no real or seeming allegiance to the cause that makes linux so good for anyone.
I’m sad to find no ‘Level 1 Techs’ or ‘Linus Tips’ youtube channel for the general audience of linux users. No one should expect anything of linux users past using a web browser.
The first thing they hear is sarcasm and pseudo-irony on the tune of “linux sucks”. I think I could participate in the drafting of a warm, welcoming statement to new users and mainstream users, enourage us to be ourselves, as we are.
Would this mean having to make another rift of leets n beats? And be the same situation in another 8 years? thanks for listening.
After years of interacting with Linux users, after initially being very excited about the platform, my enthusiasm has cooled significantly. From my observation, the vast majority of Linux users do so for ideological reasons, and are pretty much okay with the “noobs” being left outside the castle walls, and if they do manage to get in, it’s with the absolute bare minimum of assistance.
That’s it, really. I think the Linux community is fine with being the Linux community. Ubuntu is the only distro that seems to have an interest in new users, and as such is billed as the noob distro.
I can use Linux, and I would prefer to use it for daily browsing and media tasks if it weren’t for gaming, but I have been swayed into firmly rejecting the dogmatic attitudes that have shown me some of the most stunningly anal retentive and repulsive behaviour I have ever seen.
If you really want new users to use Linux, tell them to just use Linux and not try to become a “Linux user”. Make sure they bypass the community and get right to the help they need. If you can do that, sure.
I agree with the general gist of what @Goblin is saying. The software is great, the community could use some work.
That’s not to say that all Linux users are bad, the vast majority are good people I’m sure, but the vocal minority are doing a good job at drowning them out. Other OSes aren’t the antichrist, they’re just other OSes and all. Even the Linux distro wars are just as bad. A distro is a distro, they’re not all that different in the grand scheme of things.
If somebody wants to try out Linux, good, help them out with Mint or Ubuntu or some other common stable distro so they can get their feet wet. If they want to move to something more bleeding edge, good, have them peruse distrowatch and have at it. If they want to stay on Mint/Ubuntu/whatever, good, let them keep using it.
If you go for it let me know. Check out the Linux FAQ in the Linux section and that may answer a lot of your questions.
Plan for heavy resistance and pedantic comments meant to foil your efforts. Know that no matter what starting point you choose it’ll be wrong. Commit to it and move forward, don’t let the vocal minority and detractors deter you.
Doesn’t ubuntu mate have a general info page when you log in?
If i remember correctly that has some nice beginner info
After looking at it is is mostly an introduction to what linux and open source is
With a handy showing of Distro specific tools (what the file manager is called ETC)
There’s plenty of “Linux is not Windows” content on the web so I think that aspect is covered.
Linux sure has fanboys, and so does other platforms, systems, car manufacturers and even diets for that matter… assholes are assholes. That being said beginners also might be put off when they have an issue, people tell them they need to pipe the grep from dmesg to a cronjob and redirect bin bash to bashrc to fix their stuff, so sure it might seem elitist from someone who don’t know how to even tab-complete.
Maybe people asking for support just should on a scale from 1-3 let others know how seasoned they are so others could approach the issue accordingly.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or If Torvalds is your bitch, at least on these forums.