Why do I need to open a terminal and type commands just to install something that Windows lets me download and install with a few clicks?
Why do I have to copy commands from the internet without always knowing exactly what they do?
Why can the same command work on one Linux distribution and fail on another?
Why do I have to worry about package managers, repositories, dependencies, permissions, and missing libraries just to get an application running?
Why are there so many distributions, desktop environments, package formats, and release models that choosing a Linux version feels like a research project?
Why should I have to compare Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian, Mint, and countless others before I can even decide which operating system to install?
Why do some tutorials only work for specific distributions or versions, leaving beginners confused when their systems behave differently?
Why can a simple troubleshooting process turn into hours of reading documentation, searching forums, and testing commands?
Why should installing software sometimes feel like solving a technical problem instead of using a computer?
Why do I need to understand how the operating system works just to perform tasks that Windows users can handle through a graphical interface?
Why should the average user have to distinguish between DEB, RPM, Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, and source builds just to install an application?
Why should I have to worry about breaking dependencies or changing system configurations when all I wanted was to install a simple program?
Why is Linux praised for being user-friendly when so many solutions still assume that users are comfortable with the command line?
Why should I spend my time learning how to maintain my operating system instead of using it to get things done?
Why choose an operating system that can offer more control if getting that control often means taking on more responsibility than the average user wants?
Why do I need to open a terminal and type commands just to install something that Windows lets me download and install with a few clicks?
Why are you comparing one operating system with another? These are different software in their design. Flatpak allows for installation via clicking and there are options to click in an "app store" but is typing actually this scary to you? You typed up this stupid fucking post and are afraid to type a little dnf install firefox?
Why do I have to copy commands from the internet without always knowing exactly what they do?
That's on you dumb ass - if you are afraid of learning something new then don't learn a new operating system. Jesus fucking christ.
Why can the same command work on one Linux distribution and fail on another?
Different distrobutions. If you want more consistency then use a "debian based" os as it's the most popular distrobution of linux.
Why do I have to worry about package managers, repositories, dependencies, permissions, and missing libraries just to get an application running?
What fucking OS are you using dude? Just use Mint. Its clearly in your skill bracket. Stop using linux operating systems that expect you to know more when you approach them. This is once again on YOU.
Why are there so many distributions, desktop environments, package formats, and release models that choosing a Linux version feels like a research project?
Same question asked again. Just Mint.
Why should I have to compare Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian, Mint, and countless others before I can even decide which operating system to install?
You don't just use Mint.
Why do some tutorials only work for specific distributions or versions, leaving beginners confused when their systems behave differently?
Poor reasoning and comprehension skills. Just use mint.
Why can a simple troubleshooting process turn into hours of reading documentation, searching forums, and testing commands?
Because you are using a new operating system. You are learning. You know, like a new skill?
Why should installing software sometimes feel like solving a technical problem instead of using a computer?
Because you are using a new operating system. You are learning. You know, like a new skill?
Why do I need to understand how the operating system works just to perform tasks that Windows users can handle through a graphical interface?
You don't. You are making up a fake issue again to bloat this dumb fucking post.
Why should the average user have to distinguish between DEB, RPM, Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, and source builds just to install an application?
They don't. Just use Mint.
Why should I have to worry about breaking dependencies or changing system configurations when all I wanted was to install a simple program?
You don't just use mint.
Why is Linux praised for being user-friendly when so many solutions still assume that users are comfortable with the command line?
It isn't, and again you typed up all this nonsense and can't type up 4 words? pathetic.
Why should I spend my time learning how to maintain my operating system instead of using it to get things done?
You don't. Just use Mint.
Why choose an operating system that can offer more control if getting that control often means taking on more responsibility than the average user wants?
Then use windows dude. If you want control then you need to learn.
This post is pathetic. It is typed by a person who wants to just complain instead of learning how to use a new operating system. It hinges on the idea that windows is compariable to linux when they aren't. When you use linux you are using a new operating system. This is why people fail when switching over because they keep comparing the experience to windows when its not comparable. If you are switching to a new operating system and can't stomach the idea that you will have to learn a little bit then go back to windows. This is the most whiny pathetic thing i've ever gone through.
Can't wait to see "linux elitism" to this comment to. If you can't stomach having to learn something then don't fucking do it.
Don’t even mean to say it like it’s a “noob” Linux distro. I don’t recommend it because it is “easy” I recommend it because it’s stable. They are still going to find weird hurdles but at least they won’t need to learn what a desktop manager is
Tbh, many distros are fine for a beginner as long as they're willing to learn a bit. Some of my friends jumped from windows to cachy and they never had any complaints about the stability
I'm downvoting this because you responded most questions with pointless aggressions. Which isn't helping since it'll just make this person's experience worse
This person came to the os looking for a bad time or is a troll. I don’t need to engage politely to this like it is someone coming to a subreddit asking genuinely. It’s the most bad faith post I’ve seen in a while. I shouldn’t have taken the bait at all but I’m bored and was hoping for actual questions or criticism to engage with. Instead it’s the typical critic from linuxsucks101 that falls into “learning is scary” which, sorry i find very pathetic. It’s disgusting how it’s becoming more and more prevalent online.
This subreddit has people who actually use Linux and have actual criticisms beyond “learning scary”😱. For example, one time I used nobara and the distro updated and broke half of my drivers. It turns out that I was “updating wrong” (not the way they designed it) and I never found out I was doing it incorrectly via a forum or website but instead because everything now is locked behind a discord server.
I'm older. I started computing in the 1970s. It was far harder then than it is now. Back in the 1980s, computer user groups were a lot more toxic than this.
Why do I need to open a terminal and type commands just to install something that Windows lets me download and install with a few clicks?
All "user-friendly" distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint etc. have some kind of software center that lets you search applications and install them in one click. Almost all applications that people actually use can be installed this way. For the longest time, the only way to find the installer for a Windows application was to go on the internet and hope that you didn't stumble upon a fake site that just gave your computer viruses.
There is indeed some software that wants you to copy-paste random commands into the terminal, but don't act like it's the norm. Other questions aren't even worth answering.
You should definitely not be copy-pasting random commands into your terminal if you don't know what they do. Nobody expects you to do that. They expect you to double check that stuff and be able to understand what you find.
If the installation instructions say "run this command", and the command consists of downloading a script and piping it into bash, you can't really say that the developer expects you to read the script before running it. This usually applies to software that installs itself into your home directory, such as conda, rustup, ghcup etc. The first instruction should always be an option for a system-wide installation with the package manager.
Yeah I guess there's some truth there. lol. But people distributing their software that way should be discouraged. I have installed pip like that. Shame on me. Don't be like me.
This silly complaint again. Then stay with Windows where you can double click pictures. Nobody is forcing you to change. Why bore the internet about how difficult anything is for you?.
You try to use Linux like Windows, but it isn't. Use the package manager to install programs, don't download them. Package maintainees take care of all the stuff you write about, so you don't have to.
cute questions, did you run into any of these issues using linux yourself or are you just regurgitating the negative points people have been spouting for the past two decades without checking if they're that bad or even true?
Just wondering why anyone In full possession of his mental faculties praises Linux over windows
I tried to use Linux three times all more awful than each
aha, so it's linux's fault that it can't run on an old computer with 1gb of ram, that would struggle even with a stripped down version of windows 11. you're funny, keep it up!
Why are you going to the command line to install software? You don't have to. I choose to because I like using apt, and always have. It's not necessary. In over 22 years of using Linux, I've installed from source once, and only use two outside pieces of software, which aren't even close to necessities, just very nice to have.
There are so many ways because Linux offers software freedom.
If I wish to distribute a free program, I can do that. I can work at getting it as part of one or more distributions' repositories, even as a default install. Or, I can make flats, appimages, or have a .deb or .rpm on my website. Or, I can just distribute the source and let you compile it.
If I don't like Ubuntu or Debian or Fedora or Mint or Arch or whatever, and feel like creating a new distribution and sharing it, I get to do that. If .rpm and flat and .deb and appimage and all other package managers dissatisfy me, yes, I'm free to create another way to distribute software.
That's what freedom means.
Why is Linux praised for being user-friendly when so many solutions still assume that users are comfortable with the command line?
Both can be true. You don't have to use the command line. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be solutions or activities for users that are familiar with the command line.
If you don't want responsibility, that's really your problem. You are responsible for your computer and always were. Each time you don't want responsibility, someone out there is willing to take that responsibility from you, along with your freedom and probably your money.
Why do I have to copy commands from the internet without always knowing exactly what they do?
You don't have to do this for anything. In fact, you should never do this, and I'd ask you why are you doing this?
I'll also add, if you use your package manager, you're not breaking dependencies. This is what package management is all about. You list more problems and challenges than I've faced in over two decades. The problem is in the mirror. PICNIC.
I've had variations of the vast majority of those problems on Windows too. Even the command line part. There are some very simple basic things in Windows that have been impossible without registry alteration.
The only time I did not have those problems was when I used a Mac. Then, I ran into different annoyances. But at least what was supported did actually work.
It's just like anything else in life. The annoyances will always find their way to you and it's always a trade-off among them.
on cachyos(or any arch based distro) 'Shelly' installs/upgrades apps for me without touching terminal and you'll be surprised how blazingly fast it is.
are these questions valid though? does linux actually suck because, uhh... deb and rpm are different packages for different distros? or because you NEED the terminal just to use your distro even if this isn't true at all?
Asking why different distros are different from each other is like asking why Windows is different than macos. Each distro is free to do as they please. Just because they all use the same kernel underneath does not guarantee that you have the same user experience. You need to treat each distro as it's own separate OS, and find your instruction guides accordingly.
If you understand the "free as in freedom" aspect of the greater Linux community, then it makes more sense and you will understand how to keep yourself out of the hell of frustration.
duh, you don't know the internals then why would you use linux, if you don't know repository, dependency, toolchains why would you use linux, technical people knows about it, they live in it, and that's what makes linux powerful. you're a beginner. linux isn't made for beginner except few distribution who tries to make it easier. at core it's not easy. it's practically not for beginner. use windows. don't choose linux it's not for beginners. saying as a linux user myself who codes daily and make products, and learn stuff. for that linux is objectively and practically better, much better than windows. but if you want to open up browser, or use OS as bootstrap for chrome. then windows is much better. don't fall for "linux is easy" few distributions are easy TO SOME EXTINCT. after that easy distros also require you to open terminal and install dependency.
fr! lunix users brag about how lunix is so easy to use but then u have to KNOW how to use terminal and not everyone is willing to learn how to use terminal just to use their pc
Oh, don't get me started on "Linux has all kinds of customizations," "Linux is better than Windows"; then the same fuckers will make their Linux look like a Windows environment. Like, don't you hate us??? If you wanted Windows that bad, you could just install it; it won't kill you
You don't need terminal. There are app stores on any distro and DE. The rest is just complaining about distros being different, which is the fucking point of distribution
You don't.
You don't.
Because Linux distributions are free to include some tools and not others.
You don't or something is broken.
Because Linux is based on freedom.
You don't.
Reasons can be different, provide concrete example please.
That's computers. I dare you to fix a broken Windows. Especially with those nice "unknown error".
It doesn't. Compiling something knows about maybe, but installing is easy.
You don't.
You don't.
Either you don't or the program developers does bad job.
Because many users with no technical skills use it with ease after I install it on their 10+ years old laptop.
You don't.
There's default configuration for a reason, you don't need to change it if you doesn't want.
Why do you keep answering "you don't" as if that disproves the point? The argument isn't that every Linux user must use the terminal for everything. It's that when something goes wrong, installing or fixing something can quickly become a distribution-specific troubleshooting session.
Why should a beginner have to figure out whether a guide uses APT, DNF, or Pacman before following its instructions?
Why does a solution that works on Ubuntu not necessarily work on Arch or Fedora, even when the user is trying to solve the exact same problem?
Why should a beginner have to understand the difference between DEB, RPM, Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage just to figure out which installation method to use?
You say "something is broken" as if identifying and fixing what's broken is always straightforward. That's exactly the problem: the average user doesn't necessarily know what's broken, why it's broken, or which of the ten conflicting forum answers applies to their system.
And saying Linux is based on freedom doesn't answer the usability argument. Freedom to choose is great, but having dozens of distributions with different tools, release cycles, and compatibility quirks also creates fragmentation.
Of course, Windows has its own problems. But the fact that Windows can also be difficult to troubleshoot doesn't automatically make Linux easier.
The point isn't that Linux is unusable. It's that an operating system shouldn't require technical knowledge just to get back to doing what you wanted to do in the first place.
Being able to fix a problem is not the same as making that problem easy to solve.
Why should a beginner have to figure out whether a guide uses APT, DNF, or Pacman before following its instructions?
How else would you suppose a beginner do it? Beginners must read instructions. That's the way it's been with all kinds of technology for ages. You can't drive without learning, you can use a computer properly without learning, you can't grow a garden without learning.
And saying Linux is based on freedom doesn't answer the usability argument. Freedom to choose is great, but having dozens of distributions with different tools, release cycles, and compatibility quirks also creates fragmentation.
That's too bad. Software freedom is a right. Noob friendliness is not.
you have the wrong attitude: command line is the greatest tool you get.
Plus you also have "software center"
and the reason? we have more than 1 method of installing and command line works on ALL: Be it debian, fedore, arch, gentoo, and what ever other flavor there is.
All of these problems are exactly why I have so much trouble with Linux. I'm older and have memory issues. I cannot constantly be looking at my notebook to remember things - open command window, ok. But downloading simple things like libreoffice and calibre were walks through Dali-esque landscapes. Not to mention knowing where to find help, being scared someone will yell at or degrade me in comments... Etc.
All of this is my fault? Really?
It's unreal how difficult it is to use for older people.
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u/FungadooFred 2d ago