Comrades, if I can install Linux, then you can too. I am the noobiest of noobs. The most advanced thing I can do with computers is write semi-complicated formulas in Excel; I can't even do SQL. I was struggling to get Linux installed and then on Friday I figured out what was wrong (bad USB stick) and the rest of the installation was pretty easy. Yes, unlike Windows you have to do weird things to install programs, it's not like Windows where you can download an .exe file and let the OS take care of the rest. You have to do weird shit in the terminal. But if you just search for stuff and then copy and paste into the terminal what people tell you to, it's really not that bad.
Actually installing apps on Linux is easier because you do it all from your package manager (app store) and you get to update them and the installation itself from there
yea typing apt install <app> in the terminal is much easier than searching around the internet for .msi files. Not sure why people dislike terminals so much
linux: dude we automatically applied some surgically precise security patches even tho nobody is targeting you and nobody is likely to hack you, unless you disabled that feature
windows/android: here's what's in today's slop: we re-enabled autoupdate and re-enabled surveillance, you must have turned those off by accident, the new versions of the apps now include more ads, we replaced the 5kb native app with a 150MB electron javascript app, we noticed users were confused (confused: noun in a state of not entering credit card) when software was discoverable, had hotkeys, and features, etc, so we deleted 90% of the options/features and moved the rest into DLC. BTW login is required to use the new calculator.
The only spooky thing is knowing what the package is called.
I remember when i was first playing with Ubuntu, I was like 14, pre unity. I knew I had to install an application via the terminal, but it felt like looking into a dark room. How does it work? where does it look? is it magic? can I just type "apt-get install firefox"? okay that worked, what about this other app, that didn't work, is that the right name? etc
My #1 thing I suggest to newbies is just practice your googling. Knowing how to google a question to find the right forum post makes the biggest difference. Also read the post to understand what you're doing. It's totally possible to copy and paste something nefarious into your terminal. Its rare but does exist.
Fast forward like 13-14 years. Linux is my primary OS, I screw around with internals, I can fix a lot of issues without googling because I know "oh this is broken, this is linked to this so lets just try "turning off and on again" this service.
My #1 thing I suggest to newbies is just practice your googling. Knowing how to google a question to find the right forum post makes the biggest difference.
this applies to all things computer, as well. a lot of the questions users ask i don't know the answer to, they're basically just submitting tickets to have somebody else google the answer for them.
Its impossible to know everything about computers. The most important skill is the ability to find the information. It can be simple like a stack overflow post, or advanced like looking into the kernel source to see what it does under the hood.
Most package managers have tab complete, just type something close and hit tab a couple times and it'll spit out a list of programs that match that search. Then just scroll through until you find the one you need and hit ctrl-c to exit the list and up arrow to reload the last command then type in until hitting tab once completes the command
I think as power users we forget when we first learned "up arrow" in the terminal. I learned that shit painfully late somehow. There's all these small usage things that are rarely explained. I learned tab complete and up arrow from a TA or someone in a club going "wtf are you doing, do this" and having my mind blown.
The idea of doing mundane things via a terminal can be intimidating for people and we've to reassure them that they don't need to deal with the terminal at all
Except one is a robust, open source program that gives you access to the inner workings of your machine and the other is a user space abstraction that tracks and records you
And all these options do exist which is what's wonderful about Linux. If you want to search the internet then you can use AppImages and if you want a really easy experience then you've your package manger and the terminal fans got their easy commands.
What I think is important is that we emphasis the fact that the terminal isn't in anyway required because it scares people away
Yeah, and trust that that your package repository (or more accurately some random contributor) has properly repackaged the program instead of you just downloading it straight from the publishers and knowing it will work and be safe (well, as safe as the publisher is).
Yes, I definitely trust my distribution way more than some random programmer. I already trusted my distro with admin access, a video editor doesn't and shouldn't run as admin.
If you are downloading the program at all, that means you are trusting its programmer. Downloading it from a repo is adding another party to trust vs downloading it directly from the programmer.
If I apt install kdenlive and then run kdenlive, the program has never ran as root and cannot make itself run a service in the background, or log keystrokes, or install other things.
If I download a package or an installer from the Internet the publisher runs a program as admin on my computer and can do whatever it wants, bundle adware, start hidden services, whatever.
My distribution is not 'another party to trust'. It's the party I already trust the most. If I or someone else find something harmful in a program that's on the repo, I expect the distro to remove the program or patch out the harmful parts, while I don't expect the first-party installer to become better in any way.
Comrades, if I can install Linux, then you can too. I am the noobiest of noobs. The most advanced thing I can do with computers is write semi-complicated formulas in Excel; I can't even do SQL. I was struggling to get Linux installed and then on Friday I figured out what was wrong (bad USB stick) and the rest of the installation was pretty easy. Yes, unlike Windows you have to do weird things to install programs, it's not like Windows where you can download an .exe file and let the OS take care of the rest. You have to do weird shit in the terminal. But if you just search for stuff and then copy and paste into the terminal what people tell you to, it's really not that bad.
Actually installing apps on Linux is easier because you do it all from your package manager (app store) and you get to update them and the installation itself from there
My package manager
yea typing apt install <app> in the terminal is much easier than searching around the internet for .msi files. Not sure why people dislike terminals so much
linux: dude we automatically applied some surgically precise security patches even tho nobody is targeting you and nobody is likely to hack you, unless you disabled that feature
windows/android: here's what's in today's slop: we re-enabled autoupdate and re-enabled surveillance, you must have turned those off by accident, the new versions of the apps now include more ads, we replaced the 5kb native app with a 150MB electron javascript app, we noticed users were confused (confused: noun in a state of not entering credit card) when software was discoverable, had hotkeys, and features, etc, so we deleted 90% of the options/features and moved the rest into DLC. BTW login is required to use the new calculator.
The only spooky thing is knowing what the package is called.
I remember when i was first playing with Ubuntu, I was like 14, pre unity. I knew I had to install an application via the terminal, but it felt like looking into a dark room. How does it work? where does it look? is it magic? can I just type "apt-get install firefox"? okay that worked, what about this other app, that didn't work, is that the right name? etc
My #1 thing I suggest to newbies is just practice your googling. Knowing how to google a question to find the right forum post makes the biggest difference. Also read the post to understand what you're doing. It's totally possible to copy and paste something nefarious into your terminal. Its rare but does exist.
Fast forward like 13-14 years. Linux is my primary OS, I screw around with internals, I can fix a lot of issues without googling because I know "oh this is broken, this is linked to this so lets just try "turning off and on again" this service.
this applies to all things computer, as well. a lot of the questions users ask i don't know the answer to, they're basically just submitting tickets to have somebody else google the answer for them.
Its impossible to know everything about computers. The most important skill is the ability to find the information. It can be simple like a stack overflow post, or advanced like looking into the kernel source to see what it does under the hood.
Most package managers have tab complete, just type something close and hit tab a couple times and it'll spit out a list of programs that match that search. Then just scroll through until you find the one you need and hit ctrl-c to exit the list and up arrow to reload the last command then type in until hitting tab once completes the command
I think as power users we forget when we first learned "up arrow" in the terminal. I learned that shit painfully late somehow. There's all these small usage things that are rarely explained. I learned tab complete and up arrow from a TA or someone in a club going "wtf are you doing, do this" and having my mind blown.
The best part is being able to scroll through commands
My favorite one, ctrl+r to search bash history, more ctrl+r to go through them. There's more to it but that's how I primarily use it.
if you're a technocratic redditor maybe
fellas, is it counter-revolutionary to know how to type?
The idea of doing mundane things via a terminal can be intimidating for people and we've to reassure them that they don't need to deal with the terminal at all
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Except one is a robust, open source program that gives you access to the inner workings of your machine and the other is a user space abstraction that tracks and records you
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tips fedora
And all these options do exist which is what's wonderful about Linux. If you want to search the internet then you can use AppImages and if you want a really easy experience then you've your package manger and the terminal fans got their easy commands.
What I think is important is that we emphasis the fact that the terminal isn't in anyway required because it scares people away
Yeah, and trust that that your package repository (or more accurately some random contributor) has properly repackaged the program instead of you just downloading it straight from the publishers and knowing it will work and be safe (well, as safe as the publisher is).
Yes, I definitely trust my distribution way more than some random programmer. I already trusted my distro with admin access, a video editor doesn't and shouldn't run as admin.
If you are downloading the program at all, that means you are trusting its programmer. Downloading it from a repo is adding another party to trust vs downloading it directly from the programmer.
If I
apt install kdenliveand then run kdenlive, the program has never ran as root and cannot make itself run a service in the background, or log keystrokes, or install other things.If I download a package or an installer from the Internet the publisher runs a program as admin on my computer and can do whatever it wants, bundle adware, start hidden services, whatever.
My distribution is not 'another party to trust'. It's the party I already trust the most. If I or someone else find something harmful in a program that's on the repo, I expect the distro to remove the program or patch out the harmful parts, while I don't expect the first-party installer to become better in any way.
Yes.
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