I’m always somewhat confused by this, I haven’t tried Linux since 2009 so maybe I just need to try it some more to appreciate what people mean by thks. I’d say it was “fun” in so much as it was nice to have a challenge for a little while but that was more sort of incidental to it facilitating my computer being a useful machine for me. In terms of it being a better operating system that does it’s job efficiently without problems, shouldn’t it be sort of… Invisible then? Like how can it be fun? I use my computer to do stuff so for me it’s sort of like an operating system is only noticeable to the extent that it is bad and if it isn’t bad I won’t really be aware of it.
Well, invisible is how linux (mostly) is now, as opposed to windows which has become very visible and pushing and annoying by design. It is very refreshing to have an os which works and doesn’t constantly annoy you with unwanted things.
You should try it again, I am pretty sure your experience will be very different from 2009, because a lot has happened to linux since then.
But see, doesn’t that just mean it’s a really good operating system? Not necessarily “fun”? I don’t know if I’m getting my point across here. Think of a pair of shoes, there is much variation of form and design intent and pricing and capability but nevertheless they’re pretty much all there to facilitate the task of walking. You could get a really bad pair of shoes that constantly dig holes in to your foot and fall to pieces and make walking a huge chore. Maybe some day someone will make a pair that somehow force you stop and look at billboards and ad displays, those would be your windows shoes. You could also get a great pair, that feels so comfortable you could forget you’re even wearing them, they look great and they were a fantastic price and they never worsen your ability to perform the task of walking. They might even be such good shoes that they’re suitable for all sorts of walking adjacent tasks like running as well, perhaps you’ll enjoy running, again though what’s fun there? Running? Or having shoes that don’t make running difficult? I’d assume the former. That’s what I tend to wonder about with the folks who talk about how much fun Linux is. I’m sure the various distros are really great operating systems that work way better than a lot of other options and don’t have the same perverse incentives that keep those other options so consistently poor and for all those reasons it’s a great choice but who’s looking at operating systems thinking “this is going to be fun”? I’d love to have that same capacity to be so amused by it but it’s hard to see it as anything other than a functional piece of equipment. I certainly will have preferences and appreciation for good equipment but I wouldn’t think of it as fun. I have a similar reaction to people that say they like it because they want to tinker or “you can do anything you want with it”, I don’t want to yuk anyone’s yum but, what would you even be trying to do with it?
So many cool utilities are Linux native first, today.
When I finally switched my work computer to Linux, various little tools I had been using were suddenly trivial to install, instead of maybe an hour each. I had restored my full favorite toolset in less than 30 minutes, and moved on to exploring things that never worked on Windows, for me.
The combined feeling, for me, is like when my father user to hand me $5 to shop at our local 10¢ candy store. “I can just have as much of this as I want.”
The first few days is where you realize “holy shit, there is another world I’ve been ignoring and it’s so much more fun.”
I’m always somewhat confused by this, I haven’t tried Linux since 2009 so maybe I just need to try it some more to appreciate what people mean by thks. I’d say it was “fun” in so much as it was nice to have a challenge for a little while but that was more sort of incidental to it facilitating my computer being a useful machine for me. In terms of it being a better operating system that does it’s job efficiently without problems, shouldn’t it be sort of… Invisible then? Like how can it be fun? I use my computer to do stuff so for me it’s sort of like an operating system is only noticeable to the extent that it is bad and if it isn’t bad I won’t really be aware of it.
Well, invisible is how linux (mostly) is now, as opposed to windows which has become very visible and pushing and annoying by design. It is very refreshing to have an os which works and doesn’t constantly annoy you with unwanted things.
You should try it again, I am pretty sure your experience will be very different from 2009, because a lot has happened to linux since then.
But see, doesn’t that just mean it’s a really good operating system? Not necessarily “fun”? I don’t know if I’m getting my point across here. Think of a pair of shoes, there is much variation of form and design intent and pricing and capability but nevertheless they’re pretty much all there to facilitate the task of walking. You could get a really bad pair of shoes that constantly dig holes in to your foot and fall to pieces and make walking a huge chore. Maybe some day someone will make a pair that somehow force you stop and look at billboards and ad displays, those would be your windows shoes. You could also get a great pair, that feels so comfortable you could forget you’re even wearing them, they look great and they were a fantastic price and they never worsen your ability to perform the task of walking. They might even be such good shoes that they’re suitable for all sorts of walking adjacent tasks like running as well, perhaps you’ll enjoy running, again though what’s fun there? Running? Or having shoes that don’t make running difficult? I’d assume the former. That’s what I tend to wonder about with the folks who talk about how much fun Linux is. I’m sure the various distros are really great operating systems that work way better than a lot of other options and don’t have the same perverse incentives that keep those other options so consistently poor and for all those reasons it’s a great choice but who’s looking at operating systems thinking “this is going to be fun”? I’d love to have that same capacity to be so amused by it but it’s hard to see it as anything other than a functional piece of equipment. I certainly will have preferences and appreciation for good equipment but I wouldn’t think of it as fun. I have a similar reaction to people that say they like it because they want to tinker or “you can do anything you want with it”, I don’t want to yuk anyone’s yum but, what would you even be trying to do with it?
“I’m always somewhat confused by this”
“I haven’t tried Linux since 2009”
ok
So many cool utilities are Linux native first, today.
When I finally switched my work computer to Linux, various little tools I had been using were suddenly trivial to install, instead of maybe an hour each. I had restored my full favorite toolset in less than 30 minutes, and moved on to exploring things that never worked on Windows, for me.
The combined feeling, for me, is like when my father user to hand me $5 to shop at our local 10¢ candy store. “I can just have as much of this as I want.”
It’s fun for enthusiasts only, I suppose
I suppose it’s a lot easier to have fun when you’ve got some stability.