- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- linux@lemmy.ml
Stumbled across this quick post recently and thought it was a really good tale and worth sharing.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet asking: “If Linux is so good, why aren’t more people using it?” And it’s a fair question! It intuitively rings true until you give it a moment’s consideration. Linux is even free, so what’s stopping mass adoption, if it’s actually better? My response:
- If exercising is so healthy, why don’t more people do it?
- If reading is so educational, why don’t more people do it?
- If junk food is so bad for you, why do so many people eat it?
The world is full of free invitations to self-improvement that are ignored by most people most of the time. Putting it crudely, it’s easier to be fat and ignorant in a world of cheap, empty calories than it is to be fit and informed. It’s hard to resist the temptation of minimal effort.
And Linux isn’t minimal effort. It’s an operating system that demands more of you than does the commercial offerings from Microsoft and Apple. Thus, it serves as a dojo for understanding computers better. With a sensei who keeps demanding you figure problems out on your own in order to learn and level up.
Now I totally understand why most computer users aren’t interested in an intellectual workout when all they want to do is browse the web or use an app. They’re not looking to become a black belt in computing fundamentals.
But programmers are different. Or ought to be different. They’re like firefighters. Fitness isn’t the purpose of firefighting, but a prerequisite. You’re a better firefighter when you have the stamina and strength to carry people out of a burning building on your shoulders than if you do not. So most firefighters work to be fit in order to serve that mission.
That’s why I’d love to see more developers take another look at Linux. Such that they may develop better proficiency in the basic katas of the internet. Such that they aren’t scared to connect a computer to the internet without the cover of a cloud.
Besides, if you’re able to figure out how to setup a modern build pipeline for JavaScript or even correctly configure IAM for AWS, you already have all the stamina you need for the Linux journey. Think about giving it another try. Not because it is easy, but because it is worth it.
The UIs and UXes in Linux are still shit and look like they are from 1998. Engineers are not great designers. I design UI and UX for windows and Android for a living. I’m not professionally educated in design, but I know how to make a GUI look like it wasn’t a collab by Mattel and M.C Esher for use on a museum computer. That goes for apps and system features. The Bluetooth device GUI in Linux Mint is fuckawful:
Being able to consistently install things by downloading an exe from a website and just double click it is lacking.
The names of Linux software are also regularly dumb. Trying to be punny, clever, or cool. If it resized images, just call it Image Resized For Mint or something, not “Nautilus” or Nemo", they are forgettable and tell me nothing about the app “Uhh, it was something ocean themed, I think”. (This is true of Windows apps as well, Audacity, Figma Director, and Irfanview, I’m looking at you)
Apps “forgetting” the last-used settings, inc last used save file path, or user config, is a common issue too. Out of the box, apps should remember last-used settings without having to be told.
Window focus interfering with key capture is an issue too. Use Flameshot (a screen capture app) to take a region screenshot of a right-click context menu in another app - you can’t. Greenshots on windows does it fine.
I still persist with Mint, but the process is further from ‘Seamless’ than even windows 11, the shitshow it is.
Maybe I just hate all operating systems.
This is something I still have issues with. I’ve been running Mint on an old Mac mini for six or seven months now, and still have to think to remember what flavour of Linux it’s based on when trying to install software.
Then there’s the way it has software installed via the store, Flatpak, and the terminal, meaning I have multiple places that need software updates. And that doesn’t necessarily cover OS updates.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Mint, and I do enjoy the tinkering, but I kinda go by the “Could I put this on my mum’s laptop without her having trouble?” rule, and the answer is no. It’s close, but no.
I’ve never used Mint, but you don’t have to update in all those places. The system should cover it all for you. Even deb files you download manually can (if the developer does this) register with secure repositories to be auto updated by the system itself. You should be able to just download those and double click to install them. The software store will handle the install for you. Good example would be Brave Browser. It’s there, just not common to download .deb files manually.
KDE discover is one shop for all. You do update system, flatack, snap, addons and more with it. There is nothing to forget.
We have appimages too now
i mean with debian based instances you can basically do that with debs.
Well…
Don’t forget the common use issues, where to put file for startup in different distros, attaching external drive being able to access in all and every Software without touching terminal, not too have to use terminal at all for ANYTHING IN 2025
IMPOSSIBLE! But shhhhhhh , we are on Lemmy if you say Linux sucks you will be negatively marked , cause Linux is the best /s , gained 4% market share and what not Linux for consumers SUCKS! NO matter the distro
I’m perfectly happy using terminal, both in Linux and windows. But not for basic things like installing a simple program. Sure I’ve done this in windows using wget or whatever, but maybe like 5 times ever? Like 2% of the time requires terminal with a 90% success rate on first try, and 95% success when trying for half a day. With Mint, require using terminal it’s like, 80% of the time, with a 30% success rate, and maybe 40% success rate after dickimg about with the errors for half a day.
Look, I don’t take preference with sides. Windows, Linux, android, Mac, I’ll happily call them all out on their various bullshit.
It took me a while to work out that the reason so much of Linux goes through the terminal is because that’s what the people who build Linux are used to. They put little to no effort into UX, then grumble that more normies aren’t adopting Linux.
I got my first Macbook in 2007, and honestly don’t think I touched Terminal for maybe four years. It just wasn’t at all necessary for day to day use. So having to wrap my head around terminal commands in order to do so much in Mint is quite a head fuck.
Linux UX philosophy:
So fix it.
I can’t code lol
Why not mock up a bunch of dialogs/windows that linux mint uses now and show how they can be made better, then submit to the project? I’m a software dev that is not all that good with UI; I can do amazing things in terms of coding them up, but in terms of “pretty” or “logical”, its not my strength and you just need to team up with guys who can code very well. Gnome looks nice, but is a terrible project. If I was a mint dev I’d love the feedback to be honest. Don’t go out and design a replacement for everything, start with a few of the worst offendors and be polite and see where it goes, you don’t need to code to make a project successful, we need everybody from UI to translators to testers to marketing guys etc.
I don’t know how to submit design or get involved, but if be willing to do that. Do I need to join a group somewhere, or what?
I’d be happy to spend my spare time trying to improve the UX if I’m not wasting my time. I can even show a portfolio of my currently in-production work, which only totals about 15 seperate software apps across windows, Webapp, and android, but it’s something
My day-job is 50% technical writing, mostly writing software specs, and 50% UI/UX design for custom software used by aggressivly non-technical people, like warehouse staff, truck drivers, mechanics and mining exploration drillers. So I have to treat the users gently by giving them a clean, simple and intuitive design with just the right amount of guardrails, but tons of customisable functionality just under the surface. Many of my apps heavily rely on Bluetooth connections, which is why I’m picking on the Bluetooth interface. Average users are very intimidated by Bluetooth.
Never trained in either tech writing or design, and I’m not a design guru, but I understand enough to build consistent in design principles, easy to understand and use, and have rich functionality behind them.
Tell us what a good UI is
I’ll mock something up later and share my design.
FYI I didn’t downvote you or anyone else, Im not like that. There is just some downvote goblins getting around this thread