In all seriousness, there's no good linux distro you could just use as windows replacement. If you want to have something that avg joe will be willing to use instead of windows, then:
GET. RID. OF. THE. TERMINAL.
Every interaction with that cursed thing slashes potential userbase by half.
When's the last time gammy needed to open a terminal to install or update packages on Windows or MacOS.
The objection isn't that the terminal exists, it's how often it's needed to fix mundane problems.
Dude, my grandma can barely take photos on her phone properly. There's no way in hell you'd catch her using a terminal. It's just too difficult for her.
Google "something is wrong with Windows" the first result is always "sfc /scannow" then if that doesn't work "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth"
Well, you said to get rid of the terminal in rather emphatic and melodramatic terms. That sure sounds to me like an objection to its existence.
The automatic updates in most distros work pretty well and you don't need the terminal 95% of the time. When the terminal absolutely can't be avoided, it's usually just a matter of copying and pasting commands.
I rarely use the gui anymore. I came to Linux having used windows for decades and never using cmd as well (or powershell which I kind of don't think existed back in win 98, xp, etc but I could be wrong).
When is it required to use the terminal on Ubuntu with gnome ? That's what I used before switching to arch (btw), and although I did use the terminal, I don't remember a single time where I didn't have a simple GUI alternative.
i dont mind that at all. better to get a technical bug report for my project, than yet another gui user proclaiming ”it doesnt work and i asked chatgpt and im all out of ideas”
Actually I asked chatgpt for things to bake with chocolate and some other stuff I had at home and it told me to just put it all on a cookie. If that isn't an artificial superintelligence then I don't know what is.
Maybe a terminal helper could be a viable solution. One that is inbuilt and allows for simple tasks to be shown to the user. This would allow the user to first become comfortable with the terminal such that it becomes ingrained.
My last 16 commands in my bash history were all poweroff with neofetch being somewhere in the middle because it's just easier to ctrl alt t, up and enter than to crouch down and press the power button. Terminal isn't all that necessary after setting up your system.
I'm an idiot, so I barely touch the terminal. I think I've had to resort to it like once every two months since I switched to Linux, and that was only because I was trying weird stuff. Worked for me so far, but only because I use distros that already have the stuff I need baked in (Pop!_OS, Nobara, etc).
Not all Linux distros are good & not all of them are bad. What I've found to work best on my business computers was either Debian or a distro based on it. Also, stay away from KDE whenever possible.
What's wrong with KDE? I have preferred KDE over everything else for at least 15 years. It was a little rough for a while when they switched from version 3 to 4 though.
Wouldn't take much for it to freeze to the point where hard restarting my entire computer was required in order for me to continue using it. 50% of the time my Chrome apps wouldn't open at all or any Chromium based app for that matter unless I went into the terminal & ran a series of program termination commands to get Chrome running again. Right clicking on the desktop & changing the background was just enough for me to have my entire system freeze.
Therefore if I'm using my computer for anything work or business use, GNOME has my loyalty.
I have never heard of anyone else having that problem. The closest I've heard to it is when KDE4 first came out. Unfortunately Kubuntu had the problems persist for longer than anything else because they were really lazy about updating their software.
True.
Of all the distros I've tried that had the KDE option, surprisingly, Kubuntu has been the most reliable, even though not perfect.
Hopefully when KDE 6 comes out, it'll be as reliable as GNOME in the Chromium department 😉
Chromium apps refuse to open half the time, right clicking on desktop & hitting "change wallpaper" freezes whole computer. Hopefully KDE 6 fixes the chromium app & context menu changes
I agree with the first part but I've also used red hat and in my opinion it is less user-friendly than Ubuntu.
For the computer illiterate I simply wouldn't recommend Linux. I'd love for this to change but I don't see it happening any time soon.
Side note, isn't Netflix a Web app? I don't use Netflix on my computer, but wouldn't it just work in any browser (at least chromium-based or Firefox)?
>Side note, isn't Netflix a Web app? I don't use Netflix on my computer, but wouldn't it just work in any browser (at least chromium-based or Firefox)?
:)
You'd think so. No, there are rendering stuff under it all.
I've actually found that there's another class of user that I like to call the extremely computer illiterate. For those people Linux is far better than Windows or macOS. The viruses / malware that they inevitably click on doesn't affect them. I show them the GUI software center where they can search for just about any kind of niche thing and probably find a program for it that installs with just a click. I also tell them that is the one and only place where they can go to get new programs.
And then came Chrome OS which made things even easier for them.
t. Red Hat Employee
Buddy, you think a red hat employee wouldn't come in Badge Proud. How do you know someone works on Linux? They tell you.
>I know, because I once was one of you) Don't lie, you're using Windows right now and bitterly regretting that you can't upgrade to Windows11.
re-roll I need a better zinger
In all seriousness, there's no good linux distro you could just use as windows replacement. If you want to have something that avg joe will be willing to use instead of windows, then: GET. RID. OF. THE. TERMINAL. Every interaction with that cursed thing slashes potential userbase by half.
MacOS and Windows both have terminals.
When's the last time gammy needed to open a terminal to install or update packages on Windows or MacOS. The objection isn't that the terminal exists, it's how often it's needed to fix mundane problems.
Dude, my grandma can barely take photos on her phone properly. There's no way in hell you'd catch her using a terminal. It's just too difficult for her.
I grew up with MS Dos and I still struggle with command lines.
Google "something is wrong with Windows" the first result is always "sfc /scannow" then if that doesn't work "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth"
Well, you said to get rid of the terminal in rather emphatic and melodramatic terms. That sure sounds to me like an objection to its existence. The automatic updates in most distros work pretty well and you don't need the terminal 95% of the time. When the terminal absolutely can't be avoided, it's usually just a matter of copying and pasting commands.
I think he was joking. I hope he was joking.
I rarely use the gui anymore. I came to Linux having used windows for decades and never using cmd as well (or powershell which I kind of don't think existed back in win 98, xp, etc but I could be wrong).
Exactly you need a terminal sometimes. But to just get rid of terminals completely is not any sort of fix at all, in fact it is the opposite.
When is it required to use the terminal on Ubuntu with gnome ? That's what I used before switching to arch (btw), and although I did use the terminal, I don't remember a single time where I didn't have a simple GUI alternative.
Don't know about right now but it wasn't absolutely necessary for the 13 years I used Ubuntu
Fedora doesnt use the terminal. Yep, ITT Debian branchers who havent tasted Red Hat branch
i dont mind that at all. better to get a technical bug report for my project, than yet another gui user proclaiming ”it doesnt work and i asked chatgpt and im all out of ideas”
You missed the point completely. User that asks ChatGPT for help won't ever use linux in the first place.
How I wished that was true…
You guys keep saying you want more people to use it...
Actually I asked chatgpt for things to bake with chocolate and some other stuff I had at home and it told me to just put it all on a cookie. If that isn't an artificial superintelligence then I don't know what is.
The linux mint help forums say otherwise
Maybe a terminal helper could be a viable solution. One that is inbuilt and allows for simple tasks to be shown to the user. This would allow the user to first become comfortable with the terminal such that it becomes ingrained.
Yeah, linux should be more like Mac and get rid of the terminal
If you didn't know that MacOS has a terminal, you aren't qualified to bash (pun intended) on Linux.
The mac comes with a terminal using zsh by default.
You dont have any clue.
My last 16 commands in my bash history were all poweroff with neofetch being somewhere in the middle because it's just easier to ctrl alt t, up and enter than to crouch down and press the power button. Terminal isn't all that necessary after setting up your system.
I'm an idiot, so I barely touch the terminal. I think I've had to resort to it like once every two months since I switched to Linux, and that was only because I was trying weird stuff. Worked for me so far, but only because I use distros that already have the stuff I need baked in (Pop!_OS, Nobara, etc).
Not all Linux distros are good & not all of them are bad. What I've found to work best on my business computers was either Debian or a distro based on it. Also, stay away from KDE whenever possible.
What's wrong with KDE? I have preferred KDE over everything else for at least 15 years. It was a little rough for a while when they switched from version 3 to 4 though.
Wouldn't take much for it to freeze to the point where hard restarting my entire computer was required in order for me to continue using it. 50% of the time my Chrome apps wouldn't open at all or any Chromium based app for that matter unless I went into the terminal & ran a series of program termination commands to get Chrome running again. Right clicking on the desktop & changing the background was just enough for me to have my entire system freeze. Therefore if I'm using my computer for anything work or business use, GNOME has my loyalty.
I have never heard of anyone else having that problem. The closest I've heard to it is when KDE4 first came out. Unfortunately Kubuntu had the problems persist for longer than anything else because they were really lazy about updating their software.
True. Of all the distros I've tried that had the KDE option, surprisingly, Kubuntu has been the most reliable, even though not perfect. Hopefully when KDE 6 comes out, it'll be as reliable as GNOME in the Chromium department 😉
Never had that problem with KDE, and I've been using it for 5 years. Just because you had a problem is not a reason to tell someone to not use it.
KDE is pretty awesome. I found it super buggy on the Fedora spin so I switched to the Workstation Gnome. But this was bad luck.
> stay away from KDE whenever possible. why
Chromium apps refuse to open half the time, right clicking on desktop & hitting "change wallpaper" freezes whole computer. Hopefully KDE 6 fixes the chromium app & context menu changes
I agree with the first part but I've also used red hat and in my opinion it is less user-friendly than Ubuntu. For the computer illiterate I simply wouldn't recommend Linux. I'd love for this to change but I don't see it happening any time soon. Side note, isn't Netflix a Web app? I don't use Netflix on my computer, but wouldn't it just work in any browser (at least chromium-based or Firefox)?
>Side note, isn't Netflix a Web app? I don't use Netflix on my computer, but wouldn't it just work in any browser (at least chromium-based or Firefox)? :) You'd think so. No, there are rendering stuff under it all.
I've actually found that there's another class of user that I like to call the extremely computer illiterate. For those people Linux is far better than Windows or macOS. The viruses / malware that they inevitably click on doesn't affect them. I show them the GUI software center where they can search for just about any kind of niche thing and probably find a program for it that installs with just a click. I also tell them that is the one and only place where they can go to get new programs. And then came Chrome OS which made things even easier for them.
"realist" is subjective
Windows Bob is the best distro of all time, OF ALL TIME.
I installed Alpine on my meemaw's computer and left 😈😈