this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
65 points (100.0% liked)

Linux

55112 readers
486 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml
nooter692@lemmy.ml
MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml
cypherpunks@lemmy.ml
cyclohexane@lemmy.ml
d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz
65
I'm going to talk to my local Repair Cafe about switching people over to Linux because of W10 EOL. Is there anything I should mention so they take it on board? (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 day ago by tombruzzo@hexbear.net to c/linux@lemmy.ml
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I saw the End of 10 campaign on other parts of Lemmy and wanted to get involved:

https://endof10.org/

I also do some tech support work on the side helping people at an aged care facility with their devices. I see people using their Windows computers and I just feel they would have such an easier time using Linux.

I reached out to my local Repair Cafe about End of 10 to help people switch over if they don't want to get a new device. They're happy to talk about so I want to make sure I clearly explain the value of switching to Linux, both to hold on to existing devices and move away from corporate spyware.

Here are the things I thought I'd bring up when I talk to them: -Linux is free, but not in the 'you're the product' way -Linux Mint is made to look and work similar to Windows to make the switch easier -It works on older hardware and takes less resources, so can often feel like a performance boost to an existing PC -No tracking or telemetry so what you do on your computer is private -Linux can cover the general computer use case of using a browser, word processing, image viewing, and maybe some light graphic design -There are free software equivalents to just about all major software you use on your PC -The package manager makes it easy to download and maintain software -You can give Linux a 'free trial' by bootloading into it before installing -You can dual partition so you can still run windows if you don't want to make the full switch -Games and Windows software can run on Linux with WINE if necessary -There's a huge community you can reach out to if you're stuck with anything Linux

I was thinking of using the analogy that software on Linux is a bit like shopping at Aldi. It doesn't have the major brands but there are free alternatives that do the same thing, and are often better than the paid versions you're used to.

I'd also bring an old laptop I put Mint on for my kids to play with. It's from 2012 and Windows stopped supporting the wireless drivers. It could connect to the internet with Mint right out of the box so that's one device already saved from e-waste with Linux.

Is there anything else you'd mention? I know there's deeper technical reasons why Linux is better but I want to keep it high level as I'm not sure of the technical proficiency of the people I'll be talking to.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Mordikan@kbin.earth 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Honestly, most of your selling points while completely valid don't matter in this case I think. The problem is that is a repair business doing work for non-technical people and those are technical selling points. For example, my wife is allergic to tech. She wouldn't care about dual-booting or telemetry. She just wants the simplest possible solution that she doesn't have to think about. She's bored having to listen to me talk about projects/work and while she has to have a PC for daily life, that doesn't mean she wants to have to have it. She just needs it and needs it to be easy.

The biggest selling points to her would be:

  1. It just works
  2. She doesn't have to relearn things (meaning the layout and where to click on things)
  3. It runs her stuff (literally all browser based applications)
  4. Her files and pictures are there

That's it. I think the biggest positive sell to repair shop users would be "its just like Windows". They don't need it to be better, they just need it to be the same.

[–] tombruzzo@hexbear.net 1 points 20 hours ago

You're right. I should highlight the 'it just works' side more. And how that title has been taken from Windows and applies to Linux now.

I'd point out to people how Mint looks like windows but: -No Onedrive popups -No Office popups -No Copilot popups -No update popups -Settings are all in one place -File explorer works the same, but looks nicer

And that yeah, you don't have to relearn things. There are minor changes because it's a different system, but you'll come to find things make more intuitive sense once you get used to it.