this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
266 points (97.8% liked)
Linux
8960 readers
1132 users here now
A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)
Also, check out:
Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The missing piece here is that people have issues to troubleshoot with windows all the time. The narrative that windows has no problems and Linux does is dishonest from the start.
Edit: the real "not for normies" aspect is installing an operating system from scratch in the first place rather than getting one that is already in a stable configuration out of the box.
No one is saying Windows has no problems.
Yes, they often do... implicitly.
Every time someone pretends that it's a Linux problem that he had to look up and install a certain driver because it "wouldn't work properly out-of-the-box" he is basically lying because guess what... Windows doesn't work properly without the right (externally downloaded) driver, too. Or it required you to install the newest DirectX version for decades before you could even start any game... Yet somehow I never read complains about Windows being unfinished and needing to improve because you could not start gaming out-of-the-box.
I also had massive issues with Bluetooth on Windows 11 (at least early after 11's release) with some Intel WiFi + Bluetooth card.
WiFi worked fine, but Bluetooth would just disappear after reboot and randomly reappear after like 6 or so reboots. I mean, it would just disappear from settings.
It worked fine every time in Mint.
And also a weird thing with a HP printer not automatically installing the drivers. Windows would say it couldn't obtain the drivers, and to download them from manufacturers website. Fine. HP website didn't provide any downloads, stating that it will be automatically installed.
Guess what also worked on Linux with HPLIP.
(I was able to find and install the driver on Windows from driver posted to archive.org)
And I shortly worked at a small PC shop. There were some laptops that came without OS, and customers wanted us to install Windows 11 onto them. Fine. Except, they had no RJ45 connectors, and Windows didn't have the WiFi drivers.
Also pretty annoying, but generally people just don't install Windows, it's already there.
One funny thing, maybe being free is sometimes a disadvantage. I was once met with "What would we sell if not licenses" when I mentioned Linux.
In my opinion that's the main point.
People love to discuss how Linux isn't fit to replace Windows (yet) or how it needs to be more user friendly or how it needs to work better out-of-the box.
Yet in reality 90% of the users couldn't install and properly set up either OS from scratch. But with Windows they simply don't have to as it's already pre-installed and set up. And so they somehow fool themselves into thinking one just runs automatically while the other needs additional work...
Bluetooth in general is just hell.
Don't be dense. That is obviously the heavily implied subtext to these arguments.