this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
348 points (97.0% liked)

Linux

48074 readers
868 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 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Anything using the terminal... I once tried to do something on Linux because a friend told me it was great. I gave it another go when it came up on my Chromebook and tried to teach myself. I just don't get it.

I'm not a programmer at all, so anything that involves typing commands is going to baffle me!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

One thing i had to learn when i started to understand how big techs really work, of what that would imply (see chat control) and get passionate about free software, free operative systems and freedom of customization is that freedom itself almost always requires work, the question is: is that a work you're willing to do? for me the answer is a strong YES.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

For the average user all that extra works gives them very little return.

Most people don't want everyday computer use to be work.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Fair.

But I was just giving my perspective as an outsider who stumbled across this post because messing about with the terminal had the opposite affect on me as someone who appreciates the concept of Linux but doesn't really have the level of passion to learn programming for it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I’m not a programmer at all, so anything that involves typing commands is going to baffle me!

When I was in college in the 1990s, non-STEM students regularly learned enough of the Unix command-line to:

  • check their email with pine
  • chat with talk or on IRC
  • write their home page in HTML using pico or joe editors

The command line is something that millions of people have learned; and you can, too!

Go subscribe to Julia Evans' newsletter.