Outside looking in- why your average windows user will never use Linux.

Okay so that title might have been a bit bait-ish but it still kind of stands.

Hi. I’m a member of Gen Z, the generation that has grown up around the most technology, yet is probably the least “tech savvy” of all. I’ve always loved Linux. I’ve always loved the open source community and watching videos about distros and other Linux related content. The only problem was that I never had the money to buy a laptop, growing up in a household where the peak of technology was a dish cable TV box. So you can imagine how excited I was when I finally had the money to buy my own laptop for the first time.

The first thing I did was download Rufus and an ISO for Nobara Linux. I already had an image in my head: a fully riced out desktop with a stylish terminal running all of the apps I’d always wanted to use back when I didn’t own a computer. And, to be frank, I was very wrong.

A few minutes into setting up my apps, it wouldn’t boot. I tried troubleshooting, nothing. “Okay,” I thought to myself. “I’ll just switch distros.” So I switched to Ubuntu. Getting the OS onto my laptop was seamless. This gave me hope that everything would work without a hitch. And it did, for a short while.

Then came the moment I needed to install an app. I wanted to install Zen Browser and get it onto my desktop. Downloading the file? Flawless. The problem came when I needed to actually get the app onto my desktop. I tried looking at tutorials and reading Reddit threads. Nothing helped.

“Am I too stupid to do this?” I questioned, probably. But that’s the problem. I feel like until Linux, or any Linux distribution, becomes easy to use for idiots like me, how can we be sure it’ll be easy to use for the masses? Is it completely my fault? Probably. And I’ve seen how some of the community can get: no helpful advice other than “user error” or “skill issue.” Great. I know that I’m dumb, but please help me.

I’m now selling that laptop and using another one with Windows 11. Is it as fast or as pretty as Ubuntu? No. But it works, and I understand it, even for an idiot like me. And if I don’t understand something, I can ask a question and the answer will be right there.

I still love GNU Linux. I still love its history, and I still admire Linus Torvalds. And I still have hope for the future. I still have hope that one day every distro will have the same level of support as Windows and be just as user friendly, even for dummies like me.

(Ps: please don’t bully me too hard haha)