this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Things that make people not want to use Linux.
its because people dont know what they want. Linux has the problem that people want different things, ao theres dozens of distros to choose from.
windows is an example of giving little choice, so people begrudgingly "upgrades" because they ultimately dont really know what they want.
tldr, linux can be choice paralysis. single os is like being forced to drink soylent and only soylent, its got what you need but you might not like it.
Linux's problem is that it's not an OS, and so suggesting people use Linux doesn't give them much advice.
The next problem is that linux based OSs are generally open source, which means it can be forked any number of times at any point in time.
There's this super awesome and super confusing think in open software where you don't have to use the thing you are given. Want to use facebook? Must use their app. Want to use reddit? Pretty much must use their app, etc.
But if you want to use Lemmy or Piefed, there are a dozen good choices, none are the wrong answer. Want to use Jellyfin? Well I connect with Kodi on my TV, Swiftfin on my mother's, the Android Jellyfin app on my in-laws' TV, Findroid (movies/TV) or Finamp (music) on my phone, etc. You don't like an app you can still use the service just try another app or make your own. This is awesome, but super confusing to non-technical people.
Linux distros are the same. There are dozens of popular ones, many of which are based on others, the variety of choices is awesome but for non-technical people they have no idea where to start.
It's less the choice paralysis than the insufferable superiority complex. Options are great. Wading through a sea of people who think they're better than everyone is not.
Hard disagree. My experience here hasn't been that anyone thinks they're better, they just give recommendations based on their preferences. The problem is that everyone has different preferences.
Which leaves everyone wondering "wtf... There's too many choices and I'm no closer to a decision after I've asked for help than before."
Hell... In my case I was given MORE options after asking for help. In the end, that opened my eyes up to options that were better for my use case, but a lot of people just want to be told "use this and be happy". There's so much going on in everyone's day to day that having to put thought into something they just want to work is exhausting.
That's what windows gives people. The ability to be happy with what they have and not have to put any thought into it.
I am, of course, speaking for the majority out there. The people here, generally speaking, won't be phased by that so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt if it doesn't apply.
But yea... Analysis paralysis is 100% a thing and stops people from ever making the leap.
I feel like I'm starting to see it die down some. There'll always be pockets but it seems when people ask for which distro they just get advice and not flame wars as much