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I hate that there is an adverisement for another article every second sentence.
Please just let me read the article in peace and put related stuff below.
HERE IS AN UNSKIPPABLE POPUP TUTORIAL FOR OUR NEW FEATURES! DID YOU KNOW ->>> ->>> ->>>
This feels like an article for non-tech Linux users who hate Windows and want their bias confirmed.
Ok, that's what it felt like
To me, it felt like an obvious imitation of the myriad of articles that often have someone try Linux out, shortly, and then – often with obvious not understanding or just a surface level insight – proudly and definitively stating (or, at least, subtextually implying) that Linux was interesting but clearly not ready to be a Real™ operating system, etc.
But it seems most didn't read it as that, either.
Ah, maybe! I don't have much experience with those kinds of article. If so, it probably nailed the tone such that I fell for it lmao
I installed Opera and used it exclusively.
Why do people use Opera? It's a proprietary Chrome fork owned by a Chinese company.
I love Vivaldi, which is like a spiritual improvement on Opera. I switched a few years back, and once you get used to the UI and the key shortcuts it's just such a breeze using the internet. Magnificently customizable, very nice little extras. ALAS! Because Vivaldi is based on Opera which is based on Chromium and Google came out and started blocking or restricting addons (the implementation of Manifest v3 blocks a lot of API block requests that ad blockers rely on), I went back to Firefox. Because fuck that.
There is a good chance that this guy is a bit counter-cultural and does not want to use the obvious version of anything.
Look at the Windows mail client he tried to go with.
There was a lot of BS advertising not long ago about it being a web browser "for gamers", whatever that means.
they still sponsors lots of youtubers and marketing now is on tab grouping (available on most browsers), theming (which is weaker than vivaldi, and maybe zen too) and ai (all browsers can open a web chat app). but they market to people who are using edge or chrome by default, and to them, it looks fancy.
#8 reawakened my nervousness about the lack of virus protection on Linux. With every milestone we celebrate it becomes more likely that malicious people target desktop Linux with their malware, and I don't think the "Linux is inherently secure" mentality helps. I hope clamav's on access scanner is fixed and improved so it becomes commonplace before there's some big newsworthy scandal.
There is virus protection for Linux if you really want it (both free and paid).
They're either targeting businesses (so obscene prices) or clamav, which is buggy
People were saying the exact same thing when I first started using Linux in 1999-ish
"I have never been hacked before. Why would it start happening now?"
No one said that though. What was said was that as more people use Linux we will see more malware. And they've been saying that forever.
Here is an article talking about it from 2003 https://www.theregister.com/2003/10/06/linux_vs_windows_viruses/
If I knew how to search Usenet these days I'm sure I could find something from the 90s
It's not untrue, actually, is common sense that there will be more malware, but it implies Linux's only advantage is security through obscurity.
People have been worrying Linux is going basically become Windows over the next couple of years for 2-3 decades now. Malware is a serious problem that Linux users should take precautions from, but it seems clear by now that what security advantages it has aren't based on obscurity.
Granular permissioned access for apps from trusted supply chains is better than attempting deny lists based on signatures (AV).
I still use it, but I put way more effort into SLSA, securing containers, flatpaks, and limiting their blow back. From there its keeping up with CVEs in ways that do not create more or break functionality.
I will say A LOT of the Linux software ecosystem is was more secure than Window's default.
"Why do people willingly use Windows?"
Because they are brainwashed into thinking it's the easiest platform, and that any problems they encounter are because that's just how computers are.
Sigh, please stop using that argument, it is an easy cop out, and you don't actually help your cause by analyzing the real issue.
The real reason why people willingly use Windows is multifaceted and can be boiled down to a few points.
I am an IT technician, this is what I have seen in the corporate world.
By talking about "brainwashing" you remove most of the actual information that could help you figure out how Linux could be better suited for the masses, and to be frank, using a word like "brainwashing" makes the Linux community seem a bit unhinged/cultish.
Focus on facts, then you can use them to change the actual issue.
You missed reason 0:
- It is the default. Almost all computers today come with Windows. If someone clearly unknowledgeavle were to ask the salespeople in any PC store, they'd say some variation of "just use Windows".
 
Microsoft managed to make sure "a PC" almost exclusively means "A computer [with Windows]".
No, its mostly because 99% of people dont build their own computers and because 99% of prebuilts/laptops come with Windows preinstalled. Thats literally the only reason. If all devices came with Linux preinstalled, most people would be too lazy to switch and buy a windows license. This would change the market share of Linux which would immediately cause companies to prioritize making their software run on linux. Its really just corporate inertia.
It's the de facto standard for many reasons, none of them being individuals' choices. Microsoft paid and pushed for Windows to become the default OS on pretty much all OEM hardware, they lobbied super hard to push people into using Office, they gave massive discounts on licences for corporations, big and small companies.
It has nothing to do with individual choices, it created the problem you mentioned in your comment though. People just became complacent and ignorant because of that, not the other way around.
Whoever put autoplaying video with sound on that website should be executed.
you can and should globally disable autoplay in your browser settings
Me in an alternate timeline where Linux is proprietary and the defacto OS on the majority of computers:
I'm sure there's a gazillion "I tried Linux for a week" articles, and I really like that they turned this one around.
But it has little substance.
He tells us how to add a user in Linux, but "with Windows 11, I pretty much had to sell my soul, do a backflip, promise to kneel at the foot of Microsoft, and learn to fly. OK, that's what it felt like." That's all. I'd have expected technical detail here. The other points aren't much better imho.
That said they're 100% correct on some points, and kinda correct on most others, e.g.: accidentally installing borderline malware through the Windows store is still Windows' fault, if indirectly.
Yeah, kinda disappointing how superficial this article is