Who should use Linux?

After the Linux Challenge and various other videos showing who should NOT use Linux, lets talk about who SHOULD use Linux.

[PullUps]

I've been working IT help desk for 8 years and when someone asks me which OS is the best my answer is always the same:

All computers are horrible and terrible if you don't know how to use them.

[RegErvin]

I know exactly what you mean... I remember when I discovered Slackware 3.2 back in '92 and fell in love with being able to compile and configure my system the way I wanted. Fast-forward to 2022 and I still have the same excitement with this ability. Long live Linuxology‼️💯🏆

[donaldmickunas]

Hey Chris,

What you said today, Linux gives you the opportunity to make it what you want, to create what you want. That was the main reason given for using Linux in the early 2000s when I started. That is what drew me to Linux despite all of the issues and challenges that existed then. That is still what keeps in me Linux. I don't think that Linux is for everyone. It is for people like us. I believe that it was built by people like us. OTB posted a video this weekend that basically said that Linux is fine just as it is. It doesn't have to be THE DESKTOP and IMHO it shouldn't be because it would necessarily have to lose what I love most about it. Great Video and awesome message. You said what has been in my heart for years. 🙂🙂🙂🙂

You said you were a "little burnt" on computers when you started this channel. Go back and look at that first video you did on windows. That guy wasn't just a "little burnt". That guy looked like the walking dead. Linux brought you back to life. Linux brought real joy back into your life. I've watched it happen. I'm a pretty good people reader, sometimes scarey good. 😉

[aelaan]

I build my first arch based plasma OS the hard way, I finally understand now why some distributions do not want to install on a second drive for instance. I love how things are progressing and how much I have learned in the Christmas holidays.

[squky]

I honestly think LTT managed to scare away a lot of people who would've otherwise given Linux a try. Considering how horrible their experience was, maybe that was a good thing. Linux is not for everybody.

[craigw]

Linux is a very satisfying rabbit whole that never ends unless you want it too. There's just something about fine tuning a server, PC, laptop, raspberry, etc to function perfectly with a little bit of research, tinkering and work. Happy New Year Chris.

[meowcula]

*applause* that was a great video, Chris. You put it so perfectly. You are such an excellent ambassador, so inspiring.

I totally get the feeling about being blah on computers, which was how I was feeling and what inspired me to really dive in and use Linux. It gave me back the joy of computing, on a fundamental level, that I really hadn't felt in a long, long time.

I also hear you about final cut pro - I used to work in film as an editor, and that software really made everything happen. It's won engineering emmys (twice) for good reason. I've used premiere and really think it just can't touch FCP.

[harishannamalai]

I found this video discouraging people from using Linux. Linux can be used by people who just want to get things done. My wife, had no problem when I told where the browser was and how to open a Google Doc. It only gets complicated when people put up "walled garden", I believe everyone should use the Freedom of Linux and there should not be barrier of "Technical Aptness".

[techtechuw]

Linux attracts two user types. Granpa's/Grandma's and PowerUsers. Anyone in between are more likely choose Win/Mac.

I have used each of those three for several years. My today's daily driver is KDE/Krohnkite Arch and I feel like I am finally happy with my system.

[WilliamPayneNZ]

I think for me as a computer user. I love computers and I understand the linux user philosophy, but for me I more want to mess around with different hardware and for me I am less about the operating system and more about the work I am doing using software installed on the OS. For example for me its all about the work, whether that be learning to code, an engineering project, or whatever. Having access to Windows, Mac, and Linux I can use whatever platform suits the task I am doing.

[josueveguilla]

Happy New Year 2022 to you too, Chris Titus Tech.

[jonathanellis]

I used Linux as my only OS years ago when Ubuntu actually looked like they could take Linux mainstream. It never happened, as far as I could tell because of the infighting in the community (as usual). I went back to windows, but still try Linux every so often. If anything things have gone backwards. Everything is far to fragmented, and yes I know that's one of the points of Linux (customisation) the Linux community needs to realise however that Linux is never going mainstream without some serious consolidation. Most people just want to sit in front or their PC and for it to just work, and that experience is far more likely for the majority of people on Windows than any flavour of Linux. I really want to be able to switch to Linux, but baring some really serious blunders from Microsoft, Linux is going to remain a niche use case, and I suspect quite a few in the Linux community will be pleased at that prospect.

[AnzanHoshinRoshi]

Thank you, Chris. Me. I love Linux. I love the way my workflow has evolved along with trying different DEs and WMs. I love Linux programs and am a fan of several developers. I love my tools and look forward to learning more and more about them. I love the history of what's GNU and all of the FLOSS I can eat.

[RMTCTL]

Linux, to me, is a return to the actual art of computing. Windows or Mac have their specific use cases where you state: "I use my computer to do X task." That task could be playing games, or editing a video, or writing a novel. The point is, there is some end goal outside of computing that is being considered, and the computer is merely a tool to get that done. It's not always this way, but that's typically the way I see non-Linux users. With Linux, the use case is more "What can I do with my computer? How far can I push it? What is it capable of?" It's more computing for computing's sake. The tool becomes the subject.

I like to participate in off-roading activities, where the end goal is the journey. We build up custom 4x4s for the sole purpose of seeing what they are capable of doing. Sure, your stock Subaru can get you to the trailhead so you can go camping or hiking. But in the 4x4 community, we want to see what our gear is actually capable of. I think this is similar to Linux where the destination is in the journey.

Ham radio is also similar in that hams like to tinker and find out what they (and their equipment) are capable of. There's often a sense that ham radio is useless in today's world of global cell phone communication, but that's not the point to hams. Using their own equipment (that they may very well have built themselves) to communicate with someone around the world without using commercial infrastructure is the challenge and the reward.

[WaynoGur]

My 90 y. o. Mother used Xubuntu for almost a decade before her passing.

[knofi]

Happy New Year, Chris! Best regards from Austria/Vienna :)

[Rbourk]

I love Linux. My old ma age 86 uses Linux. The idea that Linux is somehow not user friendly is a myth.

[tuffgniuz]

Yep, that is what I've come to love about Linux, the fact that I can customize it to my own custom OS. For me, I don't have any use cases for both windows and mac so Linux is all I have been using for the past 5 years.

[davidczepanski]

Great vid, Chris. Watched this a couple of days ago and have just rewatched it again now having been mulling on it over that time. Released on the same day as LTT's final Linux gaming video so maybe you're responding to that (thumbnail??) but your take on who should use linux is excellent. Love your humility and honesty - keep up the great work.

[WilliamPayneNZ]

Great video!! What I want more linux users to admit is like you mentioned the end task of the end user. You talk about creativity and tinkering. For a Linux user their "Project" is Linux in a lot of ways. So as you say they get the creativity and tinkering enjoyment out of linux. However another user may be equally as copmpetent on a computer but their thing that they tinker and create with is editing a video or photo that they shot on their camera, or someone designing a new product, or doing engineering work. Take scientific research for example, a lot done on linux but the reality is to the scientist linux is just the platform their goal and their creative tinkering output is their research.

I just wish people would be more honest that in a lot of ways people use linux because they are interested in linux.