Big YouTubers And Linux - So Little Coverage And It's Usually Bad!

WARNING: Rant incoming! To quote the Allman Brothers, "Lord, I was born a ramblin' man..."

Why do the really big gaming YouTubers and tech YouTubers rarely mention Linux, and when they do cover Linux, why do they struggle so much to accurately depict Linux?

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[fabianaguilar]

Totally agree. It is even more annoying when you see them using VLC, OBS, Firefox and other open source software, but make jokes about running Linux for the OS.

[iamlinux]

Big youtubers are chasing trending topics to earn $$ . Don't expect anything from them but shallow information and click baits!

[JessicaFEREM]

You can easily tell when the person on YouTube doesn't know what they're talking about especially in the linux world.

[cellone]

When I watched LTT video about an overpriced USB linux live OS, which was based on Lubuntu. Then says it takes an hour to make a linux installation USB, I looked in disbelief. It takes like 5/10 minutes.

[ChrisTitusTech]

Glad you covered this topic. I saw the LTT video with an old version of Linux on a thumb drive... Linus's conclusion made me cringe so hard. He actually recommended this overpriced, out-dated, Linux distribution. It was just sad and infuriating.
*On the topic of big tech channels selling out* ... It always comes around and those just there to collect money and not do serious reviews will eventually catch up to them. Also, you gotta remember these "Big" tech channels are just kids that started YouTube very young. They just don't have the experience. LTT for instance, it is painfully obvious based on how they set up their offices and their rack in the server room is the biggest cringe that it just broke my heart. I don't even think they set up a SAN for their storage and it is a kid with simply no experience and a ton of capital to blow. It does make for some good entertainment because I watched it... and it had the suspense of a horror movie.
*As far as no good Linux coverage* ... This is actually a quite easy one to answer. I'm very new to the YouTube and Linux community and there is simply not much money to be made from Adsense for Linux content. Here are a case and point: I have roughly 150 Linux Videos and about 10 Windows Videos. My current Adsense % is this: 40% income from a handful of Windows videos vs 60% Linux videos. The Windows videos just make a lot more money because it reaches a broader audience and the ads are worth more. So why make Linux videos? Because, Linux is the future. Imagine if you create 500 videos that explain Linux inside and out and 5 years from now Linux gets a larger and larger user base. Boom, you will be the "big" YouTuber now. You just have to suffer through low ad revenue for several years.
*My Strategy* - Keep creating educational Linux content that helps new users and keep expanding my own knowledge of Linux. Worst case, Linux stays were it is at, but I now have a vast body of work with Linux and that has tremendous value in the workforce. I'll make the occasional educational Windows video with Linux tie-ins to bridge Windows users and increase Linux awareness and adoption. This is the overall theme of my channel and my goals.

[johanb.]

I did embrace it. I never thought I would ever be a Linux user, but I am. And very happy with it. I don't care at all if Linux will forever be a niche. If Peppermint stays this good, I will keep using it.

[moeTLD]

how can you say something so controversial yet so true
im so proud of this community

[orion]

If only they actually knew about linux, maybe they could cover it accurately 😅

[joehigashi]

Wendel and Level1tech do great linux open source videos.

[panosid]

"Embrace being the 2%"

Totally agree with that!

[ZuluEchoRomeoOscar]

Absolutely - I despair of the 'how can we make Linux mainstream' questions... Who wants to be mainstream?

[nickodimcherepanov]

13:00
I fully admit and accept it.
FOSS comunity must be lesser than casual users of proprietary software.
Pareto principle, 20/80.
In our case it is even 1/99.
Most of us are power users. It is an elitism of some kind.
Once something becomes mainstream - it turns into garbage.
I want FOSS to be for power users.
Maybe the next statement is going to be very debatable and insulting...
Noob computer users we have in 90% of computer users nowadays SHOULD NOT have ever have an access to the internet and software.

[amrsoll]

Disclaimer : this is a tl;dr rant that opposes what DT said in the video.
1. I think you got it wrong about Linus. Although we can only take his word for it, his channel has had several videos detailling the way they make money. Most of the time, they will not take money for the product they review, but get paid through a sponsor spot (obvious and short ad). When they do get paid for reviewing a unit, it is often bigger brands, and it is clearly assumed.
2. I think that bigger companies should be paying for sponsor spots or whatever to youtubers, so that the youtubers can also afford having more interesting episodes about smaller/FOSS products. It is up to us to punish those who just shell out the same paid content.
3. About the pathetic youtubers that can't fix what is broken in their config : It is not the fault of the youtuber that their stuff on Linux breaks. They talk for the 90% of the non-Linux/techheads that expect their machine to simply work. I feel that as long as we are not able to provide the people with a safe and stupidly simple environment for their needs, then we are not mature enough to provide that service to that 90%. Should the mainstream tech youtubers really be promoting it?
4. About Linux being a niche platform : Of course it is a celebrity contest. I don't really want to be flagged as a nerd for using Linux. Not that I don't like being called a nerd, but because it is a shame that people get discouraged of using this amazing software.

However, there is a lot of truth to what you say. Especially the duty of the tech youtubers to at least be factualy correct about tech (and wether they like it or not, Linux is growing in importance)

[aris]

DT, I think you touched on the main reasons for lack of coverage. Marques is a Mac/Apple guy and Linus Media is a windows shop. You would think that with heavy use of servers they would have switched over to Linux or BSD on the back end but they do not. They have not lived on Linux and probably lack knowledge. The lack of coverage also highlights the main weaknesses of Linux. The lack of video production software and gaming. There are solutions like Kdenlive, but they are very different from Adobe/ Apple products, which are dominant on the market. Gaming is also a problem because AAA titles do not get a launch on Linux. What has no excuse is that none of the big youtubers show the advantages of running Linux on an old PC. This would help promote Linux and help out a lot of people.

[soumiksen]

@DistroTube - What you say @11:29 that how linus tech tips in his video mentions that to install Latest Graphics driver on linux, grab the latest drivers from Nvidia or AMD's website.

That is incorrect. He clearly mentions that drivers to grab from manufacturer's website is just for windows.
But then he also mentions and demonstrates that for linux distro its a simple apt-get terminal command

Please see the video again where @2:54 he states the same as the aforementioned

[horatiumarasescu]

The voice of ration and cold logic and hard facts. And as usual, you don't have to raise your voice, high-pitched and fast talking when you are right and very sure about your tech knowledge.
Derek, hats off to you sir, this video just went from interesting to therapeutic.
Wendell is the only exception from the rule, his big channel is borderline wizardry about Linux and tech in general.

[mr_beezlebub]

I think the best slightly big YouTubers who covered Linux well are Level1Techs and Craft Computing. Wendell always does a good job. And Craft Computing's recent video where he shows of a PC he specifically built for Linux and how it performs is very well made and shows how easy it is to get straight to gaming on Ubuntu.

[arun]

He specifically said that he doesn’t get paid to review stuff he even showed his revenue streams I don’t know where you’re getting that from. You show no proof of him excepting money for review when he has clearly stated that he does not do that it’s your word against his. You accuse him of unfairly representing Linux when you are doing the same thing to him

[POIONX]

Another great video, gratz on 25k Subs :) This channel is really coming along nicely!

[wacesferpit]

If you want to unlock the Big Channel path you cannot have points in Intelligence, maybe Speech or Illusion