> Refusing to support my friends' and family members' devices that do not run Linux is the next step in my personal fight against products that run bad software<p>> So, when my mother, sister, brother, or anyone else comes to me begging to have his or her computer fixed<p>Sorry to be blunt, but you sound like an terrible person with an over-dimensioned ego.<p>If you do not want to support your family, fine - no need to announce it to the world. You are free to do that of course, but you have to bear the consequences of people saying <i>"what a [put your favourite expletive here]"</i> instead of <i>"what a wise person to battle against mighty [put your least-favourite tech here]"</i>.<p>I support my parents with their tech even if it is often full of things I would not have used. I roll my eyes up and fix it. And ask them not to do this anymore, and they still sometimes do.<p>This is not that different from them telling me, 40 years back, to not do this and that. And me still doing it. Boy, I am really, really glad they did not decide to stop supporting me until I grow up :)<p>Honestly, read what you wrote again and take a step back to say "ok, this sounds really bad".<p>PS. when you gain back a lot of time for not supporting these technical noobs, make sure to fix your site that has plenty of problems - it does not look good for an "Itinerant Engineer" who built the impressive number of 11 web sites.
> The only things really stopping average people from using Linux are ignorance of the issues and laziness.<p>Or, y'a know, they upgraded their system but the new version of the kernel isn't compatible with the bluetooth device unless they patch the bios, but the bios patching tool from the vendor somehow destroys the grub entries due to an unrelated bug, requiring them to boot in a recovery disk, mount the encrypted volume, map the lvm volumes, chroot and ...<p>I've used Linux exclusively on the desktop for almost 20 years. Has it gotten much better? Yes. Are there still deal intractable problems for normal users which aren't Linux's fault but nonetheless represent deal breakers? Also yes.
> The only things really stopping average people from using Linux are ignorance of the issues and laziness.<p>Actually a big part of it is that its community is full of people like this.<p>...and a huge number of other reasons, but having a high probability of encountering a condescending asshole whenever you engage with the community certainly doesn't help.
“ I spend probably 2% or less of my computer time now in front of Windows computers. I use Zoom a little”<p>So, Windows user. I spend 0% of my time in front of Windows computers and still wouldn’t refuse to help a non-Linux user. Also zoom is available for Linux. Hypocrite.
I told my family 20 years ago that I only would administrate Unix-like operating systems. Not because I am in a holy war or because I am an evangelist or I am an a missionary. I am just used to Linux configuration and I find Windows administration frustrating.<p>This year me mother told me that after 20 years she had to use Windows 10 (instead of her usual XFCE desktop) somewhere. It was horrible, she told me. She didn't got it to do what she wanted and it bothered her with annoying ads and other nonsense.<p>As you can imagine, this made me feel - somewhat smugly - vindicated.
You know… I stopped supporting Windows years ago. I switched to macOS in 2008, but it might as well have been Linux for all my family knew.<p>As the years when by, it became easier and easier to say I honestly didn’t have a clue how Windows worked anymore. It helps that my nearest relatives are 8 hours away by car.<p>Eventually they stopped calling for support. They weren’t interested in switching to something I could help with.<p>I could have been more pushy, but I have enough problems with the world that I don’t have the energy to go on a religious crusade to make people use an operating system that is unsupported by most consumer repair places.
I decided to stop supporting non-Unix devices long ago. Microsoft ops/adminsys are gods, honestly. Cryptic messages, error logs that disappear, interfaces everywhere (i'm not against GUI but sometime its too much). I can't really configure networking since XP (or windows 7 i guess), it changed too much. Things that takes one hour to understand with most Unix can take a week for windows (versioning multiple php and multiple php-crypt, what a pleasure...).<p>Anyway, Mac are sufficently unixy that i don't have that much issues. I recommand chromebooks for non tech-savy people now and i did install linux mint on my grandmother PC shortly before she passed away (no relation hopefully), it was great and i had a remote access without installing a scam enabler. If you don't mind explaining things to your grandmother, this is a great idea. I did shortcut her three apps (and did aliases in the terminal to show her how i work usually, i don't think she ever used ctrl-alt-T after that day but still, great times). 100% would do again.
> Most people are too hard-headed to listen to common sense or do what is in their own best interests. I am simply doing my small part to encourage average people to see the light, even if just my friends and family.<p>This could just as well be used as an argument why the homeless/drug addicts/etc shouldn't get help. "If we don't help them, we're encouraging them to see the light and take care of themselves". No, probably not, we're just being assholes.<p>It's fine to tell people (even people you know and love) that you won't play support for their computer troubles because you're busy or hate using Windows, but framing it as "I'm actually helping you by not helping you" is weird.
Years ago I decided to stop supporting my family's non-Apple devices. They now all have Macs and iPhones and I don't have to support anything - it just works (they've somehow avoided all the hardware issues a lot of people have been having, but I can't support hardware anyway, so it's still a win for me).<p>Most of their issues nowadays are with their routers but they know how to solve those problems: a reboot or reset. I have to help my mom with a reset. That's about all the family tech support I have to do these days.<p>HN can complain about Apple all they want but for non-computer savvy consumers it's a very good experience.
My mother-in-law has a computer which she uses to play card games and surf the web. Some family members kept installing trash on it, sometimes with malware. I proposed we switch to Linux so that they wouldn't manage to install anything on it.<p>We tried Ubuntu and it has been a tremendous success. I even found my sister-in-law happily using LibreOffice on it one day.<p>People's reservations towards Linux are completely unfounded (nowadays).
I have 23 years of Linux experience (desktop, server, embedded platforms, web app stacks). I also work in the real world where idealistic jerks like this are quickly out of a job.
A question to those dismissing the author: would you help a family member sign up to some random app that tracked their keystrokes, sent them highly targeted ads, sold their personal data to 3rd parties, interrupted their work by forcing them to reboot their devices and constantly violated their privacy?<p>No? Then why is it okay to encourage it when it's Microsoft? This is how deeply ingrained brand loyalty is, to the point that like Stockholm's syndrome people will think up any excuse to enable their oppressor.<p>How is it in your benefit in any way to keep cheerleading the corporate behemoth, rather than plucky newcomer who only has your freedom and best interests in mind?
I just say (honestly) that I'm not very familiar with windows anymore.<p>I've slowly started saying the same thing with MacOS as it's getting longer and longer since I used it, but I'm still relatively competent from helping colleagues out.<p>I did install Linux on my partners machine ever since a forced windows update (I think it was to windows 10?) bricked her previous laptop.<p>For me, part of it is I'm generally unhappy having to fix windows machines. They make me somewhat frustrated and I find it relatively simple to diagnose and fix any Linux problems, even on "foreign" distros.
Clicked Home on his website and it took me to a page does not exist error. He should spend less time moaning about his family's choice of OS and more time fixing his website.
"Oh yeah I sold my Macbook and Dell PC after Steve refused to help me fix a problem I had with Zoom"<p>This achieves nothing except make your family think less of you. Get over yourself.
I am fairly cheerful in helping family, and a few of my best friends, with computer problems, regardless of what they have.<p>I appreciate the author’s privacy preserving preferences, but I almost always recommend to non-tech family and friends that they consider getting a Chromebook or iPad as their only non-phone device. I don’t think that most people need a general purpose device so why not just make everyone’s lives easier.<p>The Chromebook recommendation may seem crazy from a privacy viewpoint, but if you show people how to configure their Google account to only store YouTube history for 30 days while setting all other data retention to zero days, use Duck Duck Go, turn off location, and use the web version of Proton Mail and Calendar then people have a system that is cheap, useable, and is not so bad from a privacy perspective. I have many different computer systems (4 laptops running Linux, 3 MacBooks, iPad), but use a small Lenovo Duet Chromebook with my recommended setup for much of my casual web browsing, reading eBooks, and using streaming media. I accept any criticism for using Google services, but they do have useful services (I love GCP, and use Hetzner, AWS, and Azure as second choices) and with some care I feel like I can use Google in a reasonably privacy respecting way.
Been there, done that. It's a great way to drive your high-flying Linux ideals head-first into the brick wall of average user reality. I highly recommend it. For best results, try this:<p>1) Get your grandmother/grandfather onto Linux. Set up their facebook and show them how to upload photos they scanned in at Walmart. (This is level 1. If you run into problems here, you're not ready for harder levels).<p>2) Get your parents to use it. Show them how to install programs from the app store, like Chrome, and get them set up with turbotax, youtube, banking, etc. They'll probably want mahjong or something, so show them how to install that.<p>3) (Final boss) Get your semi-computer-literate cousins to use Linux. They've been using Windows since childhood. They know how to install games via Steam. Show them how to use WINE/Proton, how to use LibreOffice to write book reports, how to use GIMP to tough up their photos. Show them how to upgrade Java and Minecraft.
As someone who maintains 6 computers for 5 Ubuntu machines family members (7 to 80yo) I can just testimony that it isn't painless.<p>Here are recurrent issues:<p>* printing (hplip): paper might come now or tomorrow<p>* UI changes<p>* UEFI boot destroyed by an Ubuntu minor upgrade<p>At least running Flash is not a problem anymore.<p>The good side: no hardware upgrade required for years.
Linux, and all free software, is at its heart a gift economy. It's all about making amazing things, solving problems, and working together as a community to make everything better together so everyone can have better choices.<p>So my feeling is that if you're claiming to represent and evangelise that community, using obstinate tribalism to justify commoditising your familial love isn't the way to win hearts and minds. Seems, to me, like a way to perpetrate some pretty terrible stereotypes.<p>Computers aren't inherently useful, or good. They are just boxes with a number inside. If we use them to make people we love happy, only then are they useful and good.
For about 20 years I've been "the IT guy" for my friends and family. I also stopped using Windows during the Windows 7 era, and I've never used Windows 8+ on my own hardware.<p>Reliance happens because you demonstrate both the willingness and knowledge to fix something. I'm still willing, but I'm utterly lost in front of a Windows 10 PC. <i>That</i> is what now makes people less likely to reach out to me for help.
> The only things really stopping average people from using Linux are ignorance of the issues and laziness.<p>I once had an interesting conversation with a chap who wanted to install Windows on his tablet. He said it would be easier to configure Wifi.<p>I asked him if he knew how to configure Wifi on Windows. He did not.<p>People's connection do Windows is not really explained by familiarity or ease of use.
> Perhaps my fellow nerds and geeks will call me naive.<p>I don’t think it’s naive, but the way it’s being presented as, “I’m doing this for your own good” is obstinate and frustrating in a way I wouldn’t want to be towards my friends and family.
I did this about 18 years ago. I maintain my father's computers remotely, and never touch my mother's computers, because she wants to use Windows.<p>Everyone is comfortable with this arrangement.
Quite interesting.<p>Newbie question: In the corporate world, where for instance people need to run QuickBooks, what would be the solution? Is there a way to wrap QuickBook in a container/emulator?
> I have Decided to Stop Supporting My Family's Non-Linux Devices<p>Oh dear, however will they recover from this?<p>> I have no illusions that by writing this article I will be firing the first shot in the war of the nerds against big tech.<p>Really? Ego much? Plenty of shots have been fired for decades.<p>> I spend probably 2% or less of my computer time now in front of Windows computers. I use Zoom a little and rarely play two Windows PC games.<p>Good for you, but don't hold others to that. If they use Windows 100% of the time then that's their choice.<p>If you can't sell Linux on its benefits then I really doubt refusing to help your loved ones with Windows issues is going to change their minds. They'll just find help elsewhere and likely despise Linux users like you more.
> But, my feeling is that many Linux distributions are now only slightly harder to use than MacOS or Windows. The only things really stopping average people from using Linux are ignorance of the issues and laziness. They simply are not willing to spend the time to understand their need for privacy and good software. Nor are they willing to spend a few hours learning the basics of Linux.<p>They will just Google it themselves on their Windows or MacOS machine, rather than installing whatever 'Linux' distro you want them to.<p>Why waste time installing a 'Linux' distro when WSL exists and they can continue to use Windows but have a Linux ecosystem sitting in a VM.<p>> If we wait much longer, we may lose Linux as a viable option.<p>Exactly. it's called Fuchsia and it is going to replace Android and ChromeOS. Better hurry up then.<p>> But, I can no longer help my friends and family members to get into bed with the big-tech python that is slowly unhinging its jaw in preparation for devouring them. If they choose to lie down, I can do nothing about it, but I can refuse to continue helping them into bed!<p>Googling will help them instead and you don't need to 'install Linux' for that. So what is your point?