this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 144 points 1 day ago (55 children)

Other than “at gunpoint,” why are you still using Windows?

[–] kionay@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

there is an automatic cutting device used to make crafts projects and the only way to run it is with its manufacturer's software which only runs on windows

I tried to get it to work on Linux and had mixed success just getting it to start, but it failed miswrably at trying to communicate over the USB connection to the device no matter what I did

the only thing that worked was running a windows VM with VirtualBox and that got the connection to work but the experience of operating it became poor so until that device dies or the app gets Linux support (neither happening soon) at least one machine must be windows, and right now getting another PC is prohibitively expensive

[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

Dual boot . You can install most distros non destructively side by side in your current partition. Ubuntu even makes it point and click on install.

[–] CovertOperative@piefed.zip 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Since joining the fediverse, I'm convinced the biggest deterrence for more people joining Linux are its users.

[–] fluxx@mander.xyz 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

True, People can be obnoxious. But you should still try it at some point, there is something to the hype.

[–] CovertOperative@piefed.zip 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I have tried it, and I had more issues with my previous laptop on Mint than I have currently on Windows. Still I'll look at it again once I need a new one.

Edit: So I guess in my case the users didn't deter me, since I wasn't really interacting with the community at any point. I think it's probably more of a threadiverse user thing than a Linux user thing. And yeah I can be obnoxious myself, I just don't expect it to yield results.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 19 hours ago

One key thing with switching is knowing you will have trouble with it at first, because it isn't Windows. You've spent probably decades learning Windows. You can't expect to switch to Linux and automatically understand how it works. Be prepared to learn. Don't expect it to be Windows. Unless your problems were crashes or hardware failing, it's probably just that you didn't have experience with it, and that needs to be ok.

[–] Bipauler@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago

I mean you don't have to wear thigh high socks to use Linux. But they sure do look mighty cozy.

[–] ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 38 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I have a 60TB disk pool with DrivePool software and have no place to put my data and create a Linux based pool. I have to wait until I can afford a new 20TB disk as a temp storage.

Unless there is an easy way to convert a DrivePool to mergerfs etc.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (12 children)

How much data do you have, and are the drives identical? Usually I do in-place conversions by taking some drives offline, creating a degraded raid on them, migrating the data, then wiping the remaining drives and bringing them online in the new raid.

Works for zfs pools too, but you can't create a pool with missing drives, you have to create a temporary block device then mark it offline, then replace it with the real drive once it's free.

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[–] impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I tried installing Linux but something went wrong and it didn't work.

I know better than to ask for basic computer help in a Linux community.

[–] Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Hey man, I frequently post to selfhost and I get nervous everytime thinking someone is gonna berate me, only to be met with support and guidance. I'd give it a try again, and if you encounter issues then post in the Linux comm, Selfhost, or even a more general place like asklemmy.

If someone's an asshole, ignore them, cause they're a sad excuse of a human being.

Try sticking with a simple distro like Mint, Fedora (Silverblue and Bazzite work too), or even Zorin.

Do you know what specifically went wrong?

[–] impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 1 points 16 hours ago

I was trying to do a cinnamon VB, which apparently is not the way to start. I don't really have a second computer to convert, which is the issue.

[–] ranzispa@mander.xyz 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The Linux community seems to me more open than ever before. Possibly due to the influx of new users who's job is not to administer Linux systems.

I wouldn't be too afraid to ask questions. Linux systems are nowadays quite simple to setup and you shouldn't have much problems with getting a simple question replied to.

[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

All it takes is one asshole during the trial phase to turn someone off from the community entirely. Especially a non-technical person trying to come from something like Windows. And there are a lot of vocal ones across the various Linux communities. Especially in the discussions on GitHub, which is where you end up for support on nearly every piece of software not from a massive corporation, unless it's a simple solution or a very common issue.

The number of times I have posted looking for assistance with an issue, or a small suggestion, and gotten some variant of "fix it (or add it) yourself, it's FOSS" over the last couple years is a bit ridiculous.

Most of the community is great and super helpful. But the assholes are prevalent and very vocal.

[–] kolmaskommentoija@sopuli.xyz 1 points 21 hours ago

Ehh, I have not found much help in the communities. You get couple answers shrugging, and nobody knows how to help you. I would also rather just read from a wiki, or something, since human interactions are so exhausting even online to this autistic idiot, but then I lack the technical knowledge (and language terms) to understand what I am even looking for in there.

In the end that lead me troubleshooting (and fixing) the problem using AI - which is kind of fucked up somehow, I would rather not. But a totally non-linux-understanding person could not have done that either, since it still required quite a bit of knowledge, to understand which terminal commands were correct, and would do even close to, what was claimed.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

don't give up :)

at first i tried to get Bazzite (didn't even install), then Mint (apparently it doesn't work well on dual monitors), and what finally worked was CachyOS, and i've been cruising on it for a few months now

[–] laurelraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 15 hours ago

Mint works on dual monitors... I had it running fine on 4, one of which is an ultra wide (X11 can be a bit flaky about different sized monitors, but other than occasional oddity, it didn't cause me issues)

[–] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Pirated games and modded games

[–] wheez@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

I've never had issues with games from gog on Linux. I played new games like cyberpunk and older games like heroes of might and magic 4. I've played modded mount and blade bannerlords, the Japanese mod, no crashes or such. I played pirated uncharted 4 without issues as well. My point is, if this is truly the only reason you're still on Windows, I think you should give it a try. I haven't looked back for a second

[–] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You can pirate and mod games on Linux no worries. I pirated WWE 2k25, and I've modded both Minecraft and Kerbal space program.

[–] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip 1 points 23 hours ago

You can but it's not no worries, especially repacks.

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