Ease of use tangent debate

Chat about Zorin
1

Yes, you should need to know. Driving a car, you should need to know whether it takes diesel or gasoline.

A human brain has the capacity to hold upwards of two and a half petabytes.
Knowledge won't hurt you.

You do need to know your base system files so that you can manage software installs and conflicts.
This is particularly important on Gnome, where Gnome Extensions are used, as they are fragile and dependent on Gnome Version.

I do grasp and Understand that Microsoft wants to push the narrative that the End User should remain willfully ignorant in order to keep them controllable and make the end user willingly give up control.

We don't do that Here.

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We are not vegetables :smiley:

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3

Well, to stay in the same analogy, to use (not design and egineer!) a car, I need to know which fuel it takes, but I don't need to know how to refine oil to make that fuel, nor how a gearbox works internally, but that is exactly how it feels when switching to Linux. If you tell me you want a Dana 60 axle for your offroad rig, I know you are not an average user but a nerd. An average user deosn't care and doesn't need to know what axles his car has.

Assuming that Microsoft (or Apple) want users to be ignorant is ignorant in itself. Users don't want to have to know that much just to use a PC. Think about the success of smartphones. If they were as complicated to use as Linux (or Windows), that success would never have happened.

And it's not about user stupidity either, it's about convenience and ease of use.
Imagine you would have to know how oil (or gas) need to be mixed with air to burn cleanly and efficiently in your central heating and how to adjust that manually. You don't need to know that to get your house warm, right? And you shouldn't.

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You need to know when to change the oil. You need to monitor brake fluid.

If you are in charge of the vehicle, the onus is on you to ensure its maintenance and safe operation.
No one expects you to be a physical engineer to know when to change your oil.

You do not need an advanced degree in fluid mechanics to know to replace your wiper blades.

No one expects you to have a full grasp of oil refinement in order to know which fuel to use.

No expects you to know the reduction gear ratio on your Dana 60 in order to know to keep your tire air pressure maintained.

No, it does not feel like you need to be a computer engineer in order to switch to Linux.
Millions of downloads from average non technical people demonstrate this on Zorin OS alone.

And when someone runs into an issue that is beyond the average, they come here and they seek knowledge.

-chuckle- People complain about their locked down, hard to configure smartphones, all the time. They want the benefits of having one, but lament the cost of having one.

This is a nice fallback, but the issue is that your rather extreme exaggerations are not aligned with reality.

Your suggestion was that a regular user should not need to know what their desktop environment is.
The answer is: Yes, they should.

"Ease of use" does not mean "disengage brain and all personal responsibility."

You do not need a Degree in Software Engineering to know your desktop environment.

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Ignorance is the gateway for hackers, phishing, spamming, and identity theft.

And when they have a problem, it's never their fault because no one explained it to them, and besides, "you know, computers aren't my thing."

"I just want it to work, the rest..."

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No and no. A modern car will tell you that and you don't need to do it yourself, that's part of the regular maintenance at your dealer. Haven't had to check those things myself in over 30 years.

For many people it does feel like that (noone that I know, except for my in-law who's also an IT professional has made the switch from Windows to Linux, although some tried. But people generally don't seek knowledge, they want simplicity and convenience. Average users, not nerds or IT professionals.

Millions of downloads, yes. But which percentage of those downloads actually ended in users permanently switching to Linux??? The download numbers say absolutely nothing other then that there is a certain interest in maybe trying it and changing, not a certain change.
Even the number of installs says nothing about whether those installs actually persist and are used after a short time.

What percentage of iPhone users complains about that? Most don't care about that and prefer ease of use, or they wouldn't pay the price for an iPhone.
I, shortly, was an iPhone user too but because of the closed system (and the prices) I quickly switched back to Android. But I don't pretend to be the average user.

One could say exactly that about you.

No, because they don't want to have to know that.
Ask a thousand smartphone users for the version of their OS and the name of the current interface. Only a very few will be able to tell you and most will say "who cares?"

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I can't blame anyone for that, even though it caused me a lot of nerves dealing with other peoples computer problems. But would your mechanic blame you because you go to his shop for repairs instead of doing them yourself?

Plumbing isn't my thing. I'm ignorant about plumbing. But I need and use plumbing all the time. So, should I know more about it? No. I only need to know how to open and close my water taps.

Medicine isn't my thing. I can't stand to see blood. But I need medical care occasionally. Should I therefore study medecine? No. I only need to know some basics (!), like how to check fever.

It's all about what level of knowledge is needed to use something. Just to use something should only require a minimal level of knowledge.

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You're comparing computers to plumbing, but your plumbing doesn't expose you to an empty account, identity theft, or anything like that. I give up. And if you need help, instead of criticizing advice, listen to people who know what they're talking about. In short, I don't care about your problem.

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9

This sums up the projection above, quite well.

@CDR0224, everyone has choices.

As you participate in this forum, the members that seek to help others have a choice as to whether to invest their time and effort into it or not.

The more that you insist that you do not want to know anything, do not want to invest any effort into your own computer and your own interests... The less others are going to be willing to help you.

There is a saying. "Give a man a fish..." You know the saying.

That applies strongly here.

You see, we are the old timers. We all know how easy Zorin OS is to use. Most of use have been around for many years, helping Zorin OS users, those that had a lot of trouble and those who had minor trouble. We know the patterns.

And your pattern... Is actually a rare one.
What defines your scarcity is your insistent resistance to the learning necessary of a new and unfamiliar system.
A new user may not know a detail they need to know... Like what GPU they are using.
And you may not know your desktop environment.
And that is ok.

Your scarcity is in that everyone else asks how to know.
And you... insist that you should not need to know at all.

Dig deep. How can anyone help a person to fish... if they insist they do not need to eat?
If they do not want to help themselves?

We are a pretty upbeat group here, that gets our jollies by helping other people, smoothing the transition and enjoying watching people open their minds and discover new things.
It's like a beautiful sunrise.
But we draw the line at holding hands.

As you take your own efforts to switch away from Windows OS seriously, please supply Your Fair Share of the Effort. An upbeat go-getter attitude, perhaps.
A bit of willingness to operate your machine, instead of being beholden to it or other people.

It's your choice.

I have separated the needless debate out of your help topic and I am closing it to further replies.
Please take that opportunity, where no one is trying to invent ways of defending their opinions... to self-review, your motives, your intent and your desire to reclaim your system or...

Be beholden to what you kind of say you actually want:

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