When you blog, you can expect to get a bit of feedback. In my case, that's the occasional email or three. When I do receive feedback, about half of those missives suggest that I dive into something that's either outside of my wheelhouse or which really doesn't interest me.

Often, those suggestions are wrapped around fairly techie topics or tools which appeal to a fairly techie audience. The kinds of topics I could never write about with any confidence. The kinds of tools that I'd never use. The topics and tools that Linux and FOSS bloggers cover elsewhere.

When I started this blog, its aim was to show that free and open source software (FOSS for short) is a viable choice for the so-called ordinary computer user. For someone who isn't interested in hardware hacking or compiling their own software or digging deep into system internals. For the person for whom technology isn't a lifestyle.

My goal is to demonstrate that anyone can do whatever they need and want to do using FOSS and Linux (or even FOSS running on Windows or macOS). Regardless of their technical chops, or lack thereof.

And that's what I'm going to continue to do in this space: publish tutorials, tips, roundups, reviews, and the occasional opinion aimed at people like me. While I have, and continue to, publish posts about working at the command line, those posts are aimed at anyone who wants to work in a terminal window. Future ones will as well.

There's room in the Linux and FOSS world for people of all stripes. This space will continue to cater to at least one or two of those stripes.

— Scott Nesbitt

#opinion

You might remember a post I published in this space a while back about my adventures with Zorin OS. A throwaway comment in that post surprised me with the bit of attention that it garnered.

The comment? That I've never installed Linux in a dual boot setting. Ever. A few people got in touch asking me why. And, before you ask, those weren't snarky or accusatory comments. Which leads us into what you're reading at this moment.

So why have I never done a dual boot installation of Linux in all my years of using it? The answer is simple: I've never seen or had the need to do that.

When I started installing Linux on my computers (as opposed to when I bought laptops with Linux preinstalled on them), those computers usually ran Windows. Which I wanted to escape. So, I replaced Redmond's operating system with a better one. At least, one that was (and continues to be) better for me.

On the rare occasion that I needed to use a Windows application, I ran that application in a virtual machine or used CrossOver to run it. As time passed, so did any occasional need to run anything Windows on my computers.

On top of that, I've never had a need to dual boot between Linux distros. That's mainly because I'm not, and never have been, a distro hopper. I focus on using one Linux distribution and one Linux distribution only. For the most part, I'm loyal to that distro until I find a compelling reason or six to switch. Usually, there's a gap of years between those switches. So, I don't need to have, say, elementary OS and Arch Linux installed side-by-side on the same laptop. My inner geek doesn't need that much of a hug.

Maybe in my non-techie brain there's also a bit of a block about partitioning hard drives. I'm sure there's a corner of the lump of gray inside my head that worries about what could go wrong or whether or not dual booting will work. Yeah, I know ...

But in the end, I have no use case for dual booting. If I want to give a Linux distro a look, I'll run it using a bootable flash drive. Doing that is usually more than enough to get a good feel for that distribution and whether or not I want to use it.

— Scott Nesbitt

#linux #opinion

You might remember a recent post, in which I discussed my new laptop. It's been a long while since I've written a post like that and, to be honest, I'd forgotten about the kind of reaction a post like that can provoke.

In this case, it was the (almost expected) I don't/can't understand why ..., I'd never use/buy ... comments that a handful of people so graciously sent me via email. Comments pretty much telling me that my choice was the wrong one. That my purchase was the wrong one. That I had better options. Alla that kind of thing.

Those kinds of comments demonstrate a very narrow way of thinking about technology. Those kinds of comments illustrate a very narrow understanding of how people use technology and what they need. Those kinds of comments are filtered through the needs and use cases of those making the comments.

Guess what? Those needs, those use cases aren't mine. They're not universal. Some people seem to find it difficult to believe, but different people use computers in different ways. Different people need and use different software. Different people need and use different devices. They do things differently from you. From me. From my correspondents.

Not everyone who uses a computer, who uses Linux and open source, is an uber techie. Not everyone is developing apps or software. Not everyone is gaming. Not everyone is plugging 17 devices into their laptops or desktops. Not everyone needs fast, powerful computers with massive hard drives, with 256 GB of RAM, with 16 hypercores, packing muscular GPUs, and like. A lot of people need something simple, but something which works. In my case, that's the StarLite.

And if some folks can't understand why anyone would use a computer like a StarLite, the problem doesn't lie with the computer or the person using it ...

— Scott Nesbitt

#opinion

For years, I've been saying or writing that you don't need to know how to use the command line to use Linux effectively. I've helped more than a few people over the years migrate to Linux, and none of them have cracked open a terminal window. Guess what? They're getting what they need to get done using graphical applications. And nothing else.

But here we are in 2022 and I'm still trying to break that myth. Over the years, and quite a few times in recent months, have tried to call me out over that. They've pointed to articles and blog posts written about the command line as proof to contrary. As proof that the command line is essential if you want to use Linux.

I don't deny that I use the command line — mainly to make some complicated tasks simple. That said, I'm definitely not a command line master. Far from it. I know just enough to be dangerous, to carry out a few tasks. At most, I spend 5% of my computing time in a terminal window.

That time isn't spent doing anything complex. So, what do I use the command line for? Here's most of what I do in a terminal window:

• Read RSS feeds with newsboat.
• Convert files using pandoc.
• Publish a couple of websites using GitLab Pages.
• Use three or four simple scripts (which I cobbled together through trial and a lot of error or which were written by people I know) to automate tasks — scripts like this one.

And not much more than that. Hardly the behaviour of a seasoned, hardened, deeply technical command line guru, is it?

— Scott Nesbitt

#linux #cli #opinion

Linux has been around for 31 years. It's evolved, changed, and improved considerably over time. The Linux of today is a far cry from the Linux I first took a look at in the mid 1990s.

Compared to their early counterparts, the Linux distributions of today are (for the most part) easy to install, easy to set up, and easy to use. You don't have to compile your own software or kernel. You don't need to edit and tweak a raft of configuration files to get a system working. Unless you want to, that is.

Today, you can use just about Linux distribution out of the box. Or when you start up a computer that comes with one pre-installed. How times have changed.

Yet, in some circles, Linux still has reputation of being difficult. To install. To set up. To use. To understand. Especially for folks with few, if any, technical skills. There is, in certain corners online, a 1998 rather than a 2021 mindset around Linux. In those corners, the myth that Linux isn't ready for the ordinary computer user continues to survive.

And there's a feeling among some Linux devotees that making things too easy for users is antithetical to what Linux is about. That was brought home to me, again, in a recent discussion I had online with a few folks.

When mentioned that I use, and really enjoy using, elementary OS, one person in that conversation was more than a little shocked. Almost on cue, they trotted out the stock arguments against elementary and distros like it. That, among other things, elementary is too dumbed down (their words, not mine).

I was forced to reminded that person that I'm not, have never consider myself to be, and never will be a so-called power user. And while I agree that elementary OS isn't for everyone, it does have its audience.

What has always attracted me to it is the ethos behind elementary — even more so than that of Ubuntu and its variants. elementary is aimed at the ordinary computer user. It caters to their needs, to what they want and need to do. elementary OS isn't designed to be heavily tweaked or fiddled with. The collection of software is curated, but it focuses on what are (for most people) everyday tasks.

In the minds of some, by embracing elementary OS I'm trading away quite a bit in the way of customization for ease of use. I'm trading away what makes Linux special. That may be true, but a lot of those customization of which folks like that speak aren't really my thing. They're not of much interest to me. And, I'm sure, they're not of much interest to elementary's audience either.

As I keep pointing out, and probably will until the day I leave this life, is that not everyone uses a computer in the same way. Everyone's needs are different. There's no reason why there can't be Linux distributions for all users, regardless of their needs.

— Scott Nesbitt

#linux #opinion