I don't know why but putting BSDs in all caps disturbed me and I read it as BS DS..

Most people actually probably don't know what an operating system is.

Just as accurately, the meme could be:

"[...] the average person probably only knows Android, iOS, Windows, and MacOS."
"And Linux, of course."
"Of course."

Its true, though. The number of clients that go silent when I ask what operating system they are running is staggering.

This is one of your primary tools for work, people. I feel it's like a painter not knowing what different brushes are for, or a wood worker trying to plane a board with a sander. A professional should have a more than passing knowledge about how to use and maintain their tools. I'll die on that hill.

I just want to say, to no one in particular…

Our ‘home’ MacBook was end of life / support recently (2017 intel). I backed up then nuked the OS and replaced it with Mint/Cinnamon.

My wife (who is very definitely NOT technical in any way) has embraced this and carried on with no issues so far, with FF and LibreOffice. It’s been nearly 6mo and no home IT support required.

Edit: I think the point I’m trying to make is: if she can crack on with most regular tasks that really boil down to browser + office tools, and not be overly bothered about what the OS is, then there’s hope for people to migrate - especially with how distros have become so accessible of late.

Okay but surely people get that BSD and Linux aren’t remotely the same thing, even though both are Unix-like and POSIX compatible, right?

Thanks for putting those links there. I was like I swear I saw a crappier version of this yesterday 😂

Computer scientists maybe. But real scientists know the meaning of the word average. And that out of, say, 1000 users, possibly only one is average.

BSD means something else methinks

Maybe the joke is that the comments would quibble over details that are fleeting in time and transcend operating systems instead.