I'm relatively new to Linux. What do you mean by system integrators?

It's not an apt comparison because Windows doesn't use apt for packages 😉

He's a bumbling moron in everything he does. I don't know if it's a schtick or if it's just how he is. You have to be pretty technologically illiterate to take any cues from him.

So please list down everything he does that you claim to be deliberate mistakes that anyone that's used a computer for a long time wouldn't think of making and how they caused the issues he is having in this video. He is literally roleplaying as a Linux noob and not an expert or as someone with the connection to breeze through any problem he has, so I don't know why you're so surprised.

Same, cursor has fixed both audio issues I’ve had on my computer. And it basically manages my systemd quadlets

I mean, I get it, but I kind of reject the premise. Normies don't install operating system, period. Not Windows and not Linux.

What's the point of Linus playing dumb here? What's the point of him always seeming to install Linux when he's pressed for time at a LAN party or before needing to leave? Has he ever done a video where he approaches using Windows as if he was a caveman who never witnessed electricity before?

It's really starting to feel like a bad faith attempt...

This is the self-proclaimed "tech tips" guy we're talking about. If you're knowledgeable enough to know what Linux is and why you might want to install it, you should be knowledgeable enough to not trust "listicles" (often produced by LLMs today) and LLMs (trained on outdated listicles from 10 years ago).

PopOS is a bad choice today. Granted, some of that is the fault of System76, as imho, Cosmic really isn't really for prime time. But I think most people with any reasonable knowledge of Linux would probably not recommend it right now. Like, if they had asked Wendel from LevelOneTechs, I seriously doubt he would have recommended it...

But Linus has a big audience and he knows that. He should have done this better instead of trusting a random reddit post and continue from there.

People also listen to him and try to also copy him. Since now people might also try Linux and the first distro might now be pop os.

I don't think it's the direction normies would go. I think they would see that video and have it guide their choices. Otherwise who is the video for?

They are going the way normies would, which includes asking the LLM of choice for a recommendation. But as they just regurgitate listicles inhaled from the web, that is what you get.

This is the "defense" they use, but I don't think it holds up. LTT knows exactly how the internet works, how SEO garbage is a massive internet problem, has nothing to do with Linux, and that nobody in the Linux community could ever possibly fix this. He's the one with a megaphone and the ability to guide users towards good resources and offset those problems, but instead he plays the usual clown role to create his own low-effort clickbait and memes. I don't think it's some anti-Linux bias or anything like that, just regular influencer attention-whoring.

The guy installing Bazzite seemed like the only one genuinely representative of what the video was trying to do (Luke didn't count IMO since apparently he was already a Linux user), but I think Linus's clown show steals the spotlight. Like, he literally tried to install it in the middle of a LAN party while people were waiting for him to start the game. WTF

You have a point, but most normies aren't even aware that an operating system is just a piece of software their computer runs that can be swapped out for a different piece of software. They see the OS as an integral, immutable part of the system... which of course is totally wrong, but that's seriously how they see it.

The people you describe are a step higher on the food chain, so to speak. They definitely exist, and I think they make up the majority of people who are getting into Linux, but let's not forget how little the average person knows or cares about technology works.

I mean that’s kinda the point. They’re noobs, they don’t know what’s right from wrong. People who don’t know right from wrong are likely to go down the wrong path.

Ok. But that's a personal problem, not a Linux problem. In the end of the day if you're relying on "listicles" and LLMs to make basic decisions for you (for just about anything, frankly) you're going to have a bad time.

PopOS is a bad and outdated recommendation right now, because they have literally just switched to Cosmic, a brand new desktop environment that just came out of beta a few months ago. I would argue that it should still be in beta right now, and I do think that System76 made a mistake by calling the current version 1.0, but in the end of the day ChatGPT predictably gave Linus a bad recommendation, because that's what LLMs do.

If you go to ChatGPT for tech advice, legal advice, medical advice, or even something as computationally friendly as solving math problems, you're probably making a mistake. That's an "AI" problem, not a "Linux" problem. Use your brain and stop relying on "AI" to think for you.

IMO Linux’s biggest issue with normal people uptake is choice. Normal people don’t want 7000 options. It also makes diagnosing problems all the more harder.

I disagree. Choice and competition is generally good, as it means that different kinds of people with different use cases can have their needs met.

IMO Windows' biggest issue is the lack of choice, in the sense that computers are treated as one-size-fits-all systems where your grandma is expected to use the same computing environment as a professional software developer, which ultimately leads to a system that's not ideal for either of them. Why are we gaming on the same OS that people at the tire store are running? Would we be surprised to find that is holding computing back?

In the end of the day, choice is good, lack of choice is bad.

People have 7000 choices of food, but it doesn't stop most people from finding something to eat for breakfast. People have 7000 choices for transportation, but it doesn't stop them from getting where they need to go in a way that suits them.

It's not hard to get a good recommendation of what Linux distro to use today if you just ask someone who knows what they're talking about.

Ok, so don’t review “Linux”, review PopOS. Then review Bazzite. Then review Cachy. Etc. Why teach (through implication) your normie users that Linux is all one thing?

they did include their own mistakes in the video. You could just not include that in the video since it’s pointless info about Linux when you yourself did the mistake.

Right, because a new Linux user isn't going to make any mistakes...?

Exactly he is just spreading fud due to his lack of research. I expect better from Linus here.

The only thing I expect from a big tech YouTuber like Linus is that he does good research.

Trusting a random person on reddit isn't that. And he has a big audience of people who might also want to try Linux. However, this isn't helping.. I just expected better from him.

PopOS has been a good recommendation in the past, that doesn't mean it's a good recommendation right now.

The same thing is true when Linus reviews one generation of Intel CPUs well, and another generation ends up having catastrophic flaws.

The world isn't static, things change over time.

If he had consulted a human being with a brain, instead of an LLM without one, he would probably quickly find out that PopOS just replaced their entire desktop environment and toolkit with new ones (Cosmic and Iced, all written in a relatively young programming language in terms of GUI, Rust). I'm the first one to blame PopOS for shipping Cosmic in such as rough state as version 1.0, but Linus is absolutely playing dumb to the point of contrivance here by ignoring the community and relying on ChatGPT to advice.

Any criticism ends up with hate and silent downvotes.

I think I've been pretty vocal and I'm not hating. I think my opinion is pretty nuanced.

I don't blame him for trying PopOS because it has been recommended to him before. I do blame him for using LLMs and "listicles" for his research.

PopOS clearly is in a bad state right now and that is on them.

https://youtu.be/LSxbc1IN9Gg

You realize System76 makes laptops, right?

System76 makes PopOS and ships it on their Linux-friendly laptops and desktops.

Framework, a company that Linus is heavily invested in, also makes Linux-friendly laptops.

I'm not saying he's doing it intentionally, or that his criticisms are invalid, but there is a basic conflict of interest there.