Cause there is literally nothing stopping the average user from trying, and yet they typically choose windows or macs.

But also, let's be honest, most people just use a tablet or their phone now anyways. If you believe these numbers, people are choosing even more locked down OSs like android and IOS. Trying to get them to use linux just isn't likely.

I'm not anti Linux, I use it all the time. But trying to convince the average user to change their OS is an uphill battle.

I feel like clearly everyone here is smarter than me or something.

I've been running Kubuntu for a while and here is a recent anecdote and you can tell me if I'm just an idiot. I went to install an application so opened up the software store. After installing I found out it was an out of date version of the software. I went to the companies site and they recommended a flatpak install. Kubuntu doesn't have flatpak enabled by default, so I have to lookup how to install flatpak and could then install the flatpak. However another piece of software recommends using the apt install, and another the Kubuntu store is fine. All of this is okay, but now there are three different ways I have to manage my software.

Its fine for me, but if that's really the case, you'll loose the average user at using the command line to install flatpak.

Many years ago, when I was repairing computers for a living, spyware like this was highly frowned upon.

I haven't touched Windows in a few years, but I'm still somewhat saddened to see how normalized this has become. Why did society stop valuing privacy?

average user at using the command line to install flatpak.

Kubuntu require you to use a command line to get flatpaks? Usually it is just a toggle in a package manager. I think Fedora is on by default.

I just looked it up again and it seems like they require you run a command in the console to enable flatpak. I'm not sure if it's cause they use snaps, given it's an Ubuntu derivative. I suspect as flatpak continues to win out it'll all tend that way.

However, the fact this its even a discussion is kinda my point.

Average user here. I don't have time to take up PCs as a hobby. When I need a computer, I need it to just do what I want so I can be done with it.

PC hobbyists always discount the amount of time and effort it takes to be a PC hobbyist. Like a recipe writer who completely ignores prep time and says a complicated recipe will only take 45 minutes.

Step one: install Linux

More like:

Man broken down on the side of the road pissed at people in cars yelling “should have bought a Toyota!” as they drive by.

Does it matter? No. Is it annoying? Yes.

Resistance is futile

Lately is not going that well for the borg, better 8472

Windows and Mac are both easier to use for the standard user.

I really doubt that a standard user would have that much problems to do his work with the normal programs (an office suite, a browsere a little else) once Linux with a DE (let be KDE, GNOME or whatever) is installed.

The limitation is not the disto itself, it is the lack of support for some software (like Grasshooper or CAD)

Then you are probably using Excel for the wrong thing

Does it matter? Yes! Goddamnit! I'll buy a Toyota next time! FUCKING HELL!

Oh, this is actually based, they were right all along, holy fuck!

I have better things to do than spend hours trying to do simple things like permanent mounting of a network drive.

It's possible that I underestimate the average user, but I did work IT at one point in my life and I still vividly recall needing to point out to someone that their computer wasn't turning on becuase it wasnt plugged in.

If we go down this road, I am old enough to remember people pinning 5 1/4 floppy disks to the cabinet using magnets and then being surprise it did not work anymore, or people that when asked to do a copy of the disk went to the copy machine.
But that was at the beginning (199x), now I would not consider "average user" someone who is not even able to realize that the pc is not plugged in, tbh.

Sure bud.

My example was just to highlight that the "average user" may not be as technically capable as many in this thread propose. But that's also why I called out I may be underestimating the average user.

So I wanted to see for myself.

Ubuntu... ugg the worst of all distros. I had issues with it since it came out. I never got why it took off. Although I did like their fonts, colors, and Unity. (Even as a KDE person).

So my experience: download Kubuntu. Install. Click update. It of course throws an error. I ignore it and click update again. This time it succeeds but it seemed like forever. Why is that? I can't stress this enough: Nearly everytime I have tried to work with Ubuntu the very first thing it does is throw an error. Never a good look.

Anyways: Click on software center. Go to settings. Click enable Flatpack. Click on Flatpack add Flathub as a repository. (That step is a little confusing actually, but it is there). Search for Strawberry music player: it offers to add it from Flatpak.

No command line ever used.

The confusion sometimes comes from looking up info, which will lead to the command line. Becuase command line is always the easiest way to share information. Same thing with windows, when I go to fix stuff, they offer powershell. A dozen gui steps and pictures reduced to a single line.

Wow! I appreciate your thoroughness.

After hearing you found it in a setting I went looking around again, and while I couldn't find any official Kubuntu documentation, it does seem like Flathub has a setup guide that mentions it as a setting config.

Also, I generally lean towards Ubuntu as most support I find online leans Debian, but curious what distro you use.

In the past: Redhat, then Mostly Debian or Debian derivatives. Mepis was great for the time it was a thing (2003 - 2005). Also Gentoo for awhile.

Nowdays: Arch and Fedora mostly. I put Fedora on a laptop a couple of years ago while trying to see what would work with it and I have been extremely surprised by it. Packages are really up to date, I have gone through a major revision upgrade with no problem at all. Arch is great, but you have to pay attention and deal with change. Fedora is just as up to date but I don't have to manage the changes.

And Fedora recently added KDE as an official release instead of a "spin" which is all the better. I hope they keep going, I read that they are not a big team and one of them just left.