This isn't limited to Linux. There's a ton of "why would you want to do that?" Type unhelpful comments everywhere.
I'm glad I often see people recommending Linux Mint for newcomers. Maybe I didn't understand the OP.
can we just appreciate

looks like they've already found one mouse!
This is pretty accurate; there are quite a number of furries in FOSS.
have you considered this weird breed of mice which has wings and really sharp teeth
Linux Mint with sway.
Install Gentoo, it's easy and updates are simple
In the mailing list and usenet days, people would tell you to RTFM if your question was answered anywhere in the documentation, and Linux was a thousand times harder to install back then. Never mind DMAs and IRQs, you had to manually write config files specifying the geometry and refresh rate of your monitor.
I'm in the openbsd mailing list and they still do that, it's fantastic
you had to manually write config files specifying the geometry and refresh rate of your monitor.
Ahhh that brings me back to 2005 and my first time installing gentoo
people would tell you to RTFM if your question was answered anywhere in the documentation
Modern day internet techies will snear at you for using AI assist tools when setting up an environment. But by god, do these agents not save me endless hours of trying to decipher the Dead Sea Scrolls of system configuration.
RTFM only works when the documentation is high quality and easy to follow. Better yet, if you know the manual so well, just link me to the damned chapter I'm supposed to focus in on. I'm trying to set up an *arr stack, not become a sysadmin team lead at a Fortune 500 company.
Never mind DMAs and IRQs, you had to manually write config files specifying the geometry and refresh rate of your monitor.
In fairness, a lot of those config files were relatively easy to write. I'll take that over hunting through forty different nearly-identical screens in a custom configured BIOS.
You can search the ancient scrolls for an eternity or consult the all knowing shoggoth that may melt your brain or lie.
Listen, I'm not saying Ya hai kadishtu ep r'luh-eeh Nyogtha eeh, s'uhn-ngh athg li'hee orr'e syha'h. But I get it.
K'yarnak li llll kadishtu, ngnah ah'lw'nafh Iiahe azathoth?
More and more people in hooded robes with star-symbols on their foreheads are saying it.
I miss the freebsd handbook
I hunt buffalo, btw
Goddam that almost killed me. 🤣
I can’t understand why there’s so many people suggesting newbies something really complicated distro, when all they need is to start with a something really user friendly, like Linux Mint. User can then move on to other distros if they want to when their skills improve. I use Arch BTW.
Yeah, I totally agree. The only thing I can guess, aside from people just being assholes, is that someone with many years of experience is only thinking of what they liked after gaining that experience.
For example, if someone learned with Debian and then moved on to Arch, they think Arch is "better" and I think they are telling others to not waste their time on Debian. They are totally ignoring the fact that they spent quite a bit of time learning before they moved on and they are advising that a newcomer skip to what they perceive as "the end."
Because otherwise you don't have the "true linux experience", whatever that means.
I work in IT support, and you can't imagine how completely computer inept the average user is. Like, they start crying when a button has moved 2cm to the side.
These will never be able to use a command line, let alone install their own operating system.
Yet some of these Linux evangelicals think everyone was born with a UTP cable up their arse. So they recommend what they see as "easy", but don't understand that it only looks easy to them because of the decades of experience they already had.
As long as the Linux community can not decide what distro is the best for newbies, it will never be the year of the linux.
Gatekeeping is a big problem with anything - especially as it becomes easier.
Film photographers balked at people going digital and about color grading and retouching with lightroom and photoshop.
Car people talked shit about how using an automatic transmission wasn't really driving.
PC gamers got pissy at console gamers in the 90s and 2000s for just wanting a game to fucking work without having to chase down a conflict caused by a random printer driver that made their game crash in any map with water (my actual lived experience with Battefield 1942).
Lots of old-school 3D printing enthusiasts get upset when new users don't know when to adjust their pressure advance or can't read gcode.
Doctors who worked three 30-hour shifts a week in their residency think new doctors should go through the same rite of passage.
Football players who were taught to lead into a tackle using the top of their skull think new rules implemented to prevent neck injuries and TBIs make new players pansies.
We need to understand that part of making the world better is that the next generation of professionals, hobbyists, and people in general will have it easier than us, and that's a good thing.
true linux experience
gatekeeping nonsense

The landscape has changed a lot.
When I first was trying to get into Linux 15-20 years ago, this is pretty much how it was. I can remember being very frustrated that very few people I encountered seemed to be willing to assist at an entry level; there was all this presumed knowledge which I didn't have (and if I'd had it, I wouldn't have been looking for help in the first place).
Today there is a lot more entry-level help and assistance. There are more user-friendly distros and a lot more information online that is accessible to the average user who hasn't memorised every GNU/Linux man page.
That said, there are still situations where getting help or advice is a real challenge.
Really? i get handheld terminal command lines with embedded copy functions when i search for solutions to my Mint problems. It's a pretty kind and helpful community.
I imagine most Linux communities have half a dozen or so online users, at any given time, just refreshing the New Posts section waiting to fix someone's problem and blow their mind.
There's a misguided imagination cloud about Linux, then in reality the incredible wealth of help and support Linux users invest and receive.
It's the FOSS "lone-wolf" thing. If you feel like you're on the outside, each Linux user sounds like a crazed wasteland wanderer.
Meanwhile, we're using comfortably customized environments curated and supported by our community, updating in the background, and enjoying stable 20-second boots.
Reddit fucking blows
Ok, hear me out.
It's obvious that not everyone has the same needs and that new users are likely to be overwhelmed by instructions/tools that are highly technically involved, BUT
I think it's actually quite valuable for others to question whether you actually want what you think you do, especially if you're inexperienced. You know, the whole "you don't know what you don't know" spiel?
It's still usually most helpful to get answers to the question you actually asked, but there's a decent chance you will learn valuable context from suggestions that are only tangential and you might even realize that there are much better solutions to your problem, you just didn't have the framework to even imagine them.
There is a solution. Tell a person the answer to their question while also calling into question if they actually need what they are asking for. This cat wants to start hunting Mice. So that could go something like, "It's great that you're getting into hunting. Mice are an excellent place to start if you're a house cat. Have you tried waiting outside of their hole? When I hunt elk, I creep up slowly on them when they are unaware. Mice are quite small game, but this might work for them too. Have you considered hunting elk?"
I've been meaning to give PikaOS a try cause I'm generally a Debian preferrer, but one thing we really need is a Mint that's been given the Cachy-style treatment. Most new users right now are doing it for the games, so combining the most user-friendly distro with gaming optimizations would be pretty much ideal.
Chat, I need help. Since a couple updates ago, CaxhyOS isn't focusing on Proton applications properly. If I click on a Proton window, it doesn't actually focus it unless I first minimise all applications, or then minimise another application. It's super annoying for alt-tabbing fullscteen games, since I have to go to the desktop before going into a game.
Curiously, I don't think it happens with Bitburner, which lately I've had running all the time. So maybe it's only happening with the second game I launch at a time? Not sure.
Except the "big cats" are actually hyena and by "hunt deer" they mean that they fight over a carcass.
Tbf hyaenas do a lot of their own hunting. I believe I've read that lions more often pillage from hyaenas than vice versa.
Down with lion propaganda, I say!
yep, you got to love all the, Arch BTW or Linux Mint FYI.
I've had more bad experiences trying to enjoy new things in new communities than good experiences. I think that is more to just how shit my luck is, but it still sucks when I'm just trying to enjoy something with others online. :-/
I don't think it's just you. That seems like how most people are online these days. Aggressive gatekeeping vs. first timers asking "did I do basic thing right? :3" for pretend internet points.
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