• GoebbelsDeezNuts [any]@hexbear.net
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      26 days ago

      Switching has been really interesting for me. Before I moved I’d think “Man I don’t want to do all the troubleshooting and learning that is going to come with it”

      But what happened is it reminded me that I enjoy learning and troubleshooting. I think the difference is the troubleshooting I have to do in Windows is typically trying to unfuck some bullshit Microsoft is doing that I don’t like. I’m usually mad on principle, and when I do unfuck whatever it is I resent that I had to do it in the first place.

      In Linux it’s “I wonder if I can do this? I can! But does that mean? It does!” It has completely reinvigorated my love for computers.

      Also, for whatever reason when I thought about switching I only ever thought about the troubleshooting. In my head it was like I would be switching to an OS that only exists to be worked on. I forgot that like once you set it up the first time you’re kinda done and it’s just like any other computer. You can futz and customize endlessly if you want to, or you can just stop.

      I’m never going back

      • alexei_1917 [mirror/your pronouns]@hexbear.net
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        22 days ago

        This is so true.

        I didn’t install Linux in anger, I did it in an autistic hyperfixation fueled mania (I was hyperfixating on Linux after reading an old compsci essay posted to an unrelated forum I frequented at the time, and just knew I had to actually play around with it a bit to make the nasty side effects of a hyperfixation go away), but… yeah. When fixing shit on Windows, I’m usually already mad going into it. When fixing shit on Linux… I have so fucking many “Wait, if that means that, then can I do… I can! Yay!” moments. And, usually, “fixing shit” means “trying to change a minor annoyance” or “trying to do something cool”, not “trying to resolve an error preventing something I need from working correctly”. (Or, when something breaks that isn’t something I can manage to fix, I’m far more prone to resigned acceptance and working around it than incandescent anger, which makes using Linux better for my health than using Windows. Because excessive stress takes years off your life. Today, I plugged my laptop into an external monitor and got it working how I wanted it, except that the laptop keyboard wouldn’t work once I connected the monitor. Troubleshooting first step: Grab a spare external keyboard and see if that works on laptop’s USB port or monitor’s. It worked and I just left it for now. We’ll see if anything changes when I next reboot the thing.)

        I get the exact same “Using A Computer” experience I remember from when I was four, whenever I decide to find out “OK, can I do X, and how do I do it?” It’s the best.


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          • alexei_1917 [mirror/your pronouns]@hexbear.net
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            21 days ago

            Yeah, it is. Like, having to fix broken shit or unwanted behaviour on a Windows box makes me so much angrier, because just using it has already made me so fucking angry at it.


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