this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2025
177 points (93.2% liked)
Linux
9940 readers
398 users here now
A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)
Also, check out:
Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Because they are brainwashed into thinking it's the easiest platform, and that any problems they encounter are because that's just how computers are.
Sigh, please stop using that argument, it is an easy cop out, and you don't actually help your cause by analyzing the real issue.
The real reason why people willingly use Windows is multifaceted and can be boiled down to a few points.
I am an IT technician, this is what I have seen in the corporate world.
By talking about "brainwashing" you remove most of the actual information that could help you figure out how Linux could be better suited for the masses, and to be frank, using a word like "brainwashing" makes the Linux community seem a bit unhinged/cultish.
Focus on facts, then you can use them to change the actual issue.
You missed reason 0:
Microsoft managed to make sure "a PC" almost exclusively means "A computer [with Windows]".
And they have spent a lot of effort for litterally decades to make sure most machines are as difficult as possible to use with anything but Windows.
Most people have literally never heard of Linux.
also in most cases it's simply the default.
Look if you've spent any time whatsoever interacting with clients, customers, whatever when it comes to development work for literally whatever be it software or web or mobile applications at the end of the day they all want the same thing. They want it to just work. Right out of the box, to simply work. The majority of people DO NOT want to customize their PC or online experience, they don't want to tinker, hell these days they don't even want to download an exe off a site - if it's not in some kind of app store, it ain't getting installed. They all want a thing to just work.
Windows, like it or not, provides that. They don't want to use Linux, they don't want to potentially have to open a terminal and type out some simple commands. Most of these people have never even opened a cmd prompt or powershell in windows in like....ever. A good chunk of people using windows don't even know terminals exist.
I use linux, I use different distros, and I don't blame anyone who refuses to make the transition even though they aren't exactly enjoying their windows experience. They deal with it. Let them complain. A lot of people simply don't have the time or even the interest to learn a new piece of tech and again I don't blame them.
Can Linux also "just work"? sure, it can potentially but lets not kid ourselves here and lets REALLY be honest with each other. It's not going to "just work" like Windows, for the vast majority of people, does.
For my totally tech illiterate wife, the solution was NixOS and GNOME. She struggled so bad with Windows ways of things and its UI, and how slow it was. Installed Nix and no more screaming, she does her spreadsheets for work, zoom calls and email.
Excellent points but I would argue that for the majority of users, Mint does indeed just work right out of the box. Everything that most people would need is already there.
Also, there are not much cash to swing around to incite companies to use Linux, windows and all their bs 365 crap on the other hand ...
It's wild how just a guy showing up, for free, "explaining" all the benefits of some shitty soft or process gets everyone on board super easily.
No, its mostly because 99% of people dont build their own computers and because 99% of prebuilts/laptops come with Windows preinstalled. Thats literally the only reason. If all devices came with Linux preinstalled, most people would be too lazy to switch and buy a windows license. This would change the market share of Linux which would immediately cause companies to prioritize making their software run on linux. Its really just corporate inertia.
That too. But I also know a lot of people who aren't tech-literate who refuse to consider buying anything that doesn't come with Windows because "it's too hard"
That line is just about priorities.
Somehow they'd rather deal with MS frustrations that come from actual malice than troubleshoot Linux problems that come from devs not having enough time.
Good ol' inertia! Most people think anything but the familiar is too hard.
Or because work requires us to
That sounds more like forced than willing to me.
It's the de facto standard for many reasons, none of them being individuals' choices. Microsoft paid and pushed for Windows to become the default OS on pretty much all OEM hardware, they lobbied super hard to push people into using Office, they gave massive discounts on licences for corporations, big and small companies.
It has nothing to do with individual choices, it created the problem you mentioned in your comment though. People just became complacent and ignorant because of that, not the other way around.
True, that's why I said they were brainwashed
The only real options for the average user are Mac or Windows. Linux just isn't as user friendly, and a lot of the customization and flexibility of Linux is actually a determinant for non technical people.
I'm a technical person and I can't stand Linux as a main driver. Love it for development and as a server, but it can be very janky for UI things.
I used windows out of concern that my university may use an application unavailable on Linux (I'm an electrical engineering major) I shouldn't have been since even if there isn't, I could always use bottles/wine to get the .exe file.
That's fair. I've noticed that Wine's support of non-game software can be hit or miss depending on what it is.
I'd say your case is more necessity than willingness.