Sign in Subscribe

"It's not their fault" – responding to some comments on my PewDiePie video

We all had a laugh at Linus' expense during LTT's Linux Challenge, but was it really his fault?

"It's not their fault" – responding to some comments on my PewDiePie video
I was told this thumbnail was clickbait. LMFAO

Several comments pointed out that "non-tech guy" PewDiePie was able to set up Arch with no issue (and rice it to kingdom come) while the net's biggest pop tech YouTuber Linus Sebastian of LinusTechTips couldn't manage to set up Steam on Pop!_OS.

They point this out with a sense of humorous juxtaposition.

Isn't it funny how 'funny man' pewdiepie was more competent using linux than "tech guy" linus tech tips.
Shout out to @burnzy3210

But I honestly don't see it as such.

The fact is, the more experience you have with Windows, the harder it will be to make the switch to Linux. Conversely, if you've got no experience with Windows, you'll find yourself having a much easier time adjusting to Linux.

I've seen this time and time again and I have a hypothesis as to why this bears out across the dozens of folks I've helped free from Microsoft's PC tyranny.

The Windows Way™

The Windows Way™ is a false reality that's been pulled over your eyes to keep you a sniveling, prostrate Microsoft consumer; dependent on their incompetent support, their UI dark patterns, and their network of abject surveillance.

And that's just the modern Windows Way™. A world in which Windows 11 is the relatively unchallenged PC Operating System and where they've grown so complacent that their dominance is sure to topple at any moment.

The Windows Way™ goes back decades, though. And it has evolved. Back in the day, their tactics were to discredit and attack anyone perceived as a threat.

💡
They did this to Linux, by the way. A scrappy and seemingly inconsequential little open source project. A project that quickly found itself more useful, better designed, and with more features in just a few short years than Microsoft could manage with Windows over decades of work and millions of dollars.

Like it or not, Microsoft wrote The Windows Way™ and a myriad of dirty players adopted the playbook. Make things with that are just useful enough – and with a host of annoying rough edges – that the product gets attention.

An Apple Magic Mouse, as supine as a Windows Power User
Believe it or not, this is Microsoft's fault. Everyone complains about the Magic Mouse's charging port being on the bottom, but this is a page right out of Bill Gate's playbook. "All press is good press."

But the other major tactic they use is to psychologically trap their users. It's no mistake that Window's design is rooted in outmoded paradigms (lettered drives being just one example). They provide the best legacy support of any OS, but this is a double-edged sword.

Look at macOS. As technology changes and hardware evolves, old software falls by the wayside. You can argue that's a bad thing, but it means that macOS is leaner and more focused than Windows.

The same is true with Linux. While you can theoretically get a Loki port of SimCity 3000 working on a modern distro, you'd have a better time downloading an old Linux ISO and installing it on some vintage hardware.

In Contrast...

While Microsoft makes things hard to use, Linux is designed to be simple. I'd even call it downright "ergonomic." At least when it comes to the more polished side of Linux-based operating systems.

And I get it. There will be lots of folks who say that this is copium from a 20 year Linux veteran. But I've personally helped many folks switch to Linux and most of the less savvy folks take to a distro like Ubuntu or Fedora like a frog to water.

There are some rough spots. Lord knows. But why is it that Window's downright abrasiveness is brushed aside while Linux's ever-shrinking pot of UX problems is so vocally harped upon? For God's sake, the free software world is even doing Windows better than Microsoft can. (Hint: it's the FUD.)

Look, Microsoft makes Windows:

  1. Hard to use so you have to invest your time into learning it (sunk cost fallacy)
  2. Extremely different so that switching to Linux/macOS feels alien and intimidating
  3. Encourages you to become deeply invested in their ecosystem of apps and services (Office, OneDrive, Game Pass, etc.) to keep you locked in and switching away much harder

They also spend lots of money on psyops campaigns (marketing) to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) in regards to free software alternatives.

Microsoft's ultimate goal is to build "power users" who are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

All of this means that when a Windows Power User attempts to make the switch to Linux? They're not only fighting decades of Microsoft-sponsored oppression, their fighting everything they've ever known and everything they've ever learned. In essence; they're fighting themselves.

So it's no surprise to me that PewDiePie had a much easier go of installing and ricing a Linux distro than Linus Sebastian did. Linus is the quintessential Windows Power User.

We need to approach these folks with empathy and show them a better way. Hopefully, they'll accept our help but there's a good chance they won't.

We also must be understanding that this is not their fault. They are largely victims of Microsoft's weaponized FUD.

You can watch the original video here: