TL;DR: I wonder why we always have the same 2 posts as top posts of the day.
They appear a bit unnecessary and mildly annoying to me.
Do you think the same? Or do you like them, and can explain me why, so I can change my view?
Please don’t just blindly downvote, writing this post took a lot of time. And if you feel the need to do it anyway, tell me why first.
Maybe I am the only person who thinks that.
I probably am, at least according to numbers.
Basically, I’ve got the feeling that every top post of the day for the last weeks is something like “I’ve freed myself from evil Windows’ shackles and finally switched to Linux.”, or “What distro do you recommend?”.
Don’t get me wrong.
I feel super happy for every newcomer discovering the wonderful world of Linux and FOSS.
I, just like most others here, always try to help them in finding their right distro and guiding them in their first steps.
We all have been there.
And I’m super proud of us all, as a community, that we happily embrace every new member. We definitely have to keep that behaviour, it’s what connects us and makes us strong.
I just think we should redirect them a bit onto the specific communities.
Not by banning or censoring, just as friendly reminder, e.g. by a sticky post, comments like “Hey, check out [email protected]” or something else.
It doesn’t help much if there are the same threads every day, with people circlejerking on hating Windows and recommending Mint a hundred times, just like 100 people before did on the same thread.
I hate Windows too, but it feels like we’re identifying and comparing ourselves with the bitter ex-partner we had a while ago. No, not being Windows shouldn’t be the main reason Linux is great.
There are so many great posts and discussions, that are all going missing in this swamp of “Winblows bad, hehe”.
We should focus on what makes our software great, and not what the “bad ex-partner” did wrong.
Same with newcomer posts.
I think if the posters get redirected to the correct sub, they will receive more help, since the people partaking in the community are there because they wanna see exactly that.
At the same time, I’m afraid this would undermine our openness and friendliness of this community, and result in being as shitty as Reddits’ sub.
!Just as an anecdote, when I was a noob, I posted a question there, and, like 5 minutes later, I got a dozen of non-constructive, offensive comments. 10 minutes later, my post got removed. This was my first contact to the Linux world btw. Guess who switched back to Windows for another half year because of that?
We have to prevent this at any costs.
Anyway… !<
I really enjoy this community here and wanna keep it this great.
I just wanted to ask you, what you think about those everyday-top-posts.
If you like them, please try to change my mind and explain me why :)
Edit/ Additional stuff/ Learnings:
- I don’t hate those “I switched to Linux”-posts, just to clarify. They’re fine for me, they just feel like white noise. But I’ve read many times in this thread that a lot of people enjoy those posts. If that’s the case, I’m totally fine! :)
- I think putting those posts in a weekly sticky thread could be worth an idea? Then everyone could describe their experience of this week of switching from one distro to another, e.g. “My first week of Gentoo” or something like this. Would be an interesting read for everyone.
- I also believe those “Fuck Windows”-posts can be kind of therapeutic for some people, since Windows became really shitty and annoying in the last years. And when you feel the relieve from finally getting rid of it, you tell that everyone. Understandable.
- Splitting the community isn’t the best idea too. We can always learn from each other and I like the diversity of this community.
- Thank you for your kind and constructive answers! ✌️
Personally, as a noob myself, I enjoy reading about others’ experiece when they switch. No idea why. Just fun to read usually.
For me too, it gives me an encouraging feeling like; hey, i’m not the only one who ran into this or that issue, or who switched to linux because of this or that reason. And it’s nice to know that i’m here with others who are also quite new. It would feel very daunting to be here and know that all members here have been ‘linuxing’ for decades and i would just lurk then.
I always read those posts that OP mentions. If you don’t like them, just skip them? I’ve been with other lists for many years and newbies were always welcome. I liked answering their questions, even those i heard a 100 times before, and if i didn’t feel like it some days, i could always skip them and know that others would have answers too.
It’s nice to get some idea of how many people are switching over, it seems to have had an uptick recently, 3 people I know in real life have tried using Linux as their daily driver in the past few months who hadn’t previously
Post better content to the community that is more interesting. The problem isn’t these posts, it’s the lack of other engaging discussions.
I deleted windows btw, and I’m very happy about it.
Idk, I try to be there to cheer on people that make the switch and post about it.
I get that the same type of thread several times a week is annoying. However, sometimes I think there is stuff to learn/remember about people switching over now, since there are things I would have long forgotten/gotten used to since initially switching 8-ish years ago, the new user experience is valuable and important to get feedback to help more people transition better.
Responding with a meta level tangent comment, but I can’t help feeling that when I read these type of comments that it’s just Microsoft astroturfing, trying to shape the narrative away from migration to Linux.
Especially when you see those “I still can’t get my favorite single game that uses anti-cheat tech or strange peripheral to work with Linux, so Linux sucks for all gaming” posts.
Just kind of seems like there’s this stealthy narrative warfare going on.
I like to hear other peoples experiences
I really like them, along with all the other repetitive types of posts people make. For people who have been using Linux awhile, or have been a part of this community (or any Linux community really) they get a bit old, sure, but each new post is an opportunity for other new Linux users to learn and contribute.
I think sequestering discussion like this into nicely planned neat boxes like sticky threads or weekly discussions is harmful in the long term. While it may keep the posts in this community “clean” I believe it will reduce interest and turn away fresh blood.
I think those of us who have been using Linux awhile should embrace these posts and view them as opportunities to mentor, and as opportunities to continue to stoke the fires of interest in Linux.
I don’t remember seeing a single one, so they’re probably not annoying me.
Exaggerated complaint posts about non problems there are way to many, though.
I really don’t get why anyone would be annoyed about this specifically when recurring topics and posts are just pretty common… about litterally anything. I find it even more weird since it’s about people ditching windows (I mean how many topics and posts hating on windows, praising Linux, suggesting Linux, and whatever else…just lots and lots, and somehow people are fine with that, so why would it be any different here ?)
Beside, people just want to share things, regardless if others did exactly the same an hour or a decade ago. Why care when it’s just so easy to move on to something you’d be more interested in ?
One thing I do find tiresome more than anything within the Linux community though is talks about noobs like they are some cringe childs being boring and acting childishly…everyone have been noobs seriously, even you mentioned toxicity and the lack of openness/friendliness towards noobs if we ostracized them…yet you are suggesting it anyway. I get noobs aren’t always fun but come on ! And about newcommer posts…noobs will seek help wherever they can seek it, having another place to help them is not going to change that, so we might just as well help them and redirect them to helping sites anyway.
I don’t mind them any more than I mind a bunch of other dumb posts that people feel compelled to share for reasons I don’t understand.
And a lot of them do seem earnest, like they’re showing off a macaroni picture they’re super proud of.
If my adult roommate came home and showed me a macaroni picture they’re super proud of, I probably wouldn’t be personally impressed, but I would be happy for them that they’ve found something they like and are proud of.
I don’t mind them. I like to hear what drove people away from Windows and into Linux’ loving embrace. I’m still pretty new myself, so grain of salt I suppose.
Not at all. You seem to think there’s a more appropriate forum for people to join the Linux community, and introduces. Where is that? And how do new Linux users find it? Knowing nothing about Linux distros, where should they ask about distros? Distrowatch catalogs 274 distributions - how do newbies navigate those?
I do think having a “which distro” stickie or sidebar would be handy, but I don’t at all mind the “I ditched Windows” posts. It beats random venting, ranting, and flame wars.
I will install Windows and remove it again just to annoy you.
What having issues looks like:
The F Windows posts are great and can be very therapeutic. But guaranteed those users haven’t issued a command that accidentally wipes out their entire drive accidentally. Or they haven’t had their Window Manager just up and decide it doesn’t feel like working anymore because of an update.
I work with Linux a lot simply because of my 3D printers and I love it. But being on a community driven edge can be a nightmare sometimes when something updates and you’ve got to track down the problem. For me that’s half the fun since I usually get to help someone else out with the same issue.
But guaranteed those users haven’t issued a command that accidentally wipes out their entire drive accidentally.
Really?
Yeah, I can see the horde of Mint, PopOS, and a Ubuntu users running towards that command line prompt. /s
I meant it more as an inexperienced Linux user having to fix something and inadvertently causing havoc more so than drive wiping.