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 !linux4noobs@lemmy.world” 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! ✌️
  • Rentlar
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    2110 months ago

    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.

    • @CaptKoala@lemmy.ml
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      410 months ago

      As someone who recently made the switch (without posting about it woohoo!), I’ve found more information across the clone posts than in any one thread, I second the megathread idea mentioned above.

      I’ve made a few comments regarding distros/switching on many of the aforementioned posts and I would happily dig them up and repost them as a comment on a megathread, on the slim chance my experience helps smooth out the entry for others.

  • @Crashumbc@lemmy.world
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    910 months ago

    I find them mildly annoying, but generally tune them out.

    The offensive responses, are much worse. Linux users can VERY much be a “boys club” and treat newcomers as lower life forms.

    • Cosmic Cleric
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      010 months ago

      Linux users can VERY much be a “boys club” and treat newcomers as lower life forms.

      I mean, the OP linked to the Linux beginners forum in their comment, so it can’t be that much of a boys club.

    • R0cket_M00se
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      410 months ago

      The issue is if you tune them out what’s left? It’s most of the content here.

      Hell just the other day there was a “what new tech thing have you done this year?” And 95% of the responses were just some variation of “Installed Mint/PopOS!/Endeavour and started using Firefox.”

      Like it’s great that you’re making the transition, but I was hoping to hear what new self hosting service people got working on their home server, some new residential network installs for security platforms, etc.

      Not just “I changed browsers.”

  • @adam_y@lemmy.world
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    910 months ago

    Yeah, I don’t mind. Everyone has a survivor story.

    Although it is interesting isn’t it… That Linux usage is still seen in opposition to the horrors of windows. I mean, few come here talking about adopting in spite of having a great time with windows, or even without mentioning it at all.

    I hope that one day it isn’t seen as an alternative to but as a thing in its own right.

    • @EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world
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      010 months ago

      Well kinda obvious, if you like windows you won’t bother to look up other systems and hardly will you switch off of it. And as long as windows will come preinstalled in people’s PC Linux will always be seen as the rebel choice.

      Last sentence makes no sense tbh, the only way we can’t be the alternative to windoes is by not being an operating system.

      • @adam_y@lemmy.world
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        210 months ago

        Windoes!

        I just meant that Linux, even in these communities is posited as something you try after windows rather than go to first.

        Look, I know there’s a certain romantic notion that Linux is “the rebel choice”, but the truth is that it is the normcore backbone of the internet and the go to OS of a ton of academic ecologies.

        So yeah, kinda obvious, when you think about it.

  • TheHarpyEagle
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    10 months ago

    Thing is, I don’t know what else you’d really post here. Linux is an OS (don’t get pedantic with me), there’s only so much to talk about other than using it for the first time or getting recommendations on distros/desktop environments/apps/hardware/etc. There’s always something going on with Linux, but most of it is specific to one distro/desktop environment so people will probably go to forums for those specific things to discuss them.

    Also, yeah he threads are pretty tired for people who have been here even for just a few months, but for the people switching over, it’s all brand new. They want to talk about their experience and I can’t really blame them. Maybe there should be megathread as suggested elsewhere.

    What would you like to see posted? What could give this community more of a direction?

      • wuphysics87
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        1010 months ago

        This copy pasta needs to die. We all know what he meant with ‘Don’t be pedantic’

    • @Papanca@lemmy.world
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      310 months ago

      What i really would love are tips and tricks. I remember another community that started doing that, but after a few times they stopped. Very frustrating, because it was quite interesting to read.

      I also like all kinds of discussions about why one chooses this or that terminal, or why they choose flatpak over certain repositories. Discussions about what went wrong and how they solved it (because then you learn where you need to look for issues and what people need to know from you to be able to help out).

      Experiences from newbies are nice too; what distro did they choose and did they run into issues.

      Sharing interesting websites would be nice as well.

      Just some thoughts.

  • @HarriPotero@lemmy.world
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    910 months ago

    It feels like a common and repetitive theme that doesn’t bring much discussion to the table. I might be an old grumpy fart, and I probably would’ve done the same posts back in 1997 when I left Windows NT 4.0 in the rear view mirror.

    I’d much prefer to keep the discussion on Linux and not other operating systems. I enjoy AmigaOS and MorphOS as well, but I can’t recall anyone every comparing those to Windows on the forums.

  • Chris L
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    410 months ago

    I don’t mind them. If this type of social media had existed when I first installed Linux 24 years ago, I would have probably done the same thing.

  • @EpicFailGuy@lemmy.world
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    610 months ago

    Can’t have linux without a hint of elitism.

    “Im much better than all my other friends who are still using Windows … yuck”

    • Tlaloc_Temporal
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      510 months ago

      Eh, elitism seems to float around all tech communities. PCMasterRace, C, CLI, Apple, Tesla/cars, Snap-On, heck even bidets have elitist advocates. Any time there are multiple way to do something, someone will be snooty about it.

      • Cosmic Cleric
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        210 months ago

        heck even bidets have elitist advocates

        Learned something new today, had no idea.

  • @kyoji@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    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.

  • @TCB13@lemmy.world
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    010 months ago

    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.

    We should focus on what makes our software great, and not what the “bad ex-partner” did wrong.

    I completely agree with you and said many times that while I don’t like the fact that Windows isn’t open-source it does provide a LOT of value for a LOT of people who work on certain fields and haver certain software requirements. With Windows there’s a lot of commercial support when it comes to Linux desktop it simply isn’t there.

    If you require “professional” software such as MS Office, Adobe Apps, Autodesk, NI Circuit Design and whatnot Linux isn’t a viable options. The alternatives wont cut it if you require serious collaboration… virtualization, emulation (wine) may work but won’t be nice. Going for Linux kinda adds the same pains of going macOS but 10x. Once you open the virtualization door your productivity suffers greatly, your CPU/RAM requirements are higher and suddenly you’ve to deal with issues in two operating systems instead of just one. And… let’s face it, nothing with GPU acceleration will ever run decently unless big companies start fixing things - GPU passthroughs and getting video back into the main system are a pain and add delays.

    To make things worse the Linux desktop development ecosystem is essentially non existent. The success of Windows and macOS is the fact that they provide solid and stable APIs and development tools that “make it easy” to develop for those platforms and Linux is very bad at that. The major pieces of Linux are constantly and ever changing requiring large and frequent re-works of apps. There aren’t distribution “sponsored” IDEs (like Visual Studio or Xcode), userland API documentation, frameworks etc.

  • @Father_Redbeard@lemmy.ml
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    610 months ago

    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.

  • Quazatron
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    010 months ago

    If you send the noobs to a noob specific community with other noobs, then you pass the chance to share some of your knowledge that may save the noob from doing some silly stuff because of the bad habits he picked up while using Windows.

    I think that it may be slightly annoying and repetitive, but it is important to give noobs a nudge in the right direction.

    You can always ignore the posts, or contribute with fresh content. 😉

    • @Guenther_Amanita@feddit.deOP
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      310 months ago

      Your arguments make sense, thanks for your input :)

      or contribute with fresh content. 😉

      See my post from yesterday about Distrobox. Was one of the top 3 posts of the day and also took a lot of time :)

  • 0xCAFe
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    710 months ago

    Personally, I’m not interested in the type of posts you mention. However, I don’t mind it. In general I think it’s great to tell the world if you ditch Windows for Linux, because it shows other (Windows) users that they can do it, too.

    Though I have to agree that for a dedicated Linux community, it doesn’t add too much value. If I think a post is a bad fit for the community, I vote it down.

  • @Papanca@lemmy.world
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    110 months ago

    I don’t mind. I understand the enthusiasm since i switched recently (again) too.

    As for windows; i think one of the main reasons people switch has to do with how bad windows has become. It’s bloated, it feels like everything is spied on, and in 11 they add AI and not to be helpful to their customers. So, a lot of people will say: hey, i switched to linux and finally, i’m rid of that evil windows. Many people might not know that much about linux just yet, so they are maybe - i’m speculating here - moving away from something unpleasant, rather than switching to linux because of the many advantages.

    As for the linux 4 noobs community, i joined but it feels pretty dead and so, i ask my noob questions (apart from trying to do my own research) here, rather than over there. Are you implying that noobs are not really welcome to ask their questions here? It would be fine with me if the noob community was filled with people who are enthusiastically asking questions, but the most recent posts are a month old, so not very inviting.

  • lemmyreader
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    10 months ago

    I often do like these posts, because it usually shows their past suffering, and the new freedom they enjoy. It is also an opportunity to share the common community feeling with them.

    After all, to me many years ago when I saw Linux booting for the very first time (no GUI, just lots of text from the kernel) that was one thing about Linux that I liked : names of human beings visible. If you look at software by Microsoft or Apple on computer installations you will normally see zero names, it is all very formal.

    Social interaction between Linux users, starting with solving Linux questions, has been there for years in forums. I like seeing people help other people and move forward together.

    Same with newcomer posts. I think if the posters get redirected to the correct sub

    And what sub would you suggest ?

    • IninewCrow
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      10 months ago

      This is what I enjoy most about the Linux experience, like you say it is a very human experience that everyone likes to share.

      When is the last time you had a noob online or anywhere tell you they booted up their system with a fresh new install of a new to them OS that they found called Microsoft Windows or Mac OS

      To me, and I’m just a novice that is capable of knowing enough to destroy my system, any time I hear or read someone new who ditched a commercial OS to become a Linux user is an amazing accomplishment. It means the person who did so went out of their way to use something they had to work for, not with money but with knowledge, experience and trial and error.

      Every time I hear that story, it makes me feel good and hopeful for humanity because it’s one more person who broke away from an all powerful corporate master.

      I’ll never get tired of hearing these stories or seeing these posts.

      • lemmyreader
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        010 months ago

        Well said, and a nice read. 👍

        Thinking about this I think that a lot of consumers who buy their new laptops will have ChromeOS, Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS pre-installed, and when they have problems with it, most of them might go back to the shop to get help, or even buy just another new computer. Another good feature of Linux is that it does not necessarily force you into hardware upgrades every few years, and it can even run on all kind of devices., making Linux flexible and sustainable.